Career guidance for adolescents is an important part of the development of young persons particularly at this stage in their lives.
Adolescents have various occupational and self-regulation needs which are unique to their context.
The following are three reasons why providing Career Guidance for adolescents is crucial for their development.
Contents
Career Development
Adolescents from disadvantaged backgrounds are particularly in need of Career Guidance for their future.
This type of education should combine diverse psycho-pedagogical interactions and social work interventions.
It aims to introduce adolescents to careers related to their interests and make them feel more prepared to enter the world of work world.
There are four phases to the career guidance process. These are: planning for the future:
- Identifying
- Pursuing concrete work experiences
- Deciding what path to take post-school
- Actively preparing for the transition
Many adolescents start high school not sure what they want to do when they grow up. However, by their senior year, 75% of them already have some idea of what they want to do.
The best way to identify a career path for adolescents is to meet people in the field.
Career Guidance for adolescents helps teens explore potential fields by arranging for entire classes to visit job sites and learn more about different industries.
The role of parents is becoming increasingly important.
The role of career guidance for adolescents is to help them develop occupational identity, relevant competence, and planning for post-school education and training.
Adolescents differ from adults in several ways, including their developmental progress and social resources.
The implementation of career guidance for adolescents varies considerably from school system to school.
Therefore, it is important to ensure that career guidance for adolescents is geared to the specific needs of individual adolescents.
While most of the models of career guidance are based on adult careers, they still have important differences in the way they are implemented.
Career Choice
At an early age, career guidance can provide many benefits for adolescents.
Counsellors provide information and insight about possible career options, educational institutions and prospects.
This information can help give adolescents a purpose for going to school and make them more prepared for the world of work.
Career Counsellors can assist with everything from CV preparation to interview practice.
Career guidance helps adolescents discover their passions, set goals and become more confident in their professional lives.
The future of many professions is largely unknown. However, Alexander Dubovik, a famous futurist, predicts that doctors, actors, teachers, and others will still be needed in the future.
Choose a profession where you’re the most brilliant, realize your potential, and be popular in four to five years.
Teenagers are still infantile, so many parents seek career guidance for their children.
But parents need to be patient and explain the options available to them so that they can make the right choice.
Career guidance for adolescents involves the development of relevant career competences, occupational identity and planning post-school educational options.
Many factors contribute to a child’s decision making, including parental support and the amount of time parents devote to caring for their children.
While school is the primary source of guidance for adolescents, other factors are equally important.
The role of parents is crucial in fostering career clarity and development for adolescents. However, parents are often the strongest support for children.
Career Transition
The process of Career Transition for adolescents can be difficult for many parents.
While it is vital that young people feel that they have autonomy, letting them become more independent and make their own decisions can help them succeed in the workforce.
By allowing them to make these decisions, they will increase their self-confidence and develop self-image.
They should also set realistic goals and make plans for the future. Here are some tips for making Career Transition for adolescents easier.
The Federal Partners in Transition workgroup views transition as the period between adolescence and adulthood.
Transition issues often include health care, post-secondary education, employment, financial benefits, and housing.
These issues must be addressed through programs that support and continue to support youth.
Ultimately, these young adults will become successful contributors to society and deserve to be treated fairly.
As a result, Career Transition for adolescents provides opportunities for young people to find the careers that will best suit their needs.
In addition to the transition between school and adulthood, gender may affect career building.
While most female adolescents are motivated by work, males still perceive themselves as primary family providers.
However, high female labor force participation can help males to enter “career-like” jobs sooner than females.
Gender can moderate the effects of various precursors of adolescence on the transition to adulthood. There are several other important factors that may influence adolescent work patterns.
Parental Influence
Researchers have found that parental influence on the career decision making of adolescents is significant. This study by Penick and Jepsen examined the family system as a whole.
The authors concluded that if parents use bribery or punishment as a form of discipline, their children are more likely to become discouraged and resentful of their parents’ actions.
This is a concerning finding considering the importance of parental influence in adolescent career guidance.
It was also found that parents want their children to become successful in their careers, but lack the confidence to do so.
Many parents also felt guilty about their own career choices. This study highlights the importance of guiding children toward a career that they truly enjoy.
Moreover, children whose parents support their decisions make better choices in life.
Moreover, students who are inspired by positive role models and parents who support them will be more likely to choose rewarding careers and earn a degree.
As parents, we should encourage our children to explore their career options and avoid shooting down their ideas.
Parents should avoid shooting down their child’s career ideas and keep communication open.
Parents should also try not to weigh too many higher-level subjects on their children.
However, it is important to remember that this is their first step into adulthood.
Therefore, parents must remember that their role in career guidance is only to facilitate the career decision making process and not to impose their ideas to the adolescent.
Vocational Interest Test
The development of a pictorial questionnaire for vocational interest assessment has led to new innovations in the testing of young people’s interests.
These inventories are presented in pairs of pictures that represent the characteristics of occupations mentioned in Holland’s RIASEC.
Nonverbal Vocational Interest Scale (NVIS)
However, many existing inventories suffer from inherent limitations. In order to overcome these problems, researchers have developed a new pictorial questionnaire called the Nonverbal Vocational Interest Scale (NVIS).
In order to develop a valid instrument for evaluating vocational interests, the Pictorial Vocational Interest Inventory (PVII) for Adolescents has been validated by numerous researchers.
To assess its reliability, the test was validated by using Aiken’s V index and the test-retest procedure. The PVII was tested on 826 adolescents from Grades 6 through 12.
The results of the study were analyzed with item analysis for each interest type. After examining item reliability, construct validity and discriminant validity were determined.
In a separate study, the NVIS was used to assess the level of knowledge about vocational activities among 102 pupils.
This questionnaire was designed to assess whether pupils had prior first-hand experience or not.
Despite the high rate of first-hand experience, the results showed that only 16.7% of pupils were familiar with vocational activities.
Furthermore, a third of the respondents did not have first-hand experience in any of the professions.
This goes to show how important career guidance is an important personal development and career development intervention for adolescents.
Use of Career Web Portals
CareerOneStop
Using the website CareerOneStop, youth can explore occupations, learn about educational opportunities, and identify their interests.
The website also provides a toolkit for finding local resources, unemployment benefits, and contacts for next steps.
CareerOneStop’s electronic tool offers profiles for various occupations and provides simplified salary and outlook information.
For each occupation, a list of related training is provided. Youth can also take a career assessment to discover their interests.
Using career exploration tests, parents can help their teens decide on their career choices.
Job shadowing, service learning, and internships are all great opportunities for teenagers to gain real-world experience.
They can even ask their friends and family to help them find a suitable internship or shadowing opportunity.
While job shadowing or internship programs may not pay, they are extremely valuable, as they provide hands-on experience in various career fields and help adolescents identify the best fit for them.
Using videos to explain different careers can be a helpful way to get started.
Using web portals such as CareerOneStop’s GetMyFuture website, young people can learn about the major categories of work, as well as learn how to plan their education and start an effective job search.
The videos are available to adolescents and young adults of all ages and are a fun and informative way to learn.
Each video highlights real people who overcame barriers to pursue their career goals.
Final Thoughts
There you go. If you are an adolescent go right head and pursue career guidance programs that are suited for age. If you are a parent or a guardian for an adolescent go ahead and arrange for your child to get appropriate guidance for the development of their career and life trajectory. All the best.