A dream career isn’t luck – it’s built
- The Parents' Guide to
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Whether your teen’s taking their next career step through higher education, an apprenticeship, training or going into their first job, the skills they’ve gained up to that point will matter – in most cases as much as the qualifications they achieve.
Skills aren’t only learned in the classroom; they’re learned through experience. Your teen is developing their skillset every day – through interactions with friends and family, and through the hobbies and interests they choose to pursue. While skills are important in the workplace, they’re just as valuable for everyday life too.
Let’s look at why skills count and how to help your teen get them.
Why employers care about skills
Teens applying for their next opportunity will be of a similar age, have studied similar subjects and might even have similar grades. Interviewers need something else to decide which candidates could be the best fit for their organization. This is where skills come in.
Interviewers will interpret your teen’s skillset as an indicator of their personality, ability to manage workload and how they cooperate with others.
How skills convert interests into great careers
Skills cover a wide range of personal strengths that help people communicate, collaborate, and flourish. There are many different skills, and no-one is gifted at every single one. Your teen will have their own unique combination of strengths. Looking for jobs that involve using their top skills is more likely to result in a rewarding career. Don’t forget - different jobs require excellence in different skills, so there’s usually something to fit all personalities.
Soft skills are transferrable between different roles and industries, so the skill remains useful even when the job changes.
Employers know which skills are valuable in each job and they are actively seeking candidates that have those skills. If your teen can show they have a good track record in certain skills, it provides opportunities to help them choose roles that align with their likes and values, rather than having to settle for what is available.
Parents - help your teen build their skills!
Your teen’s developing their skillset all the time and there’s no end date. However, limitations can arise if they don’t stretch themselves through trying new experiences and new approaches. If they only stick to what they know, they are not going to discover new likes and new skills. This doesn’t mean they have to do new things all the time! Here’s how to give them a guiding hand towards maximising their potential:
Check our “skills employers love” list. Ask your teen to pick their favourite 3 (there’s no right answer!)
Help them list the 3 skills they feel strongest in – does this match their favourite 3?
Chat about careers where these skills might be useful
Ask your teen to give real life examples that shows them using certain skills
Encourage a healthy mix of social activities and time on their own
Explore a broad range of interests over years 10-13, but ensure some consistency term on term
Support them if they want to delve deep into a hobby over many years so long as it demonstrates progression
Check to see if they’re enjoying their hobbies or are doing them to fit in with others?
Join our Parent Club! Find out the top 20 skills employers look for, discover which hobbies build them, and help your teen develop the skills that matter to them
Skills are the building blocks to a dream career
Skills are the building blocks that turn dreams into action and action into success. Never underestimate the power of small, consistent actions in making dreams a reality.
Analytical – Identifying patterns and observing people and behaviours
Communication – The ability to express complex ideas clearly and simply with other
Flexibility - being able to adapt behaviour depending on the situation
Curiousity – Demonstrating an interest in finding out more, experiencing new things and expanding knowledge
Organisation - not only knowing what needs to be done, but when and in what order to do it
Positivity - helping others to see things from a positive perspective
Problem solving – Being able to think of, and develop, inventive solutions to problems Resilience – The ability to manage stress and bounce back when faced with difficulties – required to succeed under pressure
Teamwork – Being able to collaborate and co-ordinate with others
Time management – Using time effectively to maximise outcomes
This is just a snippet from The Parents' Guide to Developing Skills and Character. If you’d like the full version, with clear, up-to-date advice, practical tips and actions you can take at home, click below.
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