5 Ways to Help Your Child Find Their Perfect Career

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As a parent, you want to cultivate your child’s ambition and encourage them to take opportunities outside their comfort zone. Your child has the drive to succeed, so why not steer them toward an academically rigorous education that inspires intellectual curiosity, empowers them to apply their knowledge to on-the-job training and offers them the chance to bring their real-world experiences back to the classroom?

Through an all-encompassing program — one that values real-world experience, guided mentorship and a classroom education — your child can grasp their future by being exposed to varied industry experiences and career options. Keep reading to learn more about how a co-op can guide your child toward the right career path.

Focus in on their strengths
Different careers require different strengths — there is no one-size-fits-all future. If your child has dreamed of becoming a business owner, a lawyer or doctor their whole life, it’s time to help them develop the skills and steps they need to take to get there. If they’re still unsure of the path they want to take, that’s OK, too. Sometimes landing on the perfect career path takes a little exploration, and that’s where Drexel University’s personalized cooperative education program (co-op) comes in.

Allow them to test drive different careers
Maybe your child doesn’t have a set career goal, but they are mathematically or analytically adept.  Through Drexel’s co-op program, which can be completed in four to five years (depending on choice of program), he or she can choose from a handful of disciplines that exercise their strengths, both in the classroom and through real work experience.

Consider innovative careers in growing job markets
We all know that the workforce is changing — and quickly. With that evolution comes an influx of new industries and exciting opportunities. To coincide with that growth and need for new hires, Drexel’s network of co-op partners have opportunities in fields from business analytics, communications to civil engineering to entrepreneurship. Through the co-op program, students are able to experiment with new roles and industries to see if they are truly the right fit. In the last year alone, more than 1,600 unique employers hired Drexel co-op students.

While it’s easy to envision the day-to-day of a lawyer or marketing executive, understanding what goes into becoming a successful startup business owner or an app developer might be a little harder to navigate — but not at Drexel, where you can immerse yourself in the work and experience the role alongside leaders in industry.

Give them real-world experience and immersive training
On top of helping young people make a more seamless school-to-work transition and try out a diverse range of roles, Drexel’s co-op program allows students to take temporary, entry-level positions at major corporations like Apple, Google, Urban Outfitters and Boeing, as well as smaller companies and non-profits, while still in school. These exemplary employment opportunities allow students to build their professional network in a meaningful way that can last well after graduation.

Choose a school that provides all of the above
In addition to providing a proven combination of classroom learning and real-world work experience, Drexel University offers career development opportunities that includes job fairs, career workshops and résumé-building seminars. The four- or five-year co-op program allows students to choose a path and schedule that’s right for them and lets them test a number of career options as undergraduates. As one of the leading universities in the nation and one of the first to pioneer a co-op program back in 1919, there’s no better choice than Drexel to give your child the freedom to learn, grow and explore and engage the right career path.

For more information on Drexel University’s co-op program and enrollment, visit their website.