How difficult is it, after all, for children to choose a career path? What is the parent’s role in the process, and what combination of factors should children take into account when making their choice? Aristos Konstantinou, a Career Guidance Counselor, provided the answers during an appearance on the Alpha News program.
Mr. Konstantinou emphasized that children’s decisions are important, “but it’s not terribly difficult to make a choice. If we analyze the options a child has, a child can choose something and develop it further along the way.”
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He explained that it is a combination of many factors that must be taken into account.
“Their interests, the subjects that interest the child the most. And certainly the professions they’re likely to be interested in pursuing in the future. When choosing a career, it’s very important to consider two things: what field of study they’ll be involved in, and what kind of work environment they want to be in. This brings up a factor that is discussed very frequently: “Should I do what I love, or should I do what has good prospects?”
The counselor expressed the view that the answer is a combination of both.
“I believe it’s a combination of the two. If you pursue what you love but it has no future, you won’t find a job. On the other hand, if you choose something with good prospects but aren’t good at it, you still won’t be able to find the career that suits you best. So we need a combination: something the children love and something that offers some prospects.”
Mr. Konstantinou explained that most children know their interests, adding that many children don’t even need guidance from a counselor, with quite a few students turning to him “simply to confirm their choice.”
The difficult part, as he emphasized, is “what unfortunately isn’t provided by either schools or parents. It’s the work environments, so that children can understand what kinds of professions exist. And if I’m studying or I like biology and so on, what can I do in the future? That’s where the future lies. And that’s what we’re focusing on so we can help the children.”
An Ongoing Process
According to the expert, the first thing he hears from the children is that they want to make a lot of money.
“I’m not saying you can’t make a lot of money, but what I am telling you is that to make money, you need to be in a field where there are prospects, and you also need to be very strong in that field.”
At the same time, Mr. Konstantinou noted that “the choices young people have—since they can change them along the way— is a process where they can start somewhere and gradually begin to explore different careers, so that by the time they reach their senior year of high school, they can choose what they truly want.”
Explaining that the first step is to decide on a primary field of study, but the process doesn’t stop there—students continue to explore career paths so that by their senior year of high school, they can find exactly what they want.
He gave the example of a child who might be interested in becoming either a lawyer or a mechanical engineer—two very different careers.
“If you explain these professions to the child, they’ll easily be able to figure out which one is best for them. And once you set out on a path—whether the academic track or the vocational track—there are many options. You don’t just go in one direction.”
The Role of Parents
The role of parents is extremely important in the process of choosing a career path. Some parents are incredibly supportive and guiding; however, the phenomenon of parents trying to fulfill their own unfulfilled dreams still exists.
As Mr. Konstantinou stated, it is the child who will find the field they want to study, and the parent’s role is to provide guidance.
However, when it comes to where the child will study, the parent bears the greatest responsibility.
“Because if I can’t afford to send my child to study in a first- or second-tier country, then how can my child choose that country? So, the parent certainly plays a much bigger role there.”
As for the fears many parents and children have regarding Artificial Intelligence, Mr. Konstantinou expressed the view that “they have nothing to fear,” adding that “all they need to do is continue to educate themselves constantly so that they can cope with whatever changes may come.”
