As a parent, you obviously want your children to achieve success in their education and careers. It is often easy to guide your children when they follow your example, but when they show aptitude in subjects and topics in which you are unfamiliar, then it can be difficult to know how to help.

This guide provides you with practical advice to ensure your son or daughter will be fully prepared to enter the competitive and rewarding world of finance.

Why should you help?

Some parents take the attitude that once their children reach higher education it is time to stand back and allow them to find their own paths. However, many young adults in school have little idea about how the working world operates, and while colleges and universities provide some career advice, it usually comes from scholars who have spent most of their working lives in academia.

By taking an active role in preparing your children for their careers, you will greatly increase the chances of them landing a role that will offer excellent prospects for the future.

How you can help

There are many ways to prepare your children for a career in finance, such as understanding more about their education and interests and how this may fit opportunities. Start by talking about what their main interests are in finance. The financial industry requires more than just accountants and investment managers. Firms require business development managers, client service executives, data analysts, human resource managers, IT systems support, and marketing officers.

After gathering details from your children, begin researching the career paths that will allow them to reach their goals. To achieve the best positions in finance, they will need to obtain financial certificates and further qualifications. Students who begin studying for these qualifications as soon as they graduate will give an excellent impression to prospective employers.

The best way to determine which courses are required is to review job listings and read the qualifications. Many websites will list the latest opportunities, and the qualifications and experience required for each role.

Many roles ask for candidates to have knowledge and practical experience with specific computer packages; many of these can be studied online and courses can provide a good foundation in using them.

Although your child will not beat out somebody with several years of experience, in the recruitment process, they may well come across as the best of all graduates, if they can demonstrate they are familiar with the computer systems used.

Teach interview skills

Interview skills are possibly the most important part of landing a good career. How a person performs in 30 minutes in a room with two total strangers can determine his or her entire career.

What many students do not appreciate is that an interview is an opportunity to sell themselves; this is where you can help. Encourage your children to list all of their most positive aspects, their best skills, and their educational strengths and get them to talk candidly about these.

People who can casually talk about their best aspects come across as being confident, articulate, and professional. An interview is not the time to highlight to an employer all the things that you do not know; it is a time to sell yourself as an asset they cannot afford to lose to a competitor.

What companies are the best?

This is one of the most common questions asked by parents. Many people assume the best companies must be the huge financial organizations that are in the news every week. Although J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America Corp, and Citigroup are the largest in America, they do not necessarily offer the best career prospects; competition within the banking industry is extremely tough and they all take on hundreds of graduates each year.

It is often better to look to the smaller investment companies that provide a more bespoke and personal approach. In a smaller company, it is often easier to impress and rise through the ranks to board level, which is ultimately most people’s ambition.

Some excellent local opportunities that are an ideal match for your child may be available, so research the local area. Small regional offices can often be a great place to start a rewarding career in finance.

Supporting your children during this time is a challenge, but with a little information and some research, you can help guide them and hopefully they will land the career they have been dreaming of, or at least, the one they would have been dreaming of, had they known what opportunities were out there.