Hawaii State Department of Education
Parents
Help your Child to
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to Make Career .
Decisions
How do I help my child make career plans ?
Be an active partner with your child as he or she takes each of these steps. Help your child:
Figure out his or her likes and dislikes and what is important to him or her.
Choosing the right career requires that your child understand his or her interests, personality, skills and values. There are a variety of assessment instruments that career counselors use to help students identify their interests. You can also help your child think about his or her interests, personality, skills and values by discussing the things he or she likes and dislikes and how those preferences relate to career choices.
Learn about careers.
It is important for your child to have as much information as possible about his or her career interests. Many career decisions are made with limited information, and this can result in wrong career choices. Help your child gather written information about his or her career interests, talk with people who work in the career, and experience work in his or her chosen career. See the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Information Network (O*Net). Click on "Skills Search.
Set primary and secondary goals.
Your child may have a dream career in mind, but he or she should explore alternative goals as well. For example, if your child's primary career goal is to be a professional athlete, he or she should also consider other goals in the sports field such as sports medicine, sports promotion, coaching or physical education. It is always wise to have alternative goals.
Create and follow a plan.
Help your child create an educational plan to reach his or her career goal. This includes carefully choosing courses to take in high school. Make sure that your child is well prepared for college or other post-high school training.
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© Hawaii State Department of Education, P.O. Box 2360, Honolulu, HI 96804; Physical address: 1390 Miller St, Honolulu, HI 96813; phone: 808-586-3230; fax: 808-586-3234. All rights reserved. For problems/questions concerning this web site, please email the webmaster. Links to other web sites should not be considered an endorsement. DOE is not responsible for the content of external web sites.