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Books for 14yo boy–thinking about the future (job/career)?
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My oldest son thinks he might be a football player when he grows up or do something like the contractors who have been working on our house lately. I don’t fixate on planning for the future and I’m enjoying the exposure we’ve had to a variety of things things year but since he’s getting a little older I’d like him to be able to think about all of the possibilities out there for supporting himself and, eventually, a family.
Does anyone have any suggestions for good books that describe different jobs that are out there and what steps to take to get them?
I have been thinking about this more since my oldest is 12 and does not know what to do in his future. I really think we need to start discussing job positions as we come about them in our daily lives. A trip to the grocery store can bring about discussion of jobs there like the owner, manager, checker, bagger as well as jobs at the farm, factory, transportation, banking, accounting, lawyers, janitorial, insurance, advertising, etc. A trip to the doctor can open up discussions of many healthcare options including emergency responders, pharmaceutical, natural health, nutrition, and fitness, as well as receptionist, secretary, lab tech., nurses, suppliers, etc. Mailing a package: USPS, UPS, FedEX, etc. transportation, offices, supplies, etc. You could watch the tv show called Dirty Jobs and then discuss afterwards. Look in the job Classifieds ads. Once he finds something, see if he can job shadow for a day, or do a long-term internship. Then check with college guidance departments for education requirements and maybe check the library for books on that specific career, to explore further.
Be sure to discuss:
Benefits
Risks (especially health/safety)
Responsibilities
Talents/skills/experience/interest
Education
Earnings potential: Entry level salary range vs. experienced, including benefits like insurance and retirement plans
Work hours (how many and when)/location (inside/outside and geographically)
Related jobs
These are things I plan to start discussing with my son. I don’t think a book could do near as much as observing and discussing in your daily conversations. Books can be a way to fill in gaps for careers you might not have thought of yet. Work ethic can be discussed too: what employers like/dislike in an employee. We have been reading and discussing Created for Work by Bob Schultz to discuss being a good worker according to Biblical standards. And don’t rule out an investment in hobbies as a great stress reliever after working hours and as a possible way to earn some money.
Thank you so much! Those are really good suggestions. Great idea about the different fields/jobs that would come up naturally as we go through our days. I appreciate that you gave examples of other things to consider, too, such as benefits. I had him start reading Created for Work, too, recently, so I like that you mentioned that. I plan to have him narrate to his dad chapter by chapter in hopes that it will prompt some good discussions. Before I had kids I taught in a school for emotionally disturbed boys and most of them said they wanted to be either a football player, a rapper or a drug dealer when they grew up, lol, so even though my son likes football, I’m thinking, Oh please, get real, child. Let’s have some other options.
You might check out Kickstart curriculum from generations.org. They will have a 10 week online course next fall called Kickstart Challenge.
There’s a book called What Color Is Your Parachute that gets good reviews.
7sisters website has a course for this purpose but I think it’s geared more towards 10th grade and up.
A friend recently showed a book to me that looked really good. I wanted to pick my own copy up but it is out of print and all of the copies I’ve found are very expensive as a result. I’m going to keep my eye out for a good used copy. I forget the whole name but it has Career and high school in the title and is by Jill Dixon, I believe. I’ll look it up to make sure.
Wow, that Kickstart Challenge sounds great. I forwarded the link to a bunch of people who work with you at our church. Thanks for sharing!
I think I saw a What Color is Your Parachute for Kids, maybe, when I was doing some searching on this subject.
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