When you are trying to get your child into college, getting a place seems like the be-all and end-all. However, the bigger picture is that college, while a formative time in a young person’s life, is a stepping stone to securing a role in their desired career field. Indeed, your child will still need support with this as they navigate their way through college. Read on to find out how you can help. 

Choosing the right college courses 

Picking the college courses that correspond to the career your college student wants is the vital first step. However, not all students know what they want to spend the rest of their life doing by the time they go to college, which makes it impossible to pre-select the right courses. 

For such students, it’s important to prioritize creating a career plan, which is discussed in more detail below. It’s also vital to remember that it is often possible to switch courses in the first semester, and even the first term if they find they need credits in subjects other than their original choice. 

Improve their employability with career-specific skills 

Another way that you can support your college student to get their dream career is to encourage them to improve their chances of being employed by working on career-specific skills. Indeed, colleges are usually brilliant at delivering academic content, but may not be so great at teaching all the practical skills that your student needs to hit the ground running. 

Fortunately, thanks to the online education platform Teach Ours and others like them, it’s never been easier to get the careers-specific skills your college student needs to thrive. They can even complete their courses, at their own pace, which means it is easy for them to fit them around their college responsibilities. 

Creating a career plan 

A career plan is an action plan that relates specifically to the steps your college student will need to take to gain entry into their dream career. They are particularly effective because they break down huge, and often overwhelming tasks such as becoming a doctor, later or teacher into shorter-term, and more manageable actions. 

The great thing about creating a career plan is that it encourages your college student to think carefully about what they might like to do. In this process, they should consider not only which subjects they are good at, but also the type of environment in which they work best, the kinds of people they want to work with, and the location and salary implications involved.

This will then help your college student build a better overall picture of the type of career that would best suit them. Additionally, even if they do not have any ideas on a specific career path at this stage, it will give them some factors that can help narrow their search and guide their studies. For example, if they know they want to work in a quiet environment with more introverted people, a career as a research scientist is likely to be better than one in customer service.