Career Exploration for Middle/High School Interpersonal Skills (Page 6) will help you assist your child in developing the following skills: Effective communication, problem solving, conflict management, and coping with change. Understanding the World of Work (Page 9) focuses on: Basic skills needed; cooperation, respect, and the value of diversity; and labor market trends that affect job availability. Career Exploration (Page 11) provides you with: Specific goals, concrete examples of activities, and information about education, training, and workbased learning. Career Preparation and Decision Making (Page 13) will help you guide your child to: Make connections to career choices, examine education and training needs, identify and plan for education/training requirements needed, and finalize decisions and plans.

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Career Exploration for Middle/High School The most important way that you can assist your son or daughter in the career development process is to get involved. It is important that you demonstrate an interest in the process, as your interest lets your teenager know that exploration and planning for his or her future are important.

Interpersonal Skills In this section, you will learn how to assist your son or daughter in the development of the following Interpersonal Skills:

v v v v

Be interested! Get involved!

Effective Communication Skills Problem Solving Conflict Management Coping with Change.

Interpersonal skills are a fundamental element in the career development process Interpersonal skills refers to a number of life skills that allow individuals to interact and get along with others in their environment. Developing effective interpersonal skills is an essential part of personal and career development. Communication, problem solving, managing conflict, and adjusting to change are all important interpersonal skills. Because communication involves both verbal and nonverbal abilities, you child needs to know how to speak clearly and be aware of facial expressions and tone of voice. It’s not only what is said, but also how something is said that allows individuals to most clearly express themselves. Problem solving, knowing when to seek help from others, managing conflict, and dealing with change all require good communication skills. What you can do and how! As a parent, you are in a good position to model positive interpersonal skills. Take the initiative to talk with your child about his or her interpersonal skills. Does he or she see this as an area in need of improvement? Discuss ideas and activities with your child’s teachers — teachers are an excellent resource for practical suggestions. In addition, they can serve to reinforce your efforts at home with related classroom activities.

v Effective communication skills — The best way to improve communication skills is through practice.

q Teach by example — Modeling good communication at home is a great way to teach effective skills. For example, share something that may have happened to you during the day or a news event you heard about and ask your child to do the same.

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Consider the following:

After you’ve shared something that happened to you during the day, ask your son or daughter to also share something about his or her day at school. Try to be specific, rather than simply ask the generic, “How was school today?”

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q Encourage your son or daughter to develop good listening

skills — The best way to ensure that you are listened to is to give others the same courtesty! For example, “listening” requires paying thoughtful attention. The difference between “hearing” and “listening” can mean you “hear” the sound of your child’s voice but may not “listen” to what is being said. q Help your son or daughter understand the power of nonverbal language — The way something is communicated is just as important as what is said. For example, ask your child how he or she would feel if, while talking to someone, that person kept looking at his or her watch or avoided any eye contact. q Encourage your child to become involved in extracurricular activities that enhance effective communication skills — For example, your son or daughter could take a public speaking class, work on the school newspaper, become involved in school plays, or join the debate team.

v Problem solving — Problem solving is a learned skill. As a parent

Have your teenager give you some examples of “hearing” and “listening.” Ask if he or she can tell through nonverbal language if someone is simply “hearing” what is being said or if that person is actually “listening.”

you can help your son or daughter develop this skill by allowing him or her to work out problems independently and by providing constructive feedback about the results. Learning takes place not only in the successes but also in the failures.

q Whenever possible, allow your child to make decisions on his

or her own — You can start by suggesting several alternate solutions to a problem and then allow him or her to generate ideas independently. For example, you could choose less obvious alternate solutions to a problem, leaving the door open for your son or daughter to arrive at the more obvious alternatives. q Provide guidance when your son or daughter is weighing decisions and evaluating outcomes — For example, encourage your child to honestly evaluate his or her priorities and then discuss whether the decision will have an immediate or long-term impact. Suggest listing the positive and negative outcomes of his or her decision. q Challenge your daughter or son with problem situations that she or he can consider — For example, two of your child’s friends want her or him to participate in different activities the following weekend. Your child would like to do both but they occur at the same time. What factors should enter into making the decision? q Encourage your son or daughter to seek help when needed — Sometimes a problem may be too big to handle alone. Emphasize that it’s not bad to ask for advice . . . nor does it take away from his or her independence. For example, children today can unfortunately become aware of possible life-threatening situations involving abuse, drug use, violence, suicide.

v Conflict management — As a part of normal development, young adults begin to assert themselves more directly. It is an important process that helps them discover the differences between passive, assertive, and aggressive behaviors and the consequences of each.

