Why Coaching Skills for Parents?

Today’s parents are taking a more active interest in their children’s post-secondary and career planning. Recent research also indicates that today’s youth rely more heavily on their parents for career-planning direction than previous generations.

Coaching Strategies for Involved Parents

As a parent, you have three important roles when assisting your child with career planning: clarifier, co-researcher and supporter.

1. Parent as Clarifier

Parents can play a pivotal role in helping their children identify

  • Skills  (What have I learned?)
  • Interests  (What do I like?)
  • Values  (What do I want?)

In this process, take advantage of the many resources currently available through


2. Parent as Co-Researcher

Once your child has identified personal core skills, interests and values, the next step is to generate possible career options to explore.

  • Read about different occupations. Check the Occupational Profiles on the ALIS website.
  • Conduct informal interviews with people who have interesting jobs.
  • “Shadow” or watch people while working when possible.
  • Attend Post-Secondary or Career Day events at high schools.
  • Try a range of part-time, volunteer, summer, work experience or practicum positions.

3. Parent as Supporter

The final step of the process is to set goals and take action. Students need to refine their search and identify a career path or training program of interest to pursue.

A parent’s role at this stage is to provide support.

Tangible support includes discussing finance, including

  • tuition costs
  • school expenses
  • room and board

Who will pay? How much will it cost? Note that financial pressure is one of the biggest reasons why students drop out. Be sure to look at student loans, grants, scholarships and bursaries.

Informational support involves finding additional information. Parents often revert to their role as co-researcher during this stage. This could include

  • post secondary deadlines
  • application processes
  • additional program research


Emotional support involves empathy and encouragement. It is important to understand each person is different and may need different kinds of support. While some students develop clear ideas about their career choice at an early age, many grapple with this throughout their lives. Remember, most of us will have several different occupations in our careers.

Would you like more coaching information?

We offer our Parents as Career Coaches presentation to interested school and community groups. This one-hour presentation offers strategies to help parents understand how to effectively assist their children as they prepare to enter the world of work.

If you would like us to speak to your group, or have any questions about our presentation, please contact Don Stewart at 780.491.3143 or dstewart@nait.ca.