Free higher education in Russia is given only once. Entrusting the choice of profession to schoolchildren, when many graduates are not even 18 years old, is a dangerous decision. According to Rosstat, only about 40% of the population works in our specialty. The numbers not only hint, they shout that more than half of graduates wasted several years on unnecessary studies.
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The normal desire of parents is to help their child make a choice. The only question is how to do it.
Nurture independence in your child
Unfortunately, it’s too late to do this a year or two before graduation; you should have raised an independent child from birth, but it’s better to start at least someday. The main rule in career guidance is simple:
The child must choose a profession himself.
Only the person himself knows what he needs. And this is the only way the child will not blame his parents if something goes wrong, or think that he missed his chance.
I wanted to study acting. But dad said that all the actors stay in the regional theater, earn little and become drunkards. An engineer is another matter. I was obedient and entered the radio department. It was fun at the polytechnic, I took part in the student spring for 6 years, but I have zero knowledge in my head, as well as the desire to work as an engineer, even though I have a master’s degree. Because of this, all my life I have been haunted by a feeling of unfulfillment and thoughts that everything could have turned out somehow differently. Although I understand that dad is right and the work of actors is bestial. I don’t blame my parents, I blame myself for not doing what I dreamed of.
Maria
editor
How to find out which profession is right for me: career guidance tests
Tests allow you to quickly find out some psychological characteristics of a person. For example, personality type, expressed character traits, temperament, communication skills and areas of interest. It is important to repeat testing once a year - in adolescence, hobbies change, sometimes even to the opposite.
Testing alone is usually not enough for expert assessment. A conversation with a specialist, exercises or introductory games will help a teenager learn more about professions and their areas of interest. Next, you can choose an individual educational strategy.
Testing services:
- Testometrica.com - a resource with a variety of psychological tests: career guidance by age and type; test for aptitude for activity in a child; test for professional interests, aptitudes and abilities; talent test for children 7-13 years old. On the website you can take a paid extended career guidance test.
- “Career Guidance” is a testing and development center for “Humanitarian Technologies”. Career guidance diagnostics and career counseling for children and adults: tests on the object of work and Holland’s professional type. On the website you can take one block of the extended career guidance test for free.
- “Adukar” is an educational career guidance and training project. You can take a test using the Klimov method and the Holland test.
- “Enter Online” is an educational website with information about educational institutions in Russia, their programs and how to choose a profession.
- Test combination of Klimov and Holland methods.
- Questionnaire of professional aptitudes.
- Career choice matrix.
Find out what professions are in demand
Only they are actually in demand, and not “prestigious”. To understand this, you don’t need to read the selections and ratings. We need to open the websites of employment centers and websites that help in finding a job, and look carefully at the vacancies.
Grandfather advised me to choose something related to foreign languages, because it is in demand. I tried it, got carried away, so it was easy to follow his advice. The demand faded into the background because it became interesting. Now I’m in my favorite job in the IT field. Grandpa won't give you bad advice!
Angelina
translator
Viewing vacancies helps assess the popularity of the profession, possible salary and requirements for applicants. It may turn out that one higher education is not enough for your dream job: at the same time you need to learn languages and attend some courses.
Low level of erudition and lack of financial literacy
Olga Vasilyevna has been working in the field of education for 30 years, nine of which have been helping teenagers find themselves and decide on their future profession. For children, she is not a “boring teacher”, but a mentor and friend. As an expert in the field of career guidance, Olga Sergievich helped thousands of children in Buryatia make a choice. But generations change, the specialist notes, and there are more professions. Navigating the variety of activities is becoming increasingly difficult.
— In my work, I often encounter situations when a teenager comes to me and sees an atlas of professions for the first time. For example, he wants to become a lawyer, but does not know in which areas as a lawyer he could realize himself, and there are a lot of such areas. The choice is often limited by a low level of erudition, lack of financial literacy, socialization and inability to manage one’s time. Many teenagers dream of earning a lot, but do not know how to give back - such a specialist today will not be of interest to the employer, says Olga Sergievich.