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Priorities can weigh heavily in any decision-making situation. Your teenager should consider if what’s important to him or her now will be more, equally, or less important in the future. Ask your son or daughter for examples of how something can change importance over time.

This is important not only in learning how to interact effectively with others, but also in learning how to prepare for the world of work where stress and conflict may arise. Problem solving and conflict management are skills that teens seem to learn more easily when they maintain a strong sense of their own self-worth. When they feel valued, it is easier for them to value others. Parents can take a proactive role in this process by consistently showing respect and consideration for other opinions and feelings. You can also validate your son’s or daughter’s views by accepting them with the same measure of respect you show the views of others.

q Talk with your daughter or son about passive, assertive, and

aggressive styles of interaction — For example, picture these different styles along a continuum, with passive at one end and aggressive on the other. At the middle, an assertive style of interaction allows the communicator to meet her or his needs without putting others on the defense. Provide examples of each behavior. q Validate your son’s or daughter’s viewpoints during conflicts and encourage open discussion about differences of opinions — For example, discuss the differences between two candidates seeking election, “thumbs up or down” about a new movie, pros and cons of any current “hot” issue making the news. q Help your daughter or son generate different options for dealing with a problem and then help her or him to see the consequences of each choice — For example, Kristine is very good in math but her best friend, Aaron, is failing the class. Aaron needs to pass the final exam to keep up his G.P.A. He’s desperate, and she wants to help. List their options and the consequences.

8

Choose a current issue with opposing viewpoints. Without regard for personal opinion, assume the “pro” side and assign the “con” side to your son or daughter. Discuss the issue for a predetermined amount of time and then reverse “sides” for additional discussion. Stress making an effort to honestly present both sides of the issue whether or not in agreement.

v Understanding how to cope with change — We all have to deal

with change. It may involve a move to a new town, a change of schools, graduation, or saying goodbye to friends or family. All change can create stress. Even good changes require attention and extra energy. Learning to be flexible and how to adapt to change is the best way to prepare your teenager for the natural ups and downs of life.

q By being flexible with decisions and activities in the home,

your teenager will learn to become more flexible in his or her thinking and will be better able to adjust — Being flexible can mean accepting a compromise. For example, dinner is coming up and you’re in the mood for fish, but your daughter or son wants chicken. Be flexible . . . grab the phone and call Pizza on Wheels! q Encourage your son or daughter to practice stress reduction and relaxation techniques — For example, participate in enjoyable activities, get enough sleep, eat well-balanced meals, exercise. q Help identify positive aspects of changes and new opportunities — For example, you’re moving to a new house in a different neighborhood. While your child loved the old house and will miss friends, the new house is bigger and he will have his own room. He will have the opportunity to make new friends while still able to keep in touch with the old. Copyright © 2000 u University of Wisconsin Board of Regents

It is important to help your son or daughter understand career development is a lifelong process that requires balancing . . .

. . . with . . . Change/ Structured Flexibility Planning

Understanding the World of Work In this section, you will learn more about some ways that you can help your daughter or son expand her or his knowledge of:

v Basic skills needed in the workplace v Cooperation, respect, and the value of diversity in the workplace v Labor market trends that affect job availability. Basic skills and utilizing information are essential for your daughter’s or son’s success in the world of work

9 Ask your daughter or son to list different ways the following workers would use the basic skills of:

v Reading v Writing v Mathematics.

Preparation for the workplace is an important part of career planning. Each of the thousands of occupations from which your daughter or son can choose has different requirements related to education, skills, and the needs of the market. You can provide the guidance needed to keep her or his plan on target.

Nurses

What you can do and how!

v Assist your daughter or son in examining the basic skills needed

in the workplace — Basic skills in areas such as reading, writing, and mathematics are essential for competent performance in the workplace. Self-management skills such as dependability, punctuality, responsibility, honesty, and attention to quality are also crucial to the development of a prosperous career. These skills can be developed at home, in school, or in the community. With your support, your daughter or son will be prepared to fulfill her or his role in the workplace.

