How are your DC deciding their careers?

[Bdjdjsns]

I'm curious are your DC deciding on something that they feel genuinely passionate about? Or are they looking at careers purely by what pays the most?

Just want to hear a variety of views.

I’m not sure we were anble to give our DC much advice as they have both chosen careers different to ours! They both did the research and told us! However, we did support them with developing the relevant skills for their applications and various stages of tests/online interviews, etc.

My DH recently took voluntary redundancy from his job of 16 years, and was given some time with a careers consultant who explained how to make his CV standout in AI-driven selection processes and how to navigate the recruitment consultancy sphere - things that weren't so prominent last time he was changing jobs. Hopefully university careers departments cover these things. I don't think my kids' school careers advisor mentioned them, and many parents' advice will be out of date if they've been in the same job for many years.

What hours do your adult DC work? My DC - just a straight 9-5.

I bet most have no idea. My DD just had to do a profile for her uni paper for instagram about future career goals (she's a deputy editor). She was stumped. She originally wanted to do animation but after talking to those in the industry and her own investigation decided job prospects were scarce and didn't think it was viable.
She's now doing Sociology and is interested in access to education (so education policy), politics too, but finds herself spending most of her down time researching possible articles to write. Investigative journalism? Academia?
She's doing her research. She's met one on one with a visiting award winning investigative journalist, she's applying for a Sociology research intern position for next summer, and works on the student newspaper. Did I mention she's a fresher and has only been there less than a month? She's already looked at what she can do summer after Y2 if the internship doesn't come off (it's for two years).
When I went to uni my aim was to, um, get to class on time! I did a more vocational degree and just assumed I'd go do that (which I did). But if I knew then what I know now I'd have gone for a different, though related, degree. We aren't fully mature at 18, and aren't experienced enough to know what's out there.

My DC once watched a careers talk and brought home a leaflet from a maths-related event about being an actuary. It said that actuaries tend to work fewer hours than many other finance careers, which I think was part of the attraction. Obviously it depends on the sector - his graduate-entry job will be with a consultancy, so there are bound to be busy times, but once he is qualified he'll be able to move around, internationally as well as between sectors.

My DC2 did a week of work experience with a big civil engineering firm and said they all worked 9-5, "if that". He was clearly surprised at how much non-work chit-chatting went on in the office. 🙃 (His current casual job is as a lifeguard and they are not allowed to talk to each other while working).

My DC decided broadly on their careers during their degree courses. They used internships and other experiences to hone in on specific jobs/employers. DD (Biology) joined a UN conservation subsidiary as a graduate scientist and two years on is an environmental consultant for a global engineering company. DS (Economics) joined a banking grad scheme after a series of spring and summer internships.

My DD is mainly 9-5, but it can vary a bit at times. DS will be 9-7 if not longer if he gets into his chosen career

Re hours DD works strictly 9 to 5 as she always has other things she wants to do after work (sport, theatre, social life).
DS tends to work longer hours. He is less proficient at managing a work life balance, tends towards perfectionism and is doing a Mst degree part time.

Any tips on this please?

Mine is similar though that's in large part luck that it's how her company works. Her BF (different sort of engineer) gets paid overtime till his next grade rise, really enjoys his work so he does more.

Really interesting thread OP!

My DD is following her passion to work with animals. She'll never earn a lot but at least she'll be happy and her job can't be easily be replaced by AI! I think parents and schools should really be paying closer attention to AI and avoiding steering children into careers that could become obsolete within five-ten years.

The AI CV advice was to reduce formatting, keep it clean and simple and tailor the first 5cm 'summary' section of the document to the job spec you're applying to. They gave him a template.

As he's over 50 he was also advised to not include the date of his degree, and to include detail of jobs for just the last 15 years, summarising earlier roles in an "early career" section without dates (sad but true).

For the consultancy stuff he was advised to check out Linkedin profiles of people in roles similar to what he would be applying to, to see which agents were in their contact lists, then look at which companies those agents were connected into, to find good matches with his sector, then register with about 5. (Though I'm not sure this was particularly successful when he tried it - the agents he registered with seemed surprisingly disinterested given the strength of DH's CV). 🤷‍♀️

Most of the junior admin roles at my university were filled by it's recent graduates, most of whom left after a year or 2 once they realised what they really wanted to do. Or got promoted into more senior positions.

Since I asked about parents encouraging certain careers, I'd also like to ask if it's common for parents to discourage certain career paths. Like teaching for example.

DS dropped out of university and we worried he was going off the rails.

A friend has got him his first ever job a few months ago. It's in catering and he's earning the minimum wage.

TBH I'm just delighted he's found something he's enjoying. No idea what his future holds, but I was the same. Did a variety of jobs & travelled in my 20's.

