Parents as passengers on their teen’s career journey

The coach is the passenger on the road trip, not the driver!

The coach consults the map and reviews directions. Understand the career process so you can successfully guide your teen through the career exploration process.

• Listen to the driver’s needs. Being a sounding board for teens who are anxious or frustrated about their career research is one of the most important jobs of a parent.

• Keeps the driver awake so he/she doesn’t fall asleep at the wheel! It is easy for teens to get side-tracked by other projects and extra-curricular activities. Parents can help them stay focused on the exploration process.

• Tune the radio. Parents can be on the lookout for resources that their teen can access for further career research.

What shouldn’t the passenger do?

● Grab the steering wheel and make the course corrections himself.

● Make the driver go somewhere he doesn’t want to go.

● Change the colour, make or year of the car.

● Order the driver to shift gears.

The road trip is a great analogy to consider when you are working with your teen because career exploration is a journey and they are on a road trip where they are unsure about the destination.

Skills that can help parents coach their teen

● Active Listening

This means no distractions, no technology, TV etc. It means giving your teen your full attention. It is important to have positive body language and to remain non judgemental. Paraphrase to ensure you have heard what your teen intended to say. Make sure that the message you are taking away from the conversation is the same one your teen is trying to convey rather than assuming you “know” what he or she is thinking and feeling. Likewise, you should avoid taking ownership of your child's problems to the point where you feel compelled to intervene and “fix” them.

● Offering Observations and Reaffirming strengths and qualities

Reflect back observations you make about their strengths such as “ I am really impressed how you are managing to keep up with your studies while working part time and playing netball, you have developed good time management skills.”

● Summarising and Prioritising

Summarise what you have heard your teen say in relation to their interests and how it matches their values etc. Example: “ From the conversations we have had, I can see you really enjoy photography and graphics and how it allows you to be creative as I know that is important to you.”

Video - Parents as a Career Coach