Supporting your child in their career decision-making

Research has shown time and again that parents have a huge influence on their child’s career decision-making. Given the impact of this influence, parents often ask careers advisers how they can support their child to make the best possible choices, especially as exam results season approaches.

Effective decision-making

Effective decision-making is a vital transferable skill that should be nurtured as early as possible, as it is likely that your child will need to continue making decisions at various junctures throughout their working life about issues such as career change, or taking further qualifications to enhance their professional development.

Making an effective decision requires self-awareness and thorough research. This guide outlines the key points to keep in mind through various educational milestones, as well as signposting to relevant sources of support, to help you empower your child in navigating their future career pathway.

Supporting your child at results time

The ways you can support your child at results time are to:

Encourage them to remain calm and positive about their results - even if their results fall short of their expectations, reassure them that there will be an option to suit them.
Discuss their exam results – which subjects did they perform best in? Do these correspond to the subjects they have enjoyed studying?
Discuss with your child how they like to learn – for instance, do they enjoy studying traditional academic subjects, or do they feel they are better suited to a more practical learning style?

Planning their next steps – post GCSE

There are three main options open to young people after Year 12 :

education (6^th form, either in their existing school/a different school, or further education college - see Further Education and AS and A levels)
training (see Training for Success and Apprenticeships)
Employment

Encourage your child to:

read through any information provided by the school/college/training organisation about course options and ask questions about the topics covered (particularly if it is a brand new subject/course).
research the assessment methods for the course/subjects they are considering (proportion of exams/coursework, etc.) Encourage them to reflect on past performance and which assessment method has suited best.
identify the reasons behind their course/subject preferences - probe any gaps in their knowledge/understanding of what each entails and challenge if their interest is based on a hope for a favourite teacher, or because their friends plan to take a certain subject/course. Encourage them to make choices based on their own interests/strengths.
select subjects/courses based on these key questions:
- do I think I will enjoy this?
- Am I likely to get good results?
- Will this be useful to me for the future?
speak to relevant teachers/tutors for advice on whether their potential subject/course matches are a good fit, before finalising their subject choices.

Planning their next steps – post A level/Level 3 qualifications

There are a number of options available after A level/equivalent qualifications – these include:

Your child may or may not have yet made a plan for which of the above options they would prefer, upon receiving their A level/equivalent qualification results. Whatever the case, there is lots of useful information in What to do after your A level results

If they do not get the results they need for the choice they wanted, encourage them to research whether there are other possible entry routes (check the Careers A-Z tool on the Careers Service website).

Often, there is more than one entry route to a particular career, eg Higher Level Apprenticeships, degrees and graduate schemes could all lead to a career in Financial Services.

Some general points about career planning

Talk

Talk to your child about your career and/or the careers of people around you, such as family members/friends. Discuss what these jobs entail and associated “pros” and “cons”, to start a conversation about their interests/preferences

Encourage

Encourage your child to think about what kinds of activities they enjoy and any relevant skills/experience developed from hobbies/extra-curricular activities

Challenge

Challenge any assumptions/gender stereotypes they might associate with certain career paths, to ensure they are not ruling out any potentially viable options

Ensure

Ensure they are aware of local labour market information (i.e. information on skills gaps and key growth sectors). Further details can be found in Skills in Demand

If they know what they want to do

If they do have some careers ideas:

encourage them to reflect on what they know about the skills, personal qualities and qualifications required – suggest that they make use of reliable online resources, such as the Careers A-Z tool on the Careers Service website.
and are considering a specific degree course and/or a particular university, ensure that they check specific entry criteria – eg grade and subject-specific GCSE/A level criteria can vary from university to university, and from year to year.
encourage your child to think about opportunities to “test out” their careers ideas, such as work experience and voluntary/extra-curricular activities.
suggest attending careers fairs, to connect with relevant people working in the careers areas they are interested in.

If they don't know what they want to do

If they don’t have any careers ideas at present:

motivate them to start exploring their options by using an online matching tool to generate possible careers ideas, such as the Careers Ideas Quiz on the Careers Service website
guide them in exploring the connection between subject interests/strengths and associated careers – see the Subject Links section on the Careers Service website
explore broad career families (see Careers Service website) such as practical, scientific, creative and helping/caring careers.

Support and guidance from the Careers Service

If at any stage you and your child would like to make an appointment to discuss their careers options and ideas, a Careers Service adviser can meet you in your nearest careers office – see How the Careers Service can help you.

There is also lots of information on the support available to help with career planning on the NI Direct website, including parents and young person’s guides

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