As a teacher, you may have seen one of your students lose motivation to continue their education or pursue a career. Sometimes, young adults may be overwhelmed by their future and might not be able to determine their goals on their own. That’s when you need to jump in and help them.
People might be unsure of what they want to do with their life, which is fine. You might not know what you are destined to be, but there are several ways to discover your true passion. Let’s look at what you can do to help a student find what career they want to pursue in their life.
1. Encourage Independence
It is essential to state that you shouldn’t impose careers on the students who haven’t determined what they want. Instead, you should encourage them to find out what they want independently. To do so, create a task for them where they will self-assess their work on a well-defined motivation assessment scale.
For example, you can give your student a quiz and make them assess it themselves. These quizzes examine sets of skills and determine the interest of the person taking the quiz. They will find something they are interested in and start feeling motivated to pursue that interest.
2. Attend Job Events
There are job fairs that can spark interest in your student. You should take your student to one of these fairs; they will be able to see different types of jobs and positions and might start gaining interest in some of those.
You should, however, follow their body language – it can tell you much about what your student finds interesting. Additionally, discuss the exciting job offers you have seen with them after leaving the fair.
3. Leave Their Weaknesses Aside
Young adults can often be discouraged by their weaknesses and not see their true strengths. To encourage their strengths, compliment them or even tell them straightforwardly what you think their strengths are.
The social world is a complex web of interactions that can be overwhelming for people, especially those who have yet to build their future. However, you first need a foundation, and pointing out the student’s strengths can genuinely inspire them.
4. Make Them Think Bigger
People have started to become more and more materialistic, and this reflects on young adults. However, jobs are not just about money – there is something bigger that can move us and make us love what we are doing.
To challenge your student to think bigger, you should tell them that change is good and that they should be proud of their actions. There is nothing more fulfilling than knowing you are doing something you love and something that makes you happy.
5. Be Supportive
Letting your student choose their career path may be challenging. However, you should always support their decisions because this will motivate them to learn and pursue their career.
Additionally, everyone surrounding your student should be supportive of them. Nothing is more discouraging than getting disapproval from someone you love or whose opinion means a lot to you. Whether you like their path or not, you should always be supportive.
6. Don’t Push Them
Often, people can get nervous when they don’t know what to do with their life. Trust us – your student probably feels anxious enough – you shouldn’t add to their overall state. Finding your dream job is never too late, and you should be patient with your students.
Pushing someone or forcing them to do something won’t positively affect them. Tell your student they can take all the time they need when choosing their career path.
7. Make Them Think About Their Future
When someone is not motivated, they might not be able to think ahead and will be stuck in the exact moment for a long time. To overcome this barrier, tell your students to start making plans for themselves. During this time, they might come up with an idea for their career path.
The simple 5-year-plan rule can do wonders for those who have yet to decide where they want to be. This plan will make them think about everything they want to achieve in the following five years and motivate them to start building their dream future.
8. Don’t Mention Competition
We are aware that many job positions have competition. However, making your student aware that many people want the same job will further discourage them.
Instead, encourage them to go for it. When someone is motivated enough, and when someone has the right mindset, nothing is impossible. You should ensure that your student knows this before choosing their dream job.
Conclusion
Choosing your career path can be difficult, especially if you are unmotivated. However, you can do a couple of things to help someone struggling with finding their dream path. The most important thing is to let them be themselves and not impose anything on them. They will discover what makes them happy sooner or later.