Show the profession from the inside
Adults have a large circle of acquaintances with a variety of specialties. Ask your friends to tell your child what and how they do at work. It is important to hear about the most common everyday activities. For example, about how you have to write letters, how to work with drawings in real conditions, how you have to arrive promptly at eight in the morning, how to fill out reports and drink tea with accounting.
Many businesses hold open days. At such events, you need to ask the right questions: not about high performance and a great goal, but about routine, the organization of work places.
My parents are teachers. They told me not to go into teaching, so I didn’t go.
Lida
advertising specialist
We have a vague idea about many professions. It is better to get to know the work better than to spend several years and face a conflict between expectations and reality.
It is also important that health must correspond to working conditions. It is possible to understand whether a child can handle it or not only in combat conditions or at least during a frank conversation with a representative of the profession.
What is career guidance and how does it help a teenager decide on a future profession?
Career guidance is a scientific set of actions that helps people choose a future profession or learn a new one.
It includes:
- informing about possible specialties, the skills and abilities needed for them, educational institutions;
- professional counseling;
- diagnostics - most often this is testing;
- psychological support.
The main goal of career guidance for teenagers is to prepare them for an informed choice of a future profession. This choice consists of three components: the interest and abilities of a person, the demand for a profession and the demand of society.
The labor market is developing and transforming so quickly that it is no longer possible to find out about all the modern and emerging professions among your friends. Dozens of specialties are no longer needed, but many new areas are becoming promising.
On the other hand, many schoolchildren do not really know what representatives of a particular specialty do, and their opportunities for career growth. They think the job will be fine because it “pays well” or “doesn’t require much effort.” This is normal for teenagers, because they have difficulty with long-term planning. But if you provide them with complete information, it will be easier to make a choice. How to highlight important subjects and skills for success in your chosen profession?
Help from a career consultant saves time. There is no need to study for several years a specialty that will soon disappear or cease to be in demand. You can immediately choose what suits your temperament, type of thinking, abilities and type of activity.
Find study options in other cities and countries
Often we don’t even know where we can work and who we can work with; we have no idea what specialties are available at universities even in neighboring cities, not to mention universities on the other side of the country. And completely in vain.
When the time came to choose who to be, I was only 15 years old. In my city it was impossible to study in the specialty I dreamed of, and the school had a different profile. To enroll, you had to transfer to another school, study according to a special program, travel several hundred kilometers to another city and submit documents. I couldn’t pull it off, and my parents weren’t puzzled; in the end, I chose a profession from those that were available nearby. I'm almost 30, I still regret it.
Nastya
copywriter
Of course, moving a child to another city is not a joyride in the park; supporting a student from a distance is more difficult. But it's worth it if we're talking about a profession for life.
On what basis do teenagers choose a profession on their own?
The choice of profession is influenced by:
- Parents, especially if there are labor dynasties, where the child almost automatically inherits the profession of the older generation, about which he has heard a lot in previous years and has the greatest understanding. The desire to go their own way in such families is usually met with hostility.
- Advice from friends - to go to a university or vocational school with a friend or girlfriend - is always relevant.
- The so-called “fashionable” professions, for the implementation of which sometimes there are not enough funds, there are no necessary qualities, knowledge of what you will have to do, but “you really want to.”
- School grades in certain subjects often influence future job choices.
The attitude towards work is ingrained in every family from a very early age. Having a child, it should be taken into account that the choice of life position often depends on carelessly spoken words, such as “work is not a wolf...”.
Don't confuse your favorite lesson at school and profession
Standard logic: if you're good at mathematics, go study to become a computer scientist; if you're good at literature, go become a philologist; if you don't like anything, then go for a manager's degree, there's an Unified State Examination in social studies.
This knowledge needs to be tailored to the goal, and not choose a job based on knowledge.
You need to choose a profession that will help your child earn money, and not a favorite subject. Maybe a child likes a teacher, a comfortable office and beautiful visual materials, but nothing like that will happen in the profession.
Online schools where you can get the profession of the future
Foxford is an online school. After passing the test and consulting with a specialist, the student is trained on an individual educational route. Available for external studies.
"Technopolis. School of Modern Skills" - training children and teenagers in working with social networks, blogging, design, programming, financial literacy.
Prime online - you can take a career guidance course and supplement your training with subjects important for your future profession.
