Learn about the different alternative career options and the advantages of helping children pursue such careers. Choosing a career could be one of the most confusing tasks. Everyone has different career goals and they keep changing with time. It is very normal for children to be unsure about what they want to do in life. Their dreams and aspirations are never constant, they keep changing. But, life is all about exploring, so let your children explore their options, make mistakes and be independent.
Ways to Help Children to Make Right Career Choices
As parents, you can not impose your ideas on your children. But you can help them with the decisions they make for themselves. Some ways to help your children with their career decisions are:
1) Assuring them that you support them without any judgements. Tell them it’s okay to explore and make mistakes. After all that is how you learn major life lessons.
2) Sharing your life and career struggle stories. Everyone has a story to tell, share the struggles of your life with your children. This will encourage them to be confident and not be afraid of failure and mistakes.
3) Getting your children some career counselling could be really useful. Professional counsellors can help your child understand where his or her interests lie.
4) Encourage them to take aptitude tests. These are simple tests, usually online which can really help you understand your personality and skill sets.
5) Make sure your children understand that following and achieving their goals is more valuable than earning a lot of money. Money comes and goes, but being unhappy in your career or profession has to be one of the worst things to go through in life.
6) Your children must understand the importance of hard work. A person would clearly work hard and to his or her full potential if he or she is happy with their job or career. On the other hand, you will have a laid back attitude in a job that you highly dislike.
7) Tell your children that they don’t have to follow your footsteps, just because it is the safe option. Encourage them to take risks in life.
If your child possesses talent in a particular field, you should encourage that talent. Such encouragement will make an opportunity available for your child to pursue an alternative career. There are lots of alternative career options which your child can opt. Read on to know more about the alternative career options.
Many Indian parents want their child to pursue traditional types of careers like Doctor, Engineer, MBA, etc. However, with changing times and increasing competition it is essential for parents to allow their child to pursue alternative careers too. Every parent wants his or her child to be successful in life by choosing an appropriate career. But, forcing a child to pursue a career of your own choice may become a burden for the child. Therefore, it is essential to support your child when he or she wants to pursue an alternative career.
Some orthodox people do not support this concept of alternative careers. However, there are quite a lot of examples which prove that one should definitely go for an alternative career if he or she has got talent in a particular field.
With the developing pace of this world, there are so many new career options available for us. If you feel that your child is talented in a particular field, you should try to encourage your child to pursue a career in that field. If such talent is polished and pursued as a career in future by your child, it will definitely bring a lot of success to your child. Here are some of the alternative careers which can be pursued by your child.
Dance
Dance is a career option chosen by most of the youngsters. Many children do follow it as a hobby. These career options have become very popular as there are many reality shows which provide dancers with the platform to prove their talent. By using such platforms provided by reality shows, talent is getting recognised. Because of such recognitions youngsters get a good opportunity to build a career in this field. If your child is showing interest in such fields, do not hesitate to encourage him or her. You may not know your child can be one of the rising stars of tomorrow. They can be as successful as stars like Prabhudeva or Shahid Kapoor.
Acting
Like dance, acting is also one of the popular alternative career options. The field of acting gives a lot of name and fame and as such the competition is tough. However, competition is not a barrier for those who are talented. There are various options available for actors. They can do theaters, movies, TV serials, commercial ads etc; There is a lot of scope in this field too where you child can prove his or her talent and become tomorrow's Madhuri Dixit or Sharukh Khan.
Choreography
With the increasing opportunities in the field of dance and acting, opportunities for the choreographers are also increasing. Choreography is one step ahead of dancing and acting. In this field a lot of knowledge is required about various dance forms. It is good if a choreographer himself or herself is a good dancer and actor. If you think that your child has an interest and potential to become a choreographer, you should give a go-ahead. Choreographers enjoy a respectable status amongst the dancers, actors and general audiences. Your child can also be tomorrow’s Saroj Khