Typical Parenting Advice on Career Choices You are often wrong!

Adolescents have to ask themselves at the end of school what they want to become. Many rely on the advice of their parents. But some well-intentioned recommendations are based on wrong assumptions. Career counselors report on parenting advice that is not suitable for career choice.

Tackle the topic of career choice as early as possible
A wrong education choice causes uncertainty and often high costs. Martin Neumann of the professional psychology service of the employment agencies Munich, Rosenheim, Weilheim and Freising had recently explained this in a conversation with the news agency dpa. The expert therefore advised to tackle the topic of career choice as early as possible and to take it seriously. Many adolescents trust in the question of what they want to become on their parents. But their recommendations are often based on wrong assumptions. In a recent report by the German Press Agency (dpa), career counselors explain which (well-intentioned) parental tips on choosing a career they hear and see critically.

Always question parents' assumptions
For many parents, this sounds like a safe bank, as it is currently everywhere that engineers were desperately looking for graduates and thus easily find a well-paid job. However, choosing a degree program out of embarrassment is not a good idea. "These hype topics are critical," says Svenja Hofert, career adviser from Hamburg. Immediate demand frequently turns into the opposite a few years later. Young people should always question parents' assumptions about the job market and research how the age structure is in the job, whether many will soon retire or whether the number of graduates has risen sharply in recent years.

Even big companies can go bankrupt
An equally common parenting tip: "Look, that you find yourself in a large company," assumes that those who make the entry into a large company, have a secure job. That may have voted in the past, but today, according to Hofert, this is only conditionally valid today. For example, corporations such as the mail order company Quelle bankrupt, reduce their workforce on a large scale or relocate their sites abroad. The Career Advisor recommends new entrants to ask where one can learn a lot. If this is the case in a smaller company, then graduates should go there better. "The learning curve will pay off, but only later," says Hofert.

Unlike the parents do?
Some dissatisfied parents may say, "Do it differently than me." For example, if a father is unhappy as a clerk, he will probably be more likely to call offspring into a career where he later becomes his own boss. Martin Neumann from the Munich employment agency explained that doing things differently from the parents has nothing to do with the child's talents. Young people should try to think about what they can do and what they are interested in. This also applies to the opposite advice when parents wish that children realize their dreams. For example, when the mother wanted to study painting and then decided to become a teacher. Children should question: Will I really become an artist - or does my mother want that?

Analyze strengths and weaknesses
Also the advice: "Do what you think is right. We do not interfere! "Is wrong, says career counselor Julia Funke from Frankfurt am Main. Although it is well meant to give the children the maximum freedom and not to push them in any direction, teenagers need the feedback of their parents, because no one knows their strengths and weaknesses as well as mother and father. Funke advises pupils to ask specifically: "What do you think, can I be good?" Also the tip: "Think about what you will become. You have the profession throughout your life, "does not help, but rather blocks young people. The decision seems to be difficult for many and so they postpone it and do an internship or travel. Neumann of the Munich employment agency believes that young people should try to accept that they have to make a decision. There is no way around analyzing your own strengths and weaknesses and to develop an idea of ​​what you want to achieve professionally.

Wrong training choice with negative consequences
If the offspring can not go any further with the decision, they can often hear from their parents: "Start with something." But if the students start an apprenticeship that does not suit them at all, Neumann often has negative consequences , Some fail and break off, while others complete the training, but then join another. The pressure that it must be the right job the second time is then often even greater. Adolescents should not start out of embarrassment any training, but make an informed decision and be supported by teachers and career counselors.

Secondary school graduation is often enough
Many parents argue that "the main thing is a high school diploma and studies". But even if it has not been so long ago that companies got applications for laundry bags on an advertised training place, the situation on the training market has changed, according to Angelika Knötig, team leader at the Employment Agency Suhl. Even for highly sought after training, a good secondary school diploma is therefore sufficient today. It is much more important to look at what suits the talents of the young people and not stubbornly insist that it must be a high school diploma and study. (Ad)

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