The Changing role of

Parents in Career Selection

 INTRODUCTION
The parent of today is more than just an
authority figure. They are a friend,
philosopher, and guide. With a more
dynamic educational environment wherein,
the children are taught to be independent
and to take decisions on their own, the
parents role diminishes. Involved parents
know their children the best and along with
vital information about new career paths and
career choices they can facilitate the
process of career selection for them.
IMPORTANT FACTORS TO
BE CONSIDERED BY
PARENTS
 The childs aptitude is a mirror of his personality,
strengths and weaknesses. Hence, a strategically
designed aptitude test can reveal a lot of information
regarding the student that can help in taking a well-
informed career selection.
 It is very difficult to spend your life working
in field that you are not interested in. Hence,
the parent should look into the interests of
their child and consider it while shortlisting
career options.
 The courses leading towards a desired
career should be available easily in the
proximity and should not burden the
student.
 It is very easy for a child to get swayed by peer pressure
into choosing a career that the majority is opting rather
than the one which is best for him/her. Sometimes, even
the parents get attracted towards a career choice that is
trending and this ends up hampering the students
performance. Hence, a parent needs to be informed
about all the career choices and chose the ones that are
best for their child.
 Career scope tells us about various
fields and professions that are
accessible after pursuing a particular
course. The larger the scope, the
better are the chances of finding the
role that suits the child most.
 Even if not the most important, remuneration
of a career holds importance in ones life.
Nobody likes to earn peanuts. The
remuneration should match with the childs
aspirations and should enable a satisfied
and comfortable life.
To Dos
Evaluate your childs aptitude, strengths and
weaknesses.
Help your child in discovering his/her own passion.
Motivate your Child in pursuing his/her passion.
Inform your Child regarding all aspects of the
career.
Help the Child understand the work life in the
chosen career by associating with professionals in
the field.
Stop your Child from falling prey to peer-pressure
and herd mentality.
Gain your Childs confidence and motivate them to
discuss their queries with you.
Seek professional help whenever required.
 Donts
Do not dictate a Childs decision rather guide them
towards taking an informed decision.
Do not burden the child with unreal expectations.
Dont be impatient when dealing with children.
Career scope changes with time; do not try to
impose the ideas or views that existed during your
days.
Do not misguide the child into choosing a career of
your choice
Do not answer a childs query if you are not sure
about it. Its ok to take time, research or seek
professional help.
Do not allow other people (friends, extended family,
or relatives) to influence your child in the career
selection process.
 Parents Guide to Effectively
Deal with Career Selection
Career selection is a taxing phase of life, not
only for the student but also for the parent. The
stress among children multiplies when they feel
the void of guidance. Children feel the need to
express and at times parents cant understand
this need, this increases the gap between a
parent and the child. Listening with patience is
a key to solving this issue. Provide your
children with an atmosphere that motivates
them to express better. The child maybe wrong
but as a parent, its your responsibility to reason
with them rather than getting angry.
 Parents Guide to Effectively
Deal with Career Selection
Children are impulsive by nature. Keep a
track of your childs changing interests and
recommend career options that match their
interests. Demotivation might have a
negative impact on the childs mental health
and hence rather than rejecting all the ideas
of the child, you can work together in
gathering information regarding the career
choice and then help the child in deciding
whether it is suitable or not.
 Parents Role in
Choosing a Career
 1. Parents motivate children
All parents wish best for their
children, so to make their wish
fulfill, the parents motivate the
children and help them make
good choice of career. They
motivate them to never give up
and work hard until they have
achieved the desired path of
success and fulfillment.
2. Helps in the decision
making process
Children often make wrong career choice or
bad decisions, so at that time the role of a
parent is to guide them right and assist them
in making choices which otherwise seem
difficult to finalize. Parents are the guiding
force who follows children like a shadow so
that they never go wrong on making poor
choices.
3. They are the facilitators
Sometimes parents become influencers, but
now the time has changed; parents are
becoming a support in what the children are
doing in their future. They are able to facilitate
children with endless career selection options.
4. Encouragement is another role
Parents encourage the children to give their
best through confidence and hard work. Not just
this, they are also encouraging them to step out
of the houses and explore a lot; this is due to
the change in need and demands of society.
