5 Questions To Help Your Child Think About Their Future Career

Is your child finishing school soon? Or perhaps you’re helping them weigh out their options before they enter year 11 (or even earlier). Either way, thinking about a career is a pivotal moment that can be hard to navigate for a school student.

However, there are ways to gauge potential career routes for your child. Here are five questions to help your child think about their next steps.

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Q1: What are your interests and passions?

Believe it or not, this is a really good place to start. A lot of students don’t know that their hobbies and passions help them build skills that can be transferred across a variety of careers. 

For example, if your child is a sports team captain – bam, leadership skills right out the gate. Maybe your child is part of a coding club, coding skills are sought after by many employers and will be for the near (and distant) future.

Perhaps your child’s drawings rival the likes of Studio Ghibli. That’s a future illustrator, animator or graphic designer right there.

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Q2: What subjects do you enjoy the most at school?

Just like question one, knowing what your child enjoys doing is usually an indicator of what their future could look like.

While all subjects are equally important, there’s nothing wrong with your child spending a little more time becoming well-versed in the subjects they excel at and enjoy.

That doesn’t necessarily mean extra homework either. Perhaps they can join a club that relates to that subject.

It’s 200% worth having a look at some of the careers linked to your child’s favourite subjects.

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Read all about the Apprenticeship Application Journey

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Q3: What problems do you want to solve?

This question is a wonderful way to get your child thinking about their point of view and the issues that matter to them. 

Gen Z is much more socially aware than other generations. 

According to a recent study by Deloitte, 44% of Gen Zs have rejected assignments due to ethical concerns, while 39% have turned down employers that do not align with their values.

• Is your child environmentally conscious?
• Does diversity matter to them?
• Do they think certain parts of systems need to be changed?

You’d be surprised at the topics your child holds close to them. Asking this question helps your child think about the person they want to become rather than focusing entirely on the job.

It opens up a conversation about the mark they want to leave on this world, and how they can achieve that. It’s also a great way to pick companies that align with your child’s beliefs when they’re ready for the job hunt.

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Q4: What are some jobs or industries you find interesting?

Some students already have some idea as to what they want to do after school, so why not ask them directly? It’s worth exploring all the possible jobs within the industries and reading up about how to get there.

Let’s say your child is really interested in neuroscience, from the get-go you know that it’ll be super important for them to excel in science.

Or maybe their dream career is something to do with animals, whether as a vet or a conservationist. Getting them work experience in a local vet or zoo would do wonders.

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Not sure whether your child should do an apprenticeship or A Levels? Have a read of our blog where we look at the differences (and similarities) between the two.

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Q5: Is there another route?

The route to a career has always traditionally been: school, college/sixth form, university then job. Having a degree to begin fulfilling work is no longer the standard; there are other ways to get there.

If your child has a career in mind, it’s worth doing some research into how they can make that happen. Perhaps they’re really good at numbers and want to look into accountancy, sure they could go to university for that. But have you thought about an apprenticeship?

Apprenticeships are fantastic because your child is spoilt for choice. There are apprenticeships in a large variety of industries. These include;

• Creative & design
• Banking
• Legal and law
• Property
• Digital media

In fact, we have a fully comprehensive guide to apprenticeships, click below to read

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While these questions are really good, there are so many more you and your child can think about. These include;

• What are their strengths and weaknesses?
• What education or training do they need for their dream career?
• What are their short and long-term goals?
• What kind of environment do they want to work in?

We hope that this will help in your child’s career journey and we wish you all the best.

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Signing up to RateMyApprenticeship is probably one of the best things your child will do! Why? Because they’ll…

• Have access to hundreds of apprenticeship opportunities
• Hear about our upcoming roles and our Best Apprenticeship Employers
• Save the jobs they’re interested in
• Receive job alerts for their fave industries.

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