Where to go to study is a question that arises more often for parents than for children. Especially lately. Modern children have grown up in prosperity: the value of money is devalued for them. Therefore, work must begin earlier. Where to find a job, why parents should not put pressure on their children, and how to help them decide on their life’s work, we talked with Alena Vladimirskaya, the founder of the Anti-Slavery HR service.
Psychologies: Graduates can not decide on a future profession. Parents are in a panic, should I be worried?
Alena Vladimirskaya: When parents come to me, I first of all ask: please tell me, if you were told at the age of 15, 16, 17: you can travel around the world completely calmly, earn money remotely that is enough for you to live, would you refuse? Would you go to plow at a factory or in the accounting department, sit for 9-10 hours, listen to the nauseating Maryivanna, in order to make signs that no one needs? Not!
In fact, this is the first installation for parents: we are great fellows. We brought up the first generation, which feels that it is in demand, adapts the world to suit itself. Technology is changing the world too, which is why there are tons of remote jobs out there that pay pretty well. And let’s praise ourselves, not scold the children.
How to choose a profession for a child?
The world is changing rapidly, and therefore professions that were in demand a few years ago are losing their positions. We want the best for children, but relying on our experience, we only hinder their development. We proceed from what professions are in great demand now or were in demand five or seven years ago, but we need to proceed from the future.
A large number of professions that have always provided a sure piece of bread are gradually disappearing. A classic example is the accounting profession. It is being gradually automated now. This also includes a lawyer, a cashier, a salesman, a taxi driver – all this will be eaten up by automation within five years. Therefore, if you want children to be happy, you should not drag them into the outgoing world and into those professions that seem right to you. In the near future, completely different professions will be in demand.
What professions are most promising for today’s graduates?
First of all, this is everything related to robotics, IT and programming. Everything else related to innovative medicine, agro and artificial intelligence. Specialties may be different, but these are the general directions.
When and how should you start vocational guidance for children?
It makes sense to start from the age of 10. I propose an algorithm for career guidance by age. Until the age of 12, the main task of parents is to show the child a variety of professions. Now there are many opportunities for this: circles, museums, activities like the Experimentarium, online education. No need to scold a child if he starts something and quits. For this age, breadth is important, the child must learn and try as much as possible. And if he is not interested and he quits, you don’t need this, as it was in our childhood, we enrolled you in a music school, that’s how you want, now suffer for 7 years.
If you do not interfere, then, as a rule, by the age of 12, 2-3 directions of interest to the child are determined. This, of course, is not yet a profession, not an industry, just a direction: for example, I am interested in computer games, drawing, biology.
The child must find for himself an authority that will “drag” him further into the profession
From 12 to 16 years old, the main authority of the child is a strong adult, but not a parent. This is the age of protest. Therefore, the main task of parents is to find a person who will become such an authority. It has always been so. A lot of people went into biology because the school had a cool, charismatic biology teacher. Acquaintances, friends who are passionate about the profession, all kinds of circles, activities – the child must find for himself an authority that will “drag” him further into the profession.
At 16-17 years old, a teenager understands what he wants. Then he needs help with choosing a university, money and other resources.
Parents often and hard worry, I myself was worried – I had such a situation – when children leave the institute. I tried it, it didn’t work, I quit, let’s stop taking it as a tragedy. This is mistake. We forgive ourselves for much more serious mistakes, such as divorce. Well, it didn’t work out. But the wrong choice of profession for some reason is perceived as a tragedy. Let’s not take this as a disaster. We live longer, and you can make several careers in a lifetime. Well, this choice will happen later, next year, that’s okay.
Now there are many programs and courses on vocational guidance, including very expensive ones. Do they make sense?
There are courses that I trust, and there are those that I don’t. I do not believe in all magic pills: career guidance by fingerprint, by the retina – this, by the way, is a real case. I believe that it is possible to arouse the interest of a teenager in those professions to which he is more inclined. For example, a teenager comes and says: I don’t know what I want to do. But I like to draw and I love the computer. Here you can tell him what professions exist at the junction.
And if he comes and says: “I don’t want anything”?
This is most often a reaction to parents, which means they “stammered”, pulled, memorized. Here you just need to talk, ask – what do you like. The main thing is that there is no mother nearby. Because often mothers bring children and stand behind them – I know better! And this is a completely dead end situation. And if you manage to talk with a teenager alone, then after a few hours he opens up. And it turns out that he wants a lot, likes it, is interesting. But parents insist: you must be something. And the child is completely lost. He needs to be shown that there are such things, and there are such things. And it turns out he loves a lot of things.
Do computer tests and career guidance programs work?
So far, artificial intelligence has not yet reached such a level as to determine. I think it makes sense to use tests only in combination with consultations with a specialist. Several face-to-face meetings will help to find out what the child is predisposed to. If you live in a small town and you do not have the opportunity to meet with a consultant in person, you can use Skype.
The main skill of a person of the future is adaptability, the ability to constantly learn. This, unfortunately, our universities do not teach
How competitive is Russian education?
I, as HR, sell our IT specialists abroad a lot and I want to say that we underestimate our education. We have a very good fundamental education. Fundamental universities from the 5/100 rating provide a very good education, which is valued all over the world. There is only one but: we do not know how to teach innovations and, most importantly, we do not know how to learn. The main skill of a person of the future is adaptability, the ability to constantly learn. Unfortunately, our universities do not teach this.
Another question that worries parents: should children be allowed to earn extra money?
In recent years, I have not met parents at all who would be against it. Moreover, the more prosperous the family, the sooner the teenager is motivated to earn extra money. Because the value of money in modern children is greatly devalued: they grew up in abundance. Therefore, they need to earn extra money so that they understand the value of money, work, learn to fit into teams, and so on.
Are there safe job bases for teens?
The safest resource is the base future today, there you can find the first job and a part-time job. There are corresponding sections on hh.ru and on superjob.ru. In general, all recruiting resources have a strong pre-moderation. We also have a separate youth group at Anti-Slavery. There are published vacancies and offers for internships.
University graduates often face a problem: they don’t want to take them without work experience. Where do they go for experience?
For experience, you need to go not when you graduate from high school, but before. In the third or fourth year, start working quietly. Most universities provide such an opportunity – they are quite calm about the fact that students earn extra money. There is no need to rush and start working in the first courses of the university. At this time, the task is different – to learn how to learn: what you can skip, what you can’t, what is important, what is not important, to gain a knowledge base.
In senior years, you need to start working. Not for the sake of money, of course, you need to start working in your specialty. Therefore, it is very important to choose a university that has faculties or departments where specialists from real business teach. In this case, students are offered internships, they are invited to write joint diplomas, work and do joint projects. The same employers and their competitors offer the guys a job after graduation.
About expert
Alena Vladimirskaya – founder of the HR service for job seekers