@Bdjdjsns I think I knew my DDs didn’t want to teach. They had been on the receiving end of it for 13 plus years and didn’t think it was the job for them. I didn’t think the NHS was for them either. Their dad has been self employed all their lives so that was more of a role model. I worked for a LA and that didn’t resonate much. DDs aren’t like me at all. Definitely more creative and have talents in very different areas. One DD is self employed and thrives on it. DD2 did a fashion degree and that was not successful in terms of a career. She’s now retrained and has a job she really likes. I was not sure fashion was the best plan but she wanted to find it a go, I might have talked some careers through with them but I’m not really against anything. My DM was a nurse in WW2 and she certainly warned us off nursing!

Eldest wanted to be a vet aged 4. Everything was done knowing that was the aim. Learning spellings etc and knowing they needed great gcse and a levels.

Has applied for vet med for 2025 and already has an offer which they will get / offer ABC and predicted 4x A*. Has done 6 weeks of different work experience in different places and lambing and small holding managing and done helping out at a stable for 5 years. Did some medical work experience in a hospital just to make sure Medicine wasn’t a choice.

I can’t see them being anything but a vet and never could.

Other DC wants to go in the army - might do loves puzzles, maths and morse code.

Both my DH and I are teachers in state secondaries. I teach English, he teaches Science (Physics specialist). We have advised our DC against teaching for a whole host of reasons. It isn’t a career that has ever appealed in part because she has seen what we have to put up with and how far it encroaches into family life. One thing we both hope is that she finds a job that offers a good work/life balance.

I can assure anyone thinking of teaching, that being self employed or a farmer encroaches far more into family life! No generous holidays for farmers.

If either of my 2 had been interested in journalism (they weren't) I would have advised them against it, based on the experience of a family member.

I would have also advised them against Sports Science, because I think there is an over-supply of graduates in that field, and I see them struggling to get the jobs they imagined (against based on experience of a family member and children of work colleagues).

If they had wanted to teach a shortage subject like maths, science, or computing I would have applauded them.

The only recent advice I've given my eldest (studying economics and stats) is to avoid anything that involves sales pitches and earning commission (e.g. the "financial advice" sector), or that has a reputation for being very stressful and taking its pound of flesh (e.g. investment banking).

DD has always wanted to work in healthcare. She was unsuccessful in gaining a place at medical school and took a gap year to decide what she really wanted to do. She did a biomedical sciences degree then worked in a pharmacy after graduating and gained a pharmacy qualification before deciding what she really wanted to do.

She starts her masters in diagnostic radiography next year. She will be pretty much guaranteed a job when she completes her masters.

One definitely passion, wants to be a uni lecturer in the subject they’ve loved since being about 7 and have excelled at all the way through school. Family full of uni lecturers/secondary school teachers so I guess they’ve been surrounded by it.

Second has not got a clue, not sure they’ll choose uni at this stage. They’re predicted great A level grades but currently don’t want to commit to the cost of uni without being 100% sure. I think that they will explore civil service options atm.

DD has been hugely influenced by watching TV. We've gone from surgeon (thank you Greys Anatomy) to Combat Medical Technician (thank you Our Girl). I'm now subjecting her to Casualty and 999 to try and persuade her that a paramedic in the UK is nearly as exciting as being a paramedic on the front line of a war zone.

DDs TV influence was impractical as she's a few centuries early to be an engineer on the Starship Enterprise

If they had wanted to teach a shortage subject like maths, science, or computing I would have applauded them.

She occasionally mentioned the idea of retraining as a teacher in one of these areas at a later stage - it can be a better work-life balance, less location specific option than many STEM/industry careers. Her school electronics teachers had both done this, it seemed like a sensible potential plan B for her.

In terms of discouraging her from specific fields, at one point when she was thinking about different areas of engineering, DH (who was an industrial chemist) gave her a firm steer against chem eng. Basically because chemical plants aren't very nice places to work and you're geographically constrained.

"She occasionally mentioned the idea of retraining as a teacher in one of these areas at a later stage - it can be a better work-life balance, less location specific option than many STEM/industry careers"

One advantage in teaching maths compared to past generations is that there isn't so much marking - homework is often done electronically using Dr Frost or equivalent. There are also opportunities to supplement income through tutoring.

Teaching unions have a strong voice in schools these days, and schools are doing their utmost to facilitate work-life balance, e.g. online parents evenings, etc. Yes, you have to deal with a lot of difficult and damaged families, but its a noble profession.

That said, I know I wouldn't be able to do it. I speak my mind too readily, and need to be able to walk away from situations when I feel stressed. I am a school governor though, so contribute where I can.