Fighter Pilots

Police Officers

q Find out what your daughter’s or son’s school is doing to teach basic work skills — Talk with teachers or a school counselor to become familiar with the skills that are a regular part of each school day, such as reading, writing, punctuality, and responsibility. Your child will benefit greatly from reinforcement of these skills at home. q Talk with your daughter or son about participating in a workbased learning activity or working at a part-time job (see Career Exploration section) — Hands-on experiences will help your child develop some of the basic job skills and gain work experience needed for future jobs or educational programs. q Talk with your daughter or son about the roles of supervisor, employee, and co-worker — An important part of being successful in the world of work is understanding the various roles in the workplace. The way people communicate in a job setting may be very different from how your child communicates with friends or family.

v Help your daughter or son understand cooperation, respect, and

the value of diversity in the workplace — The ability to get along with others is often overlooked when thinking about skills needed in the workplace. However, it may be the most important factor in terms of both job satisfaction and productivity. Collaboration and Copyright © 2000 u University of Wisconsin Board of Regents

Bakery Store Clerks

Bricklayers

Aircraft Mechanics

teamwork play an important role in the world of work. Cultural biases and gender inequities can get in the way of these goals in the workplace. Employers are interested in investing in people who are team players. Cooperation, respect, and the value of diversity are key aspects to your daughter’s or son’s success in the workplace.

q Point out ways that tasks can be done in a cooperative way —

For example, ask your daughter or son to identify situations that demonstrate cooperation and to suggest ideas how cooperation could improve a situation. Show your child that cooperation can work to her or his advantage. There are lots of opportunities such as chores, helping with a project, or assisting a neighbor or relative. q Talk with your daughter or son about creating positive relationships with others at school and work — For example, a student in several of your daughter’s or son’s classes, because of an accident, will be unable to attend school for several weeks. By volunteering to take homework and class notes to her or his classmate, your child will create positive a relationship with teachers, parents, classmate, etc. q Teach your daughter or son to respect people whose cultural background or abilities differ from her or his own — It is important for you to be a role model for this behavior by always using words that are respectful when referring to others. Discuss examples of negative stereotypes attributed to different ethnic groups, people who are disabled, older people. q Encourage your daughter or son to explore cultural differences and biases and to consider their effects in the workplace — Cultural differences can influence the way we interpret verbal and nonverbal communication, conflict, and authority. Gaining experience and knowledge will help your daughter or son view difference as a resource and something to be celebrated rather than as a barrier or disparaged.

v Help your son or daughter utilize labor market information —

Labor market information gives you and your child a good idea of the future possibilities in specific occupational areas. Completion of an education or training program that leads to few job openings or a flooded job market will be a frustrating experience.

q Spend time finding potential resources for this information — Look in the following places: school or public library, school guidance office, Internet, or the resource section of this Guide. q As you and your son or daughter look for labor market information, consider issues that affect these data — For example, try to answer the following questions:

w Are the job opportunities in the occupations she or he is considering growing, diminishing, or staying about the same?

w What seems to be affecting the rate of growth for these occupations?

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10 It takes teamwork and cooperation to “pack up” a hot air balloon!

Have your daughter or son relate a personal experience in which cooperation helped to accomplish a goal.

Exploring cultural differences doesn’t have to begin with many. It can simply start with two. Ask your daughter or son to think about her or his acquaintances and their cultural differences. Then make a list of these differences, including age and gender. What makes them different or the same?

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Career Exploration This section of A Parent Guide provides you with:

v Specific goals for career exploration v Concrete examples of career exploration activities v Information about educational, training, and work-based learning opportunities.

Career exploration is a crucial component in your son’s or daughter’s career development process Career exploration is a significant part of helping your son or daughter make plans for the future. Throughout the next few years, you will be providing support and guidance through a decision-making process that will have a major impact on his or her future. Many options are available following high school graduation — career exploration can provide information to make choices that fit your teenager’s needs and ensure he or she has the opportunity to thoroughly consider available options. What you can do and how! You and your son or daughter can use many different ways to work together to explore the world of work. The questions and activities suggested below will yield important information needed for the many decisions that face your son or daughter. With your help and knowledge of educational and career options, your child will be prepared to make informed choices about his or her future.

v Explore several occupational groups with your daughter or son

— Often students will only have knowledge about occupations within their immediate environment. This is the time for your teenager to consider a broad spectrum of careers and educational opportunities, without regard for gender, economic, or other barriers.

q Encourage your son or daughter to talk with friends and

neighbors about their jobs — Develop questions with your son or daughter that can be used to gather information about different occupations. Sample questions might include:

w w w w w w

How did you become interested in this occupation? What qualifications does one need for an entry-level position? What is expected of you from your employer? What skills or personal characteristics are needed? What do you enjoy/not enjoy about your position? How would you describe a typical day?

q Recommend activities that provide hands-on career exploration experience such as —

w Job shadowing provides an opportunity to observe and follow

someone performing his or her regular job responsibilities. It allows a close-up view of a “typical day in the life” of a particular profession. Copyright © 2000 u University of Wisconsin Board of Regents