Deti-MBA - training in the basics of management and marketing, creating and implementing startups, solving business cases.
STEP Computer Academy - teaching children programming, creating games, developing mobile applications, digital art and 3D animation. Online and offline.
Hello World is an online programming school for children. Through play, children learn how to create games, programming languages, and web design.
“Academy of Professions of the Future” - training children and teenagers in programming, animation, video blogging and game development.
Don’t force me to go to college
If the child has not yet decided who to be, give him time and the opportunity to think about who to become. Nothing (except the boys’ fear of the army) prevents them from working for a couple of years after school, getting acquainted with real life, devoting time to educational courses and finding themselves. If you can't imagine not studying after school, try college. There the exams are simpler, the cost of training is lower, and you will get a ready-made profession faster.
My mother forced me to go to a technical college (at the age of 15 I did not have the right to vote), which I was not very happy about, so I tried with all my might to get me expelled. Did not work out. After college, I myself already chose a university and a specialty. Now I don't regret it. After college, I was sent to practice at AvtoVAZ. At the age of 18, I already had a normal position and salary.
Maria
manager
The craze for higher education does not lead to anything good. Often a diploma is just a piece of paper with not an ounce of knowledge and skills behind it. But there are several years lost and hundreds of thousands spent.
How to push a child to the right decision?
The search for a suitable profession should not be left to the last minute - while studying at school, you can send your child to study in thematic clubs, sports sections, or give the teenager a music education. In many educational institutions, during labor lessons, teachers look for student interest in a particular activity. Girls are offered classes in housekeeping and cooking. Boys are encouraged to express themselves by making various crafts.
Children receive a lot of information about existing professions at school:
- excursions are organized to local enterprises, where future applicants see the scope of work of specialists in certain professions;
- meetings are organized with local celebrities, where they talk about their profession, what knowledge and abilities one should have in order to succeed;
- tests, quizzes, and games are conducted so that schoolchildren can become more familiar with existing professions.
The question of how to help a teenager choose a profession should be addressed jointly by parents and the school.
A high school student should not be told that their professional choice is one for life. If you want to change your profession, it is never too late to do so.
If the student has decided in advance who he will study for, you can organize a test for compliance by arranging for the child to work during the holidays in a similar specialty. Faced with the discrepancy between reality and their dreams, many lose interest in their previously chosen specialty.
Don't force me to finish my studies
In the period from 18 to 23 years old, a person grows up sharply; this is the age of formation. Sometimes the eyes open and the student realizes that he is not doing his own thing: he finds a more interesting specialty, and realizes what his goal is. As a rule, this is a more conscious choice than the decision of yesterday’s student; such a turn will bring more benefits than the dull receipt of a diploma, because “once you start, finish.”
After ninth grade, the class teacher advised my mother to send me to a technical school. My parents didn’t really choose, but sent me to construction, because all my mother’s colleagues were graduating from it. I was told that the main thing is to get a diploma. I obediently agreed. I suffered for four years. Afterwards, I independently decided to get a higher education in another specialty. My parents agreed, although they said: “Was it really a waste of four years of schooling?”
Anton
designer
An education diploma and several years of study are not a contract for life. Everything can be changed at any moment. Don't forget to tell this to a child who isn't sure what he or she has chosen.
About tutors, medals and honors diplomas
The “school - university - work” scenario has long been irrelevant. Concepts such as “additional education”, “part-time work”, “volunteering”, in other words, self-development, are tightly woven into this chronology.
— Some people mistakenly believe that higher education is a passport to life. But today, every eighth specialist is employed in a job that does not require higher education. You can have a gold medal and a stack of honors, but all this is useless if you do not have a set of personal qualities, do not know how to think broadly, are not socialized, and do not have interests, says the psychologist. — When attention is only focused on studying, other important areas of life suffer: the ability to communicate and interact, vocabulary, systematic thinking, interdisciplinary communication. School is not your whole life! It is necessary to grow personally. In addition, no stable job with a good salary will bring happiness to a child if it is not loved. Find time and let your child take various career guidance tests - there are many of them on the Internet. Give him a chance to try his hand at business, earn extra money, and volunteer. A teenager must understand what it means to earn and manage pocket money, to do something voluntarily and not receive anything in return.