5. They act as a lighthouse
The parents act as a lighthouse and guide
the children to choose the correct path. This
way the children are less prone to the
difficulties and also the success hugs
warmly over the period of time.
6. They stand as undeterred
support
When you have the support of someone
who is never going to leave you alone, you
are able to move ahead, thinking you have
an undeterred support behind your back.
Even when you will fall, you will seek the
support and assistance of the parents.
7. Picks the children up
everytime they had fall
Rise and fall are the part of life and
everyone taking a first step towards
career ought to fall due to lack of skill,
experience.
Should Parents
Choose
their Childrens
Career?
1. Career is important that
impacts ones entire future:
Only once in a lifetime a person gets an
opportunity to decide the career and if he or
she fails to move on the right track; the
whole future dwindles down. Many times it
happens, the children choose the career of
their parents choice and in the mid term they
leave the course as the stream fails to
impress the child. So, let the children make
their own career choice and not by parents
or family infuence.
2. Lots of money and
time goes into vain:
When the wrong career choices are made,
the money and time both go wasted. So, it is
better to give space to children to allow
them make choice of their own career
decisions rather than getting influenced and
then making a choice. If a child is sure and
determined about specified stream and
career, let him or her go for it; do not stop or
it will ruin ones future.
3. Ultimately, children have to
work and not parents:
Finally, the children have to do all the
practical work and not the parents; so
parents should understand that the due to
their wishes, the child may fail to give his or
her best, leading to the bad and terrifying
future. After all, there is a lot of difference in
saying and doing.
4. The career may not
interest the child:
The child may follow you out of emotions,
but what if he or she is not able to fulfil it due
to lack of interest? Then you might blame
yourself for forcing the child, so it is better to
let children make their independent choices,
after all they are no longer the kids, but
adolescents.
5. Every child is different
and unique:
Not everyone is the same. Every child is
different in one or the other manner; some
have good writing skills while others
possess great communication skills and
strong intellect for mathematics. So, parents
should show them what they are good at
rather than impose their own decisions on
children. This way the stressful atmosphere
will be reduced and the career will move in a
flow.
6. Work done under pressure has
been never successful:
When you do work under pressure, you
ought to fail as the eyes, mind and the heart
is never focused in doing the assigned task.
The forced mind is like a slave and the
slavery never yields in the desired potential
output. Also, there lacks efficiency and that
task is never appreciated by anyone in the
field.
CONCLUSIONS
 Parents are the driving force: Yes to some
extent parents do influence their childrens career
decisions. The parents are the driving force and
they highly influence the career choices.
Parental and societal pressure: Many children
choose practical high earning occupations due to
family and society influence as opposed to arts,
music and drama, to which the society looks with
fishy eyes.
Children choose what they are not meant
for: Just due to what relatives will say, children
choose what actually they are not meant for or
they do not have an interest in doing. That so
called societal fake pressure leads to making of
wrong career choices.
 The peer pressure: Not just this, the peer pressure is
also one of the major reasons behind the crucial decision
of choosing the career. The peer friends, the same age
cousins also force to pursue exactly what they have
pursued. The children when are compared to the other
children, the wrong influential factor takes toll on the
future of children.
Lack of motivation factor: Parents, society and also the
relatives should motivate children in pursuing what they
are better in rather than imposing their own wishes and
dreams. Parents wish for a child to be an IAS officer, but
the child wants to go for interior designing, then why not
let the child do what interest him or her the most.
Positive or negative influence: The influence of parents
can be positive as well as negative in choosing the career
of the children. It becomes positive when they allow
children to follow their dreams. Children work well when
they are determined about something but fail to give the
best result when they are forced to do something.
 The role of parents is crucial in the lives of
children and they should act as a guiding
force not the influential force. They should
understand the needs, desires of the
children instead of pressurizing them. By
pressurizing the children becomes slaves to
the ideas of others, they are not able to give
their productive views, which hampers their
growth and skills.
The best inheritance a
parent can give to his
children is a few
minutes of their time
each day.
- M. Grundler
Thank You!