by: Saanvi Sajja
When making the correct career decision you often take the opinions of others into consideration. Most of the time the “people'' you take into consideration for making your career choice ends up being your parents. Whether you want them involved or not, they will end up putting themselves into the situation, but how involved should they be in your career choice? I still argue with my parents about my future career now and then and trust me I get so frustrated. I’m indecisive in my career choice. Somedays I wanna be a doctor, other days I wanna be a lawyer, and sometimes I even convince myself that I don't wanna work in a capitalist society. I know I'm not the only one that gets frustrated about making this choice, especially with overbearing parents. That’s why I'm here to give you a little guidance on how to make this decision with your parents.
Our parents have taught us to walk, to crawl, and even to talk, so for them, it's hard to let go of their children when they need to. A career choice is one of the first big decisions we make as a child and obviously parents would worry if that decision is straight or wrong for us. Our parents have been there with us all our lives and they think they know what's best for us, but what they fail to realize is that it's not about their future, it's about their child’s future. It's a decision we have to make on our own with GUIDANCE from our parents. Children have to make the choice, not the parent. My parents are immigrants from India and their parents really discouraged him from moving to America, however, my parents still moved because of their careers. Our parents have to make their own decisions and they need to realize that no matter what they also have to let us make our choice on what career we choose for ourselves.
Here are some tips to have a healthy conversation about your career with your parents:
Know what interests you and what you want.: A career choice ultimately comes down to what you want, so find out what interests you. Take career quizzes, analyze your strengths and weaknesses, join clubs in your high school, etc. Do what you need to do to find out your potential career interest. This process is long and hard. It takes time and it's okay because it's a chic you gave to live with the rest of your life.
Assert yourself and be confident with your decision.: Say you have figured out what you want to do in the future as a job and you're absolutely sure about it. When you explain this decision you have to be confident about it and not hesitate at all. It doesn't matter what you choose to do as long as you know that you're gonna work hard for it. Say you wanna become an actor. Your parents will say something like, “ that's a hard job and not many people make it”. Even when they discourage you, you still have to make known to them that your choice is your own, and whatever difficulties you face you deal with them on your own.
Agree to disagree: You might enter this conversation feeling super confident and persuasive, but then your parents still might disagree with your decision and just know that that is okay. The choice you make comes from yourself and if you absolutely believe that this is what you want to do for the rest of your life, then don’t worry about anyone’s opinion. It doesn’t matter if you don’t get your parent’s approval because at the end of the day it's your life. If they threaten you that they won’t pay for your tuition then get a job and earn your college tuition by yourself. You should feel the same exact way about your choice going into that conversation and coming out of it. Just agree to disagree with your parents.