The best education for children will help them succeed in life, and parents are naturally concerned about helping their children make good educational choices.
Pursuing a career that’s the right fit can help young students get a head start on a more fulfilling pathway that can ultimately lead to their dream job. This can be found outside typical pursuits such as medicine, law, finance, or other fields often viewed as academic success.
However, it is unfortunate and inaccurate that pursuing a career in the trades is sometimes viewed as less valuable or desirable. There are still myths that a skilled trade is just a job, not a career, and that you don’t have to be very smart to succeed. This is far from the truth – many skilled trades require technical skills, math, and hours of training.
We also have a problem when we don’t have enough trade workers to make, move, fix, or operate the infrastructure and equipment that keep our society moving. It is tradespeople that keep our utilities running, repair our appliances, build and maintain our roads, as well as many other things that are integral to our daily lives.
So what can we do to encourage more kids to consider a career in trades? Read on to learn more.
Showing parents that learning a trade is valuable for life
Children’s parents are their first career mentors, so their opinion highly influences their kids’ career choices.
The first step to getting more young people interested in trades is to prove to their parents that learning a trade is valuable and lucrative – something that will benefit society by filling essential jobs.
By educating parents about the opportunities and benefits of working in the skilled trades, legislators, educators, and tradespeople can guide their children toward making the right choice from an early age — especially when selecting high school options that can lead to other rewarding opportunities.
Understanding that tradespeople are essential to our society
By educating parents about the opportunities and benefits of working in the skilled trades, legislators, educators, and tradespeople can guide their children toward making the right choice from an early age — especially when selecting high school and post-secondary options that can lead to other rewarding opportunities.
Many parents don’t realize that there are tons of rewarding careers outside of being a doctor, lawyer, etc., and they might unintentionally limit the options for their kids by not realizing how important tradespeople are, how well they’re paid, and how well they’re regarded.
We need to take more time to understand what drives parents’ ideas about what makes a good career. As we learn more about what drives parents’ views, we can help them give their children a better sense of what is available and what opportunities are out there for them.
Young students must receive career guidance at school to make informed life choices. Students can realize the value of a trades career by working with experienced tradespeople as guidance counselors.
Children can also be encouraged to pursue a career in the trades by being exposed to successful role models. The first step to fostering a career in the trades should begin with kids’ parents and have schools be more strategic in their efforts to promote it to young people.
Final Thoughts
No one should ever tell you, you don’t have what it takes to work in the trades. Trades for Tomorrow is working across the province to get young people excited about careers in the skilled trades. Interested in applying for an apprenticeship? Click here to apply.