As a child I worked a lot with my dad and was always amused with the way he did his job with so much pride. Even till now I am sure he still loves the fact that he is a pharmacist. He really wanted me to be one too but the fear of Chemistry kept me away. I’ll rather deal with calculations than have to remember all those molecular structure jargon. I eventually veered into the financial services industry even though I had a science background. As an accountant, I have had the opportunity to be with many accountants and so many times I have heard them say they’ll never advise their children to go the same route. Funny isn’t it? Accounting is a great career but sometimes one can get so bugged down with providing details of moneys that has already been spent or even have to go into very detailed analysis. This can be boring and tiring at times I must say.

Many adults are in careers they have no business practicing because they really didn’t understand what it was all about. They only went into it because they felt it was prestigious or that it will enable them earn fat salaries. As a parent one great help you can offer your children is to guide them in the choice of a future career. Preventing dissatisfaction can happen when they are able to see how their chosen career works in real life before they eventually conclude on it. It is easy to see doctors, engineers, lawyers, etc all kitted up and love to be like them without understanding what their job is all about. I once heard of a boy who wanted to be a medical doctor. In order to help him make his decision his mum got a job shadowing opportunity for him in a hospital while he was still in secondary school. He didn’t even bother to conclude the period he signed up for at the hospital because he realised he couldn’t work as a doctor because he frets at the mere sight of blood.

Job shadowing is a career exploration activity that offers an opportunity to spend time with a professional currently working in a person’s career field of interest. Job shadowing offers a chance to see what it’s actually like working in a specific job. Not only do job shadowers get to observe the day-to-day activities of someone in the current workforce, they also get a chance to have their questions answered. In order to help your child avail himself or herself with this opportunity you can check with organisations of interest to see if there is someone currently working in their career field of interest who would be interested in hosting a job shadower for one or more days over the course of a holiday.

This will be a great opportunity for your child to see what it is like to be in whatever profession they currently love or believe they will enjoy. This opportunity will allow your child meet colleagues, get a tour of the organisation or various organisations, observe daily activities of their sponsor, along with an opportunity to ask questions to learn more about the field. It is indeed a great way to learn more about careers with minimal time commitment.

– Gbonjubola Sanni