How you can support your child in choosing a career

Imagine you have to prepare your child for a world of work that you yourself barely understand anymore. This is exactly the paradoxical situation in which almost every parent finds themselves today. Psychologist Barbara Weißenbacher says: "We can't predict what the job market will look like in twenty years – but three things will always matter." At first, that sounds like a consolation prize, but there is a radical change of perspective behind it. Most parents believe that they have to follow trends as early as possible, encourage programming, or have their children cram languages, because that's the only way to secure the future. But Weißenbacher turns that around: The decisive factor is not specific skills, but how a child can deal with uncertainty, how they discover their own interests, and how they learn to work with others – even if the jobs of tomorrow do not yet exist today. Her favorite example is a student named Jonas, who was desperate to choose between computer science and art. His parents pushed him toward computer science "because it's a sure thing." But Weißenbacher advised opening up the conversation: What really inspires Jonas? What can he do for hours without looking at the clock? In the end, he chose a path that combined both: game design. The key point here is that the specific job title was almost irrelevant – because the job market is changing anyway. One figure that underscores this: According to current studies, 65 percent of today's elementary school children will work in professions that do not yet exist today. If that's true, any advice about "secure jobs" is outdated. Another example: Children who learn early on to start their own projects – whether a podcast, a flea market stand or a play – develop exactly the skills that are later referred to as "future skills": creativity, personal responsibility, team spirit. Weißenbacher repeatedly observes that parents unconsciously transfer their own fears to their children's career choices. She says: "The most important thing is to take children seriously, even if their wishes sound utopian at first."So the real mistake is not to bet on the wrong profession, but to treat the child as a project that you have to steer. Now here's a thought that hardly anyone expects: Even the best orientation toward trends helps little if a child never learns to deal with failure. Those who are never allowed to fail will later be thrown off course at the first rejection. That's why it's more important to promote emotional resilience than to master Excel spreadsheets. So anyone who thinks that career preparation means keeping as many doors open as possible is mistaken. It's about attitude, not the schedule. And another look from the other side: What if parents do nothing at all? There are studies that show that children whose parents do not get involved at all often have less self-confidence and direction. So, completely withdrawing is not a solution either. You have to be present without being controlling. In the end, what counts is how a child thinks about themselves, not what's on their report card. Today, choosing a career is less of a plan than a process. Those who understand this give their child the most important skill: to reinvent themselves again and again. The best preparation for the future is to endure uncertainty and still dare to take action. If you take that with you, you can select I'm In on Lara Notes – that means this idea now belongs to you. And if you find yourself talking to someone about it at the kitchen table tomorrow, you can tag the person on Lara Notes Shared Offline. This way, the conversation about your children's future won't just be a memory. These insights come from an interview with psychologist Barbara Weißenbacher, published in DER SPIEGEL – and have saved you a few minutes of research today.