How to Start Careers Guidance With Your Students
If you’re performing the role as a University Counsellor and/or in careers guidance as part of your job description, then you’ll need to think about the challenges your secondary school graduates will face in the job markets of the future. Here’s why:
More people choose to live and work in countries they didn’t grow up in. More than ever, this means that your students are more likely to see the whole world as a potential workplace. This is particularly true for international school students (often nicknamed ‘third culture kids’) who have been exposed to intercultural experiences from an early age.
More top class graduates will be competing for top class jobs, as more students from emerging middle classes in countries like India and China will be studying at university.
The graduates of the future will enter a job market which is changing rapidly - many of your current students could end up working in jobs that don’t exist yet!
There’s also the fact that many students start out not really having much of an idea what they’re good at, let alone how to use those skills in a work environment.
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution here. Every student’s aspirations will be totally different and their career goals will be shaped by a multitude of different factors. But on their journey to finding the right career for them, there are a few common worries, myths and preconceptions that students might fall victim to. It’s your job to challenge these preconceptions and help students approach their career planning from a place of self-awareness and emotional intelligence.
Let’s discuss these in more detail...
“I don’t know what I want to do when I’m older”
Some students may start their career planning under the impression that they should know what they want to do from an early age. Nothing could be further from the truth!
Rather How do they like to make decisions? Are they organized and deadline-driven in their approach to work, or do they like to stay open to changing circumstances? (Judging vs Prospecting)
Myers Briggs is just one example. But it helps to illustrate how personality assessments can help students to understand their strengths and preferences, which is vital at the start of their career planning
It helps them to start thinking about their futures from a place of genuine self-awareness, which will mean that they are better placed to pick the right courses and specialisms as they proceed through school and towards university application.
“I’m going to follow my passion in life”
You might work with some students who have a very clear idea of what they want to do when they’re older. This shouldn’t be discouraged, but it’s important to make them aware that passion alone can’t govern a career path.
For starters, ‘passion’ is a very hard thing to define in a world where the careers of the future are likely to be subject to great change and fluctuation. Raw talent and enthusiasm will not necessarily suffice, especially because many job roles will require other supplementary skills and competencies.
Case Study: Journalism
For example, you may be working with a student who is a talented writer, and considers him/herself to be very creative. Let’s imagine they have ambitions to be a journalist. While it’s true that they may enjoy writing, and take a keen interest in current affairs, a career as a journalist brings challenges that they may not be prepared for. For example:
- Logistics: Journalists have to work to tight deadlines and may be required to travel at short notice. They may also be required to work unsociable hours.
- Additional skills: As well as being good writers, journalists are required to be good editors and proofreaders. They must also be able to manage competing deadlines, priorities and projects, and possess tenacity and drive in the face of obstacles.
- Long-term prospects: Journalism is changing radically as an industry. The popularity of digital and online content and the rise of social media has put ‘traditional’ journalism under threat. Journalism is a career path where freelance work and self-employment are now commonplace.
“I need a job that has a good starting salary”
Some students may be drawn towards particular career paths because of the promise of a high starting salary; for example, Medicine or Law.
Again, there’s nothing wrong with this. But some students may feel pressure to choose a career path because it commands a high starting salary (some students might also face pressure from their families in this regard).
It’s important that your students’ decision-making is guided by salary expectations, but not led by them. If a student chases a high salary for the sake of it, they could end up in a job that is poorly aligned to their own interests and skills.
For example, a 2015 Gallup survey found that people who do a job where they are using their strengths are three times more likely to enjoy a better quality of life, six times more likely to feel engaged at work, 8% more likely to be productive and 15% less likely to quit their jobs.
In short, tomorrow’s graduates will not choose a job based on salary alone. There are many other factors that will affect your students’ job satisfaction. It’s important they remember this as they start their journey.
“I need to do a degree that guarantees me a job”
As students begin to research potential university destinations, they may feel like they should do a degree that is likely to guarantee them a related job when they leave university.
Of course, some career pathways require students to undertake a training-based degree. But many careers don’t, and it’s important for students to understand that there are degrees that may appear unrelated to a subsequent career path, but will give them transferable skills and strengths that they can take into graduate life.
This is especially true of degrees that don’t appear to directly lead to a guaranteed job. For instance, many Humanities based degrees such as English Literature, Philosophy and History can equip students with the following skills:
- An ability to read and critically assess large volumes of information.
- An ability to work independently and to be self-motivated.
- The ability to write and develop original theories and arguments.
- Experience of oral presentations and peer-to-peer learning.
The above qualities could be relevant in any of the following career paths.
- Law (an ability to digest large volumes of information)
- Entrepreneurship (the ability to work independently/self motivation)
- Media, television, film (originality & developing your own ideas)
- Consulting or professional services (critical thinking & analytical skills)
A successful careers guidance programme will aim to make students more aware of their strengths, skills and interests.