According to the psychologist, you should not be afraid to send your child to study and live in another city. After all, it is impossible to artificially create conditions for the development of life skills. Many of the children with whom Olga Sergievich works do not know how to do basic things: cook their own food, plan their time, or navigate the city. Let your child live his experience, do not consider it your property, the expert advises.
— Some mothers and fathers hire tutors for their children, believing that they are absolving themselves of responsibility - “I pay for it, please.” And the child may skip classes altogether because he is not interested. You shouldn’t turn classes with a tutor into some kind of race. Find a specialist in the subject in which you really need to improve before the Unified State Exam, a specialist whom your child will listen to carefully and understand. It is more important than any Olympiad to teach a child to find and analyze information, think systematically, adapt to rapidly changing conditions, learn and invest in themselves, in their development. Let your child attend more professional courses and gain valuable experience.
Checklist for a caring parent
Briefly about what to do to help your child:
- Do not insist on your choice and let the child decide for himself what to do.
- Tell us what professions are needed now.
- Offer those professions that will interest the child, and not those that a test or grade in a magazine will suggest.
- Give as much information as possible about different professions.
- Show non-obvious solutions: specialties that have not been heard of in your field.
- Don’t force yourself to study for the sake of a diploma: it’s better to spend a couple of years on self-determination, and then find the ideal profession.
Did your parents help you with your choice?
Professions of the future and trends in the labor market
Global changes in the labor market are leading to the fact that many professions are disappearing or will not be needed in the next 5–10 years. Physical work will soon be taken over by machines. But globalization, the development of computer and nanotechnologies, artificial intelligence, and robotics will give birth to new professions. Process automation will free specialists from routine work. On the other hand, competition between them will increase.
Of course, the use of machines will not be immediately available to all countries, but labor market trends show that the future lies in specialties where robots and technologies will not be able to compete with humans.
The professions in demand in the near future will continue to be IT specialists (project managers, testers, developers), logisticians, marketers, psychologists, and managers.
New professions will appear in medicine, IT, biotechnology, agriculture, energy, ecology, and nanotechnology. For example, online therapists, city farmers, robot designers, drone operators and Internet of Things developers will soon become in demand.
Natalya Yemchenko, director of communications at System Capital Management, talks about professions and skills that will be relevant in the next five years.
Professions of the future. Labor market in 2025 | Natalia Yemchenko
How to get a ticket to a happy future?
- study the atlas of professions;
- While still at school, take professional courses and get a profession;
- go through career guidance;
- find your hobby - for many it has become a job that generates income;
- study the experiences of other people, but do not compare yourself with others;
- remember that you are unique, you just need to understand why;
- don’t be afraid to go to work - any professional skill and experience is important!
Contacts:
89025342298 (Viber, WhatsApp) 89503941810 (Christina, assistant) Instagram: @olgavsergievich
As an advertisement
Author: Valeria Balzhieva
"Uncle Bair won't help"
Olga Vasilievna’s work is an integrated approach to the personality of a teenager. Therefore, before testing for career guidance, first of all, a diagnosis is carried out and the child’s fears and insecurities are worked out, his conflicts and misunderstandings with parents are sorted out.
The card game “Profession” helps to get to know yourself, determine what qualities and abilities need to be developed for successful professional self-realization, and understand what interests a child. It provides an opportunity to analyze the choice of profession and is suitable for those who want to independently determine their future path. While playing, a child can see his true values, find out what goals he wants to achieve, what kind of work suits him best and what working conditions are preferable for him.
“The future lies in the development of the social sphere, pharmaceuticals, preventive medicine, ecology, marketing, management, information technology, robotics, psychology, agriculture (we are returning to our own production in order to be healthy), says the career guidance specialist. —Psychological services and coaching will also be in demand. In conditions of accelerating time, people began to work less physically and were more susceptible to stress. Uncle Bair won't help today. If we are talking about our city, then it is just cafes, shopping centers and beauty salons. Where are they now that the pandemic has hit? Closed. In the future, people will become more selective about goods and services, treat natural resources less consumptively, and will learn to be human again. Our task is for our children to be happy people!
