
Parents often contact me when their son or daughter are low on ideas on what to do in the future.
Adolescents can struggle to identify what they like to do, what they are good at, or what even interests them. Some cannot easily recognise their own qualities and traits, and feel they are often like every other teenager they know. They don't see what WE see, their unique potential.
When well-intentioned parents start to identify the variety of possibilities that are out there for them; some teenagers tend to shut down the conversation. Their self-esteem may drop; confidence is low and so too is their motivation to study. They can then become overly focused on what they cannot do, rather than on what they can do.
Our career strengths can come from all areas of our lives, and some teenagers need help idenitfying and building awareness of their strengths. Using a strengths-based approach, I help teenagers identify their best skills and qualities and recognize how amazing and unique they are.
When I discuss with clients how they have used these strengths, skills and qualities in the past; they start to recognise how they’d like to use them again and how further study will help them use these strengths in their future career.
One way I help them identify their strengths is to use a set of cards so that they can sort and filter. These cards are particularly useful for the quieter, more reserved students.
What’s Your Strengths cards, developed by Katherine Jennick, help students identify what they have done to date and tell their stories. We discuss how their top cards relate to them and as they tell their stories, they start to identify how they are at their best when they use these skills and qualities.
Recently, I was working with a Leaving Cert student who was unable to verbalise his likes, interests or strengths. We started our consultation by introducing a set of strengths cards, which he could then focus on sorting and prioritising.
He identified cards which highlighted how he:
On the flip-side of each strengths card, we reviewed the list of skills and qualities that may be relevant from his experience. He was able to identify:
Comparing a few cards, students can start to identify their strongest skills and how to relate these skills and qualities to subjects and career fields they may be interested in. We also talk about situations where they may have demonstrated these strengths in the past so that they can now clearly articulate and demonstrate these in the future.
Once a student has recognised their strength, it's amazing to see how their confidence, self-esteem and curiosity about their future can grow.
Not only does this help them figure out next education and career steps, but it also gives them a confidence boost when seeking out their first job or going on work experience. They can now clearly articulate why this experience will suit them, and what skills they can offer a future employer.
The positive reaction to identifying students strengths is wonderful. I see students sit up straighter, smile brighter and realise they have something to build on in their future career.
A father shared this with me after his daughters’ career consultation with me, when we used strengths cards to help her build on her current strengths and interest in others:
This strengths-based approach to supporting teenagers figure out their next steps helps them:
If your son or daughter could use some help in seeing their potential, check out our Senior Cycle Programme, which includes the use of online assessments and cards to aid college and career exploration through the use of multiple leaving certificate career guidance tools.
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