Some career clusters and sample occupations to explore Architecture/Engineering Aerospace Engineer Cartographer Metallurgist Arts/Entertainment/Sports Animator Choreographer Reporter Community/Social Service Clergy Peace Corps Volunteer School Counselor Computer/Mathematical Actuary Software Engineer Web Master Construction Carpenter Electrician Plumber Education/Training/Library Curator Librarian Teacher Healthcare/Technical Anesthesiologist Physical Therapist Veterinarian Install/Maintenance/Repair Aircraft Mechanic Computer Technician Motor Vehicle Technician Legal Court Reporter Judge Lawyer Life/Physical/Social Science Agronomist Meteorologist Psychologist Management Building Contractor Dairy Farmer Legislator Office/Adminstrative Support Administrative Assistant Desktop Publisher Teller Personal Care/Service Aerobic Instructor Cosmetologist Zookeeper Production Cheesemaker Machinist Photoengraver Protective Service Conservation Warden FBI Agent State Patrol Officer Sales and Related Auctioneer Stockbroker Travel Agent Transportation Commercial Airline Pilot Gantry Crane Operator Truck Driver

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w Volunteer work often gives students a chance to gain valuable

work experience, while also learning about the world of work. Volunteer opportunities are available in many career areas and often involve providing assistance to others. w Community service is promoted by many businesses and social assistance agencies. Some examples include park maintenance, fund raising for a library, and collecting food or clothes for a local homeless shelter.

q Attend Career Days with your son or daughter — Career Days

usually have exhibits and speakers from various professions and work sites. This is a great way to collect information and ask questions about different jobs. q Take your son or daughter to work — Taking your son or daughter to work is another way to support and encourage career exploration. This is a good introductory activity to exploring careers and allows your son or daughter to see you in a different role. q Provide job information resources in your home — Resources could be as simple as newspaper articles, magazines, or television specials related to careers. When using a computer, you may find the Internet and software programs useful.

v Help your son or daughter become aware of the educational,

training, and work-based learning opportunities needed to start him or her on a career path.

q Make an appointment to visit the guidance and counseling

office at the school — This would be a good time to gather more information about the options offered in terms of curriculum and career planning. Also, talk with the school counselor about what the school is doing to prepare students for life beyond high school. q At least once a year help your son or daughter plan classes — Share information gathered after visit to school’s guidance and counseling office about curriculum and career planning options. q Collect brochures and catalogs from various educational and training services — Postsecondary schools provide these materials to help prospective students become familiar with the opportunities they provide. Most schools have Internet websites or will send information to you directly, upon request. q Consider work-based learning programs, such as youth apprenticeships, tech-prep, co-op, etc. — Ask your child’s school counselor for more information. q Take your son or daughter to visit program sites or campuses — Some programs may have a set date for visits and tours for prospective students. The planned tour dates may offer many advantages with special events and activities planned for both students and parents who come along. Call the school or program directly to arrange a visit. q Look for Wisconsin Careers resources at school, library, Career Center, or Internet (http://wiscareers.education.wisc.edu). Copyright © 2000 u University of Wisconsin Board of Regents

Questions to ask about job shadowing, volunteer work, or community service: What opportunities for this type of activity are available in your community and are any of these opportunities in your teenager’s area of interest? Would your son or daughter be excused from school to participate in job shadowing during the work day? Are volunteer work or community service opportunities available after school or on the weekend and how much time would be required? Who are the best people to contact to make arrangements for participation (school and work activity)? To what extent will your son or daughter be supervised “on the job”? As with any job in the workforce, it is expected that your son or daughter will be dependable, punctual, responsible, honest, cooperative, and attentive to quality. What follow-up procedures will be taken and how will accountability be measured? Certainly, a thank you note should be sent to the person providing the job shadowing opportunity.

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Career Preparation and Decision-Making The activities in this section will help you guide your daughter or son to:

v Make connections between her or his strengths, interests, priorities, and lifestyle preferences and her or his career choices

v Examine the education and training needs of the occupation she or he wishes to pursue

v Identify and plan for the requirements needed to pursue particular educational and training options

v Finalize decisions and plans for further training, education, or pursuit of a job.

