When I first went off to college, I didn’t really have a career plan. I figured I would major in “piano”, get married eventually and hopefully live happily ever after. I did end up majoring in piano performance, got married my senior year of college and am definitely having the time of my life with my husband, kids and life, but I didn’t exactly plan it all out. This next generation is growing up with amazing options for jobs, travel and experiences. But there are some career advice questions that need to be asekd to help them be prepared for the future.

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Career Advice for the next Generation

We no longer live in a world where jobs are determined by what our parents did. Gone are the days where you pick a job when you get out of college and stay there for the rest of your working career. If you can imagine a world where you are doing what you love and making a living from it, it could happen.

Here are some questions we need to be asking the next generation now. We need to grow a generation of dreamers who understand the hard work needed to make these dreams reality.

What would you love to be doing in 20 years?

Forget about whether it’s possible or even whether the job exists. If you can dream it, then maybe you can make it happen.

• Do they want to travel to Mars? Then buy a telescope and discover the planets.
• Are you convinced you are going to be a famous singer? Then start taking the opportunity to sing at school events or at church.

What are you good at?

Do you love to tinker in the garage? Can you build things out of wood? Do you understand the online world of social media? Can you play video games better than anyone else? Do you love to sing? Dance? Play ball? Cheer? Think about the things you are just naturally good at and love to do.

Now think about why you are good at those things.

Are you good at Xbox because you have good hand eye coordination and can memorize the maps easily? Are you good on the ballfield because you are a good team player? Do the other team members just follow your leadership? Do you love to find new apps for your phone and are the go to person at family reunions to help the older generation set their wallpaper or connect their email accounts?

How can you prepare for the future by doing something you love now?

Do you love to read and aspire to be a writer? Then find an author to talk to! My daughter and her friend recently had the opportunity to interview their favorite author, Jill Osborne. This was a great opportunity to learn about writing and help them work on a skill set that could benefit their life.

If you are interested in gaming, then find an online course that will teach you the skills needed to code your own game.

 

Look for ways to make money now!

Talk to a family member and ask them if you can start doing yard work so you can save for the equipment you need to work on your dream. Do you need tools for your idea? Then save the money. Can you help baby sit for a neighbor to help you earn and save money? Do you know a blogger who needs help with videos or social promotion? Then use your knowledge of YouTube and social media to earn some extra cash.

How can you prepare yourself now? Most teens and tweens don’t really know what they want to be doing with the rest of their life and that’s ok. But if we can help them ask the right questions, we are going to be investing in their future!

What career advice do you think we should be giving the next generation? I’d love to hear!

***This picture is of my Mom when she was in 1st grade with her teacher and my Grandmother. Thanks Ritchie Hale for sharing this image with me for this post.