Employment: How can I help my teen get a job?

[FamilyPro]

     Ask a Child and Family Professional

                    Question: How can I help my teen get a job?

Teenagers need for autonomy and independence grows throughout adolescence, preparing them for adulthood. As parents one of our jobs is to help our teens become more independent and develop good decision-making skills. You can support these skills by coaching your teens, giving them ideas, encouragement and supportive feedback and helping them to problem solve. Your teen will have to navigate their workplace independently, so the job search process is a great place to start reinforcing these skills.

Give them the best chance of success in finding the right kind of job for them by helping them look at their strengths, talents and interests. Success in their first job can be a huge confidence and self-esteem booster and increases the likelihood of them sticking with it. Ask curious questions that can help your teen think about their interests:

1. Encouraging them to seek out further ideas and interests and learn about different jobs and careers by making use of friends, relatives, or others you/they know like their school career’s advisor.
2. Consider supporting them to attend career expos and open days and explore recruitment and career websites together to help them identify other possible options that match their skills and interests.

Other things to help them consider:

1. Encourage their independence by sharing some resources they can use to help them like this  and stepping back from the temptation to do it for them.
2. If things aren’t working as you had hoped, your teen is unsuccessful or discovers a chosen job or career doesn’t suit them, try to remain supportive and encouraging as this will help your ability to guide and influence their decision making.
3. Remember they are still developing their skills and need your positive influence and support during their transition into employment.

Would you like to share more resources with your teen? These ReachOut articles might be helpful. 

Want to ask our Child and Family Professionals a question? Use this link

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We also partner with The Benevolent Society to offer free personalised one-on-one support for parents and carers of teens over the phone and online.

For more information: https://parents.au.reachout.com/one-on-one-support

[okicha]

I wish my mother knew about this article before because I have huge problems finding a job, even though it's not her fault.

[marcelongo]

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