Career preparation and decision-making are important activities. Once your daughter or son has identified her or his strengths and gathered information about various occupational clusters, your child can focus on matching her or his strengths and interests with the characteristics of specific careers or jobs. Other areas your daughter or son needs to consider when making career decisions are living expenses, the cost of leisure activities, and the amount of salary necessary to support the lifestyle she or he prefers. What you can do and how!

v Help your daughter or son identify her or his strengths, inter-

ests, likes, and dislikes — A key part of career decision making involves exploration of the relationship between strengths, interests, and possible careers. Job satisfaction and competence are connected to how well these factors fit together. With your help, your daughter or son can select a gratifying career in which her or his strengths are utilized to their fullest.

q Work with your daughter or son to generate a list of strengths

and interests, and then work to build upon each of these areas so that she or he can expand career options. q Help to make connections between current interests and future career choices. q Help to identify dislikes which can also affect career choices — Although they may overlap, it is important to see the differences between something that is a weakness (and can be improved) and something that she or he dislikes doing. q Encourage your teenager to consider all possibilities related to her or his skills and interests — No matter how lofty or unrealistic, there may be a core interest that could be identified and pursued more realistically.

v Encourage your daughter or son to examine personal priorities related to leisure activities and lifestyle preferences, as these connect to the income she or he will need to earn — What kind of leisure activities does your daughter or son want as an adult?

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Help your son or daughter identify strengths, interests, likes, and dislikes, and use that information to consider career possibilities. Be sure to explore nontraditional careers as well. For example, your son is interested in music and has demonstrated mechanical and technical ability.

How about a career making or repairing musical instruments?

Your daughter enjoys using the computer and is good in math.

How about a career as a software engineer?

What priorities are most important to her or him? How do they compare with a desired lifestyle. As these dreams are pursued, your teenager will learn what it takes to make them come true.

q Talk about how your teenager envisions her or his life in the

future — Help her or him to see the connections between choices made now and future career goals. q Separate your desires for your daughter or son from those she or he may hold — Validate your teenager’s feelings and trust that you have given her or him the skills to make decisions about her or his own life, even if the decisions are different from what you would like. q Keep in mind that your teenager is still developing personal priorities and that these priorities may change from time to time — Allow her or him the opportunity to refine these priorities with your support and encouragement.

14 Different levels of required education and training

Air Traffic Controller (4-yr degree)

v Encourage your daughter or son to confirm her or his standing related to middle school and/or high school graduation.

q Review the requirements for middle school and/or high school

graduation and discuss them with your child — The requirements may include coursework, work experience, specific assessments, or involvement in community activities.

v Help your daughter or son make a decision about postsecondary plans, such as attending an educational or training program, joining the military, or pursuing a job — An important factor in your teenager’s decision about postsecondary plans is the background and training requirements for the career or occupation she or he plans to pursue. Jobs are changing rapidly and new occupations are emerging. Today’s technology requires increasingly specific job skills. What knowledge and skills are needed for different jobs your daughter or son is considering? What level of education is required? Now is the time to help your teenager decide what she or he needs to do to pursue a specific career.

Chef

(2-yr or 4-yr degree in Culinary Arts)

q Help your daughter or son write down the pros and cons of

receiving further education, getting a job, applying to a workbased learning program, or joining the military. q Become familiar with the postsecondary options related to further education, training, or employment — Your knowledge of the details related to requirements and costs will help you provide better guidance for your daughter or son. q Have information available in your home about different educational and employment options — This may include brochures about various vocational training programs or catalogs from community colleges and universities.

v If your teenager plans to attend a postsecondary educational or training program, identify the prerequisites for those programs that she or he is most interested in pursuing — Examine the requirements or prerequisites of the education/training program

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Computer Technician

(2-yr degree in Computer Maintenance Technologies)

Craft Artist/Potter (4-yr degree in Ceramic Arts)

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your daughter or son hopes to pursue. Each will probably have a list of key tasks that your daughter or son needs to complete as a part of the application or admissions requirements. Use the Planning for the Future section to help your daughter or son meet the requirements and stay on target as high school graduation approaches. These checklists (4) provide you with an effective tool to review the tasks your daughter or son has completed and to prepare plans for the future. The educational and training options include:

q Two-year training programs q Military service q Work-based learning programs q Youth apprenticeship programs q Community service projects q Four-year colleges or universities.

Firefighter

(2-yr degree in Fire Science or 4-yr degree in Fire Protection)

You can also use the checklists in the Planning for the Future section to:

q Help your daughter or son compare potential programs and

examine their requirements. q Look at a few of the options for more infomation about each choice. q Use the checklists as a tool to design class schedules and make decisions about extracurricular activities. q Assist your daughter or son with designing a strategy to reach her or his educational and career goals.

Hazardous Waste Specialist

(2-yr degree in Hazardous Material Handling or 4-yr degree in Environmental and Pollution Control Technologies)

Paralegal Assistant (2-yr or 4-yr degree)

Welder

(Less than 2-yr diploma + apprenticeship) Copyright © 2000 u University of Wisconsin Board of Regents