Playing sport – a chance to talk about your child’s future?

Quality time as a family is becoming increasingly rare in the busy day-to-day life of work, family and social commitments. You may not want to spoil this time by talking to your child about their future career or training plans.

Trust your gut feeling as to whether it is the right time to explore what careers interest your child. You know them best.

Any conversation should be informal, without them realising how interested you actually are. Be curious, not intensely interested.

Some possible starters for your career conversation could be:

• “Wouldn’t it be great to have a job outdoors? Especially on a day like this?”
• “Being sporty is such a nice balance to a desk job, isn’t it?”
• "I’d love to be a student again and enjoy great summer days then do study in the evenings. But then again, students hardly have any money and possibly big debt at the end of their training – maybe an apprenticeship is a better choice these days?”

Anything you can say to make them start thinking about what they would like to do is great, and every bit of information that they offer is valuable.

Common career myths
Role of the parent