Answering high school questions about careers can have a big payoff for your teen.

• If your teen is doing well at high school academics, a career focus can make selecting a college and choosing a major easier. It also opens the door to other training options.

• If your teen is struggling in school, a career focus can add purpose to his or her studies and give grades a lift.

What Parents Can Do...

1. Encourage your teen to investigate a variety of careers. Talk about your work at the dinner table or with friends and relatives. Keep it positive--no complaints or gossip!

2. Stress to your teen that high school academics, including student homework, is their work. Attendance is important. You don't take a day off from work just because you feel like it. The same goes for school.

3. Explore with your teen, without being judgmental, her or his personal talents, strengths, likes and dislikes. Ask: What do you like to do? What skills do you have? Do you like being around people? Do you prefer working outdoors or indoors? The more teens know about themselves, the easier it'll be for them to recognize the careers that suit them best.

4. Help your teen experience as many different work situations as possible. Take advantage of both formal and informal work exposure programs. These include:

• Job shadowing: Going through a day or two of work watching someone do his or her job.

• Mentoring: Being paired with a working adult to discuss interests, personal skills, and job requirements.

• Internships: A chance to work in a job with an employer for a few weeks or longer to learn more about a career field.

• Cooperative education: Working at a job under the school's supervision while also going to school.

• School-to-Registered Apprenticeships: A work experience in a technical field that helps the apprentice begin to learn the skills required for a specific job.

5. Provide as many opportunities as you can for your son or daughter to learn technology--knowledge that is essential for success in today's workplace.

• Encourage your teenager to sign up for computer literacy, on-line learning and technology application courses in school.

• Find out what technology courses your school offers and decide together which might be appropriate for your teen. Taking such a course will give your teen hands-on experience with the tools, techniques and skills involved in a range of careers.

6. Encourage your schools to expose students to career choices, through career fairs, field trips and class speakers. Go with your teen to career fairs in your area. Make use of career information available through your school. Many schools maintain extensive career reference libraries, including computer data bases and career interest tests.

7. Remind teens that preparing for a career is part of what education is about. It's okay not to know what they want to do for the rest of their lives. It's not okay to avoid thinking about future career goals altogether.

8. Guide your teenager toward acquiring skills. Every job requires people to use both head and hand skills. Suggest courses that teach and apply skills--like keyboarding, automotive technology, accounting, graphic design, construction, journalism, or marketing. These are equally important to both college-bound and non-college-bound teens.

9. Give your teen responsibility, the more the better. Begin with jobs around the house or for a neighbor or relative. Part time employment can be a great experience. Young people need to learn that we all have to carry our own weight--that we're all important and that people rely on us to get things done.

10. Suggest career opportunities that were once considered only for males or only for females. It may take extra commitment to cross gender lines, but there are excellent job opportunities for persons entering non-traditional career fields.

Bonus Tip!

Keep a sense of humor. No matter how hard we try to point our sons or daughters in the right direction, we can't live their lives for them. So keep your approach light. Be persistent in presenting opportunities; be relaxed in expecting outcomes. Avoid being judgmental.

If you are interested in additional information about career development opportunities and options, contact your student's school counselor.

Adapted with permission from The Link, a publication of the Macomb County School To Work Partnership.