Free career advice

Making good career decisions has become all the more important as the number of career options available to young people today continues to multiply and employers’ needs become more complex.

Career Services has spent the last year developing a new area of their website especially for parents and caregivers to use when helping their children make good study and training decisions, and successful transitions into the work place. It is full of up-to-date information and interactive resources.

“Parents and schools have complimentary roles to play in making young people aware of all the career options available to them today,” says Career Services chief executive Lester Oakes.

“With the new school term under way, schools are busy working with students on their subject choices for next year and preparing them for end-of-year exams.

“Parents and caregivers can also be actively involved behind the scenes, sparking those career conversations,” says Mr Oakes.

“I know, as a parent myself, it’s sometimes difficult to get those career conversations going with a young person. We’ve included some conversation starters for talking with young people about careers and some tips from other parents and careers professionals for handling difficult decisions or situations,” says Mr Oakes.

You might like to start the process by taking our website quiz to understand how well you know your child’s career plans.

The importance of a parent’s role has also been recently reiterated in Dr Heather Carpenter’s new book The Careers Maze.

Also included on the parents site is a simple guide to understanding NCEA and help with understanding industry training and tertiary study options. There are lots of case studies and information about how the labour market and jobs have changed since the days when parents were planning their own careers.

To use this free resource, visit: www.careers.govt.nz/parents