The depth of love of parents for their children cannot be measured. It is like no other relationship. It exceeds concern for life itself. The love of a parent for a child is continuous and transcends heartbreaks and disappointments.
Who better than a father or mother know the importance of Career? They have lived enough in the world to know the importance of money, work-life balance, dignity, respect and many other values attached with careers. They have looked at good and bad career decisions closely and observed the outcome. Any parent wishes to use all this awareness / knowledge when it comes to career decisions of his beloved children.
Despite best of intents most parents think that they could not add enough value to the career decisions of their children. Often what they expect or dream and what the child achieves is a mismatch. In that case as a concerned parent it is imperative to understand what are the common errors made in this process.
Based on my experience of counseling hundreds and hundreds of children & parents, I have compiled a list of common mistakes parents do when it comes to Career Decisions. Not all that is listed here applies to every parent. But some of it would apply to each parent at some of the time.
- Focus on values: Too Little & Too much
- Focus on success: Too Little & Too much
- Emphasis on Academics: Too Little & Too much
- Bias: Cultural, Social, Emotional
- Expecting too much too soon
- Expecting too little
- Setting Expectations: Too Little & Too much
- Getting Judgmental
- Limited knowledge
- Too much emphasis on money
- Wrong assessment of Child’s aptitude
- Getting too practical or too theoretical
- Getting too excited
- Reluctance to engage in meaningful dialogue with child
- Focus on physical health
- Focus on Mental Health
- Not taking a Long Term Vision
- Tendency to trust anybody for Career Advice
- Not open to new age careers
- Limited knowledge about Future Careers
- Not consulting Career Experts
From this list it is obvious that some problems are about balance, some are related to lack of knowledge, some are about communication and some are about looking for right guidance. Formative years of class IX to XII are super crucial for making right career. Right efforts at this stage would always bear fruits of success.
My experience of life says that we should seek best professional support when we are facing any issue managing which is beyond our means. Don’t we consult specialist doctors when our loved ones are unwell? Career Decisions might have a much far reaching impact than regular illness.
Are we doing enough as a Parent?
Happy Parenting!
About Author
Anurag is a Certified Career Counselor and Coach. He is an Engineer & MBA with 20+ years experience in Education Industry. All of knowledge that you find here stems from first hand experience of coaching thousands of successful students. He has been passionately working in the field of career counseling since 2019.