I’ve shared before, about a recent career fair that we were invited to be a part of. This experience reminded me that there are ways that we can be encouraging students to do their best and find opportunities all along the way.  By doing this you will help to lower the household payroll.

So I want to share with you, a few ways that you can be encouraging students to continue to find resources and opportunities.

DEFINE THEIR SKILLS

First, help them define their skills. What are they good at? At this career fair, the counselors and the teachers of this class had actually helped the students to take a skills test so they knew what they were good at. You could find this online for your student to help them do the same.

Another great place to start would be to ask their counselor, who may have these skill-assessment free resources.

An example of this is a students that may talk to us because they have an interest in math. They may have been looking for something in engineering, insurance, investing, and finance in general.

The great thing is that they knew this area was something to consider, thinking to themselves, “I’m good at math. It’s something that I enjoy. And so now, what are the different jobs that I could apply this to?”

So that’s going to be a great first place that you can help your student.

LET THEM SHADOW YOU

A second thing you can do, is offer to let someone shadow you with what you do every day. Are there things that they could see in the job that you have, in the role that you play in your company, that are going to help them to get a great idea of their future?

If you aren’t able to do that, maybe there’s someone that you know who would let them shadow for a day. Even as adults, we think of the, “It’s not necessarily what you know, but sometimes who you know”. Remember that as well for our students. As we’re encouraging them, remember that we need to offer them those same resources. So if there’s someone you know that you can offer, or you could be that person, give them those opportunities to shadow. So they can envision themselves potentially in those roles in the future. And see if that’s something they want to do.

SHARE YOUR RESOURCES

Thirdly, maybe there’s a book, or a resource, a class, a course, something that you took that was really useful to you. And got you to where you are in your career because of it. If there’s something like that that you can think of, please offer that to students. As a parent, as a teacher, or just an employer, or a future employer, just someone who’s in a position, to encourage students to take that next step and help them learn outside of the classroom.

Use the resources that you have, so you can help them further on from where they are today. And remember as we are helping them, the quicker they can self-motivate and they can find what they’re passionate about.

Then the faster they’re going to be able to help you as an employer, if you’re hiring them. Or ask someone to help your own child launch, so you lower the household payroll and they’re not affecting your personal retirement plans.

Wondering how this could impact your financial future? Schedule a call with Michelle and Steve to discuss your portfolio today.