Teens and Career Counselling – Is it too Early?

By Susan Qadeer

My parents came through the Depression of the 30’s and were focused on job security for their daughters. They weren’t sure that university was important but knew that a good typing speed was essential. Parents are anxious for their children to make good career decisions but often their knowledge is limited to their own experiences. Forecasting needs of the future workplace has always been inexact.

The background of our parents is critical in career decision making. We tend to know about our parents work and may decide for or against a career based on that knowledge. This can be limiting since students are making decisions based on a really small sample. One family’s experience with a failing business or one overworked accountant or one unhappy teacher should not damn the entire field. The converse is also true. What may work for one family member may be inappropriate for another.

Decisions made out of a desire for job security or income may well make an individual content and offer parental relief but can also bring misery and disappointment. Career planning too early in life, before there is a fuller recognition of values, abilities, interests and talent, could be a recipe for a life of regret.

There is a trend now to offer career counselling to young teens, thinking that it is not too early to offer career exploration education. There are some dangers inherent in this thinking:

• As high school students decide on career direction, they begin to drop subjects that they are sure they won’t need. Science and math courses dropped too early are very difficult to pick up later. The student, who is sure they will make a career in international development or diplomacy, later discovers that nursing could have taken him or her to a life of service abroad. Students headed toward careers where math and science are important, neglect subjects that include higher level writing courses and find their managerial prospects are hampered without well developed communication skills.
• Talents and interests are a help in determining career choice, they sustain you during tedious times and through a difficult curriculum. Students need time and experiences to determine those talents and interests. Cutting short this exploratory phase by dropping courses too early and deselecting areas you think you won’t need, does not provide the opportunity to try out something new.
• In western culture, adolescence can be a time of rebellion and this means ignoring the advice of parents, counsellors and teachers. There may be some good Freudian reasons for this, but while teens are forging their own path, good advice may be left in the dust. A friend’s son decided to quit school and join the military and my friend was convinced that this was a reaction to his own left leaning, anti-war background and not a choice in keeping with his son’s real interests. This is not the age to make a decision that could have life altering consequences.
• Early career planning doesn’t necessarily head off career crises. In fact, it can make for more difficulty since early decisions may become entrenched and need to be undone before there is forward movement. All those students who say they will become doctors are scampering for alternatives once they realize this choice is not viable. They may settle for poor alternatives in their rush to replace one decision with another. Without an array of subjects, choices may indeed be limited.
• A good general education is an opportunity for the discovery of interests and abilities and a confidence builder to take on different tasks. The exposure to new subjects lays a foundation for choosing career direction. As adults change jobs and sometimes careers many times over their lifetime, studying a variety of subjects helps in assessing the ability to take on unfamiliar jobs and enhances the flexibility needed to make those changes.
• Some teens wake up late, academically. They only discover an interest in science, literature or mechanics as they begin to mature. Decisions taken before this awakening are ill advised.
• An education is the opportunity to become generally well informed and learning a trade, finding a profession, becoming job ready is another matter. To prematurely focus on job skills at the expense of education is robbing our children of this opportunity. Engineers with an understanding of history, nurses with shop experience, managers with a grounding in philosophy, enrich their professions. As a society we can afford the time it takes to have knowledgeable citizens

Parents, teachers, guidance counsellors and career counsellors can help by recognizing that academic decisions made by teens may not be in their best interests. More required courses, an enriched curriculum and experiential learning, educates and opens up new possibilities. A teen who demonstrates excellence at risk taking and is anxious to drop biology, may miss out on a career as a paramedic. Similarly, the class artist who also considers dropping biology may be unaware of the exciting and useful field of medical illustration and biomedical communication.

Teens shouldn’t have to become older, regretful working adults who come to recognize that they missed out on career options that are far more compatible with their values, needs, abilities and interests. Let’s give them the time and scope to find their way.

Susan Qadeer has been a personal and career counsellor with college and university students for more than 30 years. This experience coupled with watching her own children through career decision and indecision has informed her thinking. She is particularly interested in helping immigrants utilize their education, work experience and skills to find satisfying work in Canada. She can be reached at susanqadeer@hotmail.com