Only a lucky few of us know from a young age the type of work we want to do when we grow up. Most of us need time to figure it out, and plenty of us stumble into our jobs and careers without too much thought.
That’s why it’s good to have conversations about jobs and careers with your child early – and to have them regularly, on an ongoing basis. This will hopefully make big decisions about education, training, and careers more manageable as you and your child will be used to having these types of conversations.
Your child doesn’t need to make every decision about their future working life immediately. They can achieve their goal in lots of different ways and a step-by-step approach works well.
There’s a range of training and education pathways available to young people today, offering a better set of options than ever before. Take some time to look at all the possible pathways with your child, to inform their decision-making process.
As a parent you can feel under pressure to know everything about the training and education options available. So, it’s good to know there are lots of people and resources available to support your conversations.
You can use Talking Futures to fill in the gaps and speak with a teacher or careers adviser at your child’s school or college. Exploring the options together with your child can help both of you feel more confident in the decisions your child goes on to make.
Gatsby created the Benchmarks for Good Career Guidance for all schools and colleges in England. Now we want to strengthen the support for parents, carers and guardians.
As a result of Gatsby’s work in schools, 3.3 million young people now have regular opportunities to meet, talk with or hear from employers – up 70% in two years.
Gatsby was established by businessman and donor Lord Sainsbury and has a dedicated team focused on education policy.
In collaboration with schools and colleges, the government and other education bodies, we’re helping parents to help their children find the right pathway for them.