How many times have you asked yourself this question or been asked by a students, your own child or a friend? It is a common question, and a good one.
Research shows that the match between your job and your personality plays a major role in your job satisfaction and success. From the moment you leave school your job and career will be the topic you most talked about so it’s vital that you are in a job you enjoy and that matches the person you are.
Students do not learn in isolation. To acquire knowledge, they need the guidance of parents and the inspiration of teachers.
Parents have the greatest influence on the career choices their children make. Often parents will pre-select a career that they think best suits their child. Some want to relive the choices they made or did not make, by transferring these to their children. Parents need help to understand who their children are and where they can best succeed in life by using their natural gifts and talents.
Great careers do not simply happen. That is why it is important for your child to make career plans. Parents are the best people to ensure that your child is making wise career choices.
Teachers spend more time with children than do parents and influence students significantly. A teacher that connects with students provides inspiration and knowledge. Too often students may dislike a subject because they cannot relate to the teacher.
Career Advisers provide a vital service assisting students in their career path and in their transition from school. Career Advisers often find themselves acting as mediators between parent and child in important discussions in relation to the students future career, subject choices and educational options.
Most Careers Advisers base their recommendations on subjects the student excels at, interviews with the student and common sense.However students need help choose a career that matches their natural gifts and talents.
The four key participants in a student’s career decision are:
- Careers Advisers
- Students
- Parents
- Teachers
By advising students on their best subject career choices and cross matching their personality to career options, the Careers Adviser can offer advice more confidently.
Career Advisers need a tool that will help them:
- Understand their students better
- Determine best career options based on students natural gifts and talents
- Provide independent assessment of the students behavioural traits
- Encourage students to consider a wider variety of career choices
- Provide alternative career pathways
- Encourage students to focus on their strengths
- Provide Parents with independent advice based on profile outcomes
Students need effective feedback that will highlight:
- A Students personal style
- Careers that best match them
- Their personal strengths
- The ideal working environment for their particular style
- What they bring to a job
- What they value and what annoys them
- Their learning style and how to improve
The benefits to students will include:
- Affirmation of their talent and encourages them to choose a career that best matches their style and gifts
- Reinforces strengths and natural styles
- Helps them understand themselves and why they act and behave the way they do
- Helps them to appreciate others and why people are different
- Provides essential people skills they can use to form relationships with partners, colleagues and employers.
- Builds student confidence and self-worth
- Report content will add value and content to their CV. (Students often find it difficult to describe their personal qualities and promote themselves. My Career Match gives students useful information they can use)
Parents need guidance on their child’s personal style and practical suggestions on how to develop a harmonious and stimulating relationship with their children where they are encouraged to be the best they can be.
Parent need advice and understanding on:
- Why children are different
- How to create a positive climate at home
- How to help their child develop and learn
- How to communicate with their child
- How to encourage their child
Teachers also need to understand who they are and how their personality traits influence the way they teach and manage students. Teachers need essential interpersonal information to assist them recognise their personal strengths and shortcomings, and how to relate and communicate to students of each behavioural style.
This will help teachers:
- better understand children
- improve academic performance
- discover motivational secrets
- help students stay on task
- enhance your teaching abilities
- encourage self esteem in students
- raise your own self-confidence
- work with children rather than against them
- reduce stress
To do this teachers need to be know and understand:
- Their personal style
- Their strengths and weaknesses
- Their teaching style characteristics
- How their teaching style influences students
- How to deal with students of different styles
- How to resolve classroom conflict
For more information on how to assist school leavers and career changers go to www.eaglesconsulting.com.au
Len Eagles B.Comm Dip.Ed
A Careers Adviser with 30 years experience, Len brings his considerable knowledge to MyCareerMatch. Having advised thousands of students on choosing the right career pathway, he knows that people are best when doing things they are naturally gifted at.
Len was trained and appointed as one of the first full-time Careers Advisers in the NSW Dept. of Education in the 1970’s. He also worked as a Regional Consultant in Transition Education and was a Primary School Principal for several years.
For the last 20 years he has been the Careers Adviser and Vocational Education Coordinator at Christian Community High School in Sydney. During this time he was involved in trialling and developing many innovative programs in Career Education and Vocational Education. He has helped thousands of students to discover and explore relevant career pathways in their transition from school to work and further education and training.
