Son needs help to decide what job/career he wants to do

geek84

Good Morning Folks

My son who is 15 years old and in year 11 at school needs help to decide what job/career he would ideally be suited for when past compulsory school age. He met the school careers advisor last week but he seems to be non the wiser.

Can you suggest any tests/quizzes which he can do online and which can help him to separate his likes/dislikes in order for him to achieve a more manageable list of jobs/careers from which he can choose?

Thanks

worried_jim

Tell him to go for a walk! Seriously, go walk around the scum estate and then the posh estate, look at the cars, houses etc and think where would he like to live and to imagine what the people living in them do/did to get there.

There will be clues, for example near me the big houses all have white vans on the drive as the owners are self employed gas engineers, electricians (£60K per year) etc. None of them are owned by people who went to university and did media studies.

He should come back motivated and inspired. Good luck!

gettingtheresometime

OP does your son enjoy being out and about or is he an indoors bird? Does he accept instruction well? Is he a leader or a follower? What subjects is he doing at school? What was his thought process when he chose them? What are his hobbies?

On the basis that he will spend most of his waking life as an adult in work he needs to do a job he will enjoy doing regardless of the income attached

onlyroz

He doesn't have to decide now. If he studies something like maths or physics at A Level then he will have a broad range of choices available to him in a few years.

jackyann

I hope that someone will be along who knows a site or two.

I would myself be cautious - I have known lots of 15 year old boys who feel like this, and the best course IMHO is to keep options as open as possible.

I am guessing he is still at tongue-tied adolescence, as with maturity usually comes some idea of what to do.

Is he fairly academic and wanting to do A levels? If so, then honestly, the best advice is to do the ones you like / are good at. You can pick up some extra study if needed for university entrance for a particular subject. By that I mean that is you are for instance, generally good at maths, you do that; but actually need physics for university entrance you can do it later. I don't mean that if you are bad at science, then suddenly decide to be a doctor that you can switch!

If he isn't, then what is he good at, what does he enjoy in general? How does he spend his spare time?

It can be a big leap for anxious parents to allow their teenagers to hang around and pick up bits of low level work, but sometimes they need a bit of space away from school to find out what suits them. I have known a few boys who got bits of low-level casual labouring whilst deciding what to do - they can pick up voluntary or other casual work in the spaces and it seems to help them mature.

Some parents I know in this situation have said 'you must go to college and learn something - anything - that keeps you getting up and working to a timetable'. One lad I knew picked a trade out of he blue and thanks to good placements has ended up loving it. Another started hanging around with some lads on another course that had never occurred to him, then asked to transfer, and has a very good business of his own now in that field.

So my advice would be to keep options open, allow him to mature whilst doing something that occupies him, and a year from now it may look very different.

Of course, you may feel this is completely wrong in which case, ignore!

Tigsteroonie

I didn't know what I wanted to do at 15. Nor at 18. I came up with an answer to keep my family and my school happy, but to be honest, I had no strong feelings other than working in 'an office/admin' as opposed to working with my hands or out-of-doors.

Get him to keep his options as open as possible.

Spendless

What does he enjoy doing?

My son sat GCSE's this summer. From being 8 he showed a flair for science, was invited to do extra days/weeks from his school due to this. Got into an outreach program at a local Uni from yr9 via his school. Selected his options based on the outreach program he was on and his work experience at the end of yr10 on his subjects he was taking. Then around 4 weeks later in the summer hols between yr10-yr11 completely changed his mind and instead decided he wanted to do a computer course.

He is now doing that at college on a course that is equivalent to A levels. This has modules that are different aspects of computing with the idea that at the end of the 2 year course you will have an idea of what area interests you more and what you would like to study further or take a job in.

At 15 he doesn't need to know what job he'd like to do, just what area he'd like to study/work in. If he doesn't know that, then keep the broadest options open.

jackieblack

Tigsteroonie wrote: »

I didn't know what I wanted to do at 15. Nor at 18.

I'm 48 and still don't know what I want to do

Jackieboy

Does his school have visiting careers advisers (not careers teachers) or is there a careers centre locally?

If not (or as well) this would be a good place to start.

https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/

cats2012

My best advice would be carry on doing the subjects/activities he loves - no matter what they might be - and see where they take him! No need at all to decide now, unless you want to do something with a very specific path - e.g. medicine

Best example is my best friend's brother. No idea what to do but loved football and gardening. Started out on a gardening/landscaping apprenticeship, kept his eye out for local volunteering as well, and eventually now works as a groundman at a premier league club!

DCFC79

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

OP does your son enjoy being out and about or is he an indoors bird? Does he accept instruction well? Is he a leader or a follower? What subjects is he doing at school? What was his thought process when he chose them? What are his hobbies?

These are good questions he should think about.