Watching our kids grow up can be an odd journey. We’re so used to doing everything for them and them entirely depending on us that watching them spread their own wings and go about things independently can be surprising and odd. This is great though. This is the ultimate goal of parenting – to prepare your child to live independently in the adult world. Now, one major step in your child’s life is applying and landing their first job. This will provide them with their first steps into financial independence, which can then be followed by moving out and supporting themselves. But what can you do to help them on this journey? Here are some suggestions that can help you along the way.
Listen to Their Wants and Needs
You may want your child to work in a specific industry or role – perhaps you have a family business, maybe you want them in a secure position, or maybe you know certain roles pay more than others and will offer more financial security. All of this is fine, but you need to make sure that you’re not pushing anything on your kid and that you’re listening to what they want to do. At the end of the day, their life is theirs to live in a way that suits them. You can’t force them to do anything and if you do, there’s likely to be emotional and mental backlash as a result. You can offer your advice and thoughts, but it’s important to support them in what they want to do.
Researching Education and Qualifications
You can help your child to research what it takes to land the role that they want to get into. Some roles require specific educational qualifications, such as degrees, or specific training programmes to be completed like a babysitter course for example. There may be Graduate recruitment options that your teen could pursue directly after leaving university or college. Other roles require you to start at the bottom and make your way up to the top. This is where apprenticeships and internships can come in useful.
CV and Interview Support
Your child may have never created a CV or gone through an interview before. It’s important to help them with this. Show them how CVs should look – perhaps provide them with a template. Proof it when finished and proof any cover letters they may want you to check too. You may also want to run practice interviews with them, which will help prepare them for the type of questions they may face.
Financial Support
Your kid may need a little financial support when starting out. For exmaple, they may need support with paying for public transport to work until their first pay check arrives, or for work wear that they can wear to the workplace. If possible, help them to get onto their feet with these basics.
The above advice should all help you to guide your child on the path towards their first working position. Hopefully, some of the information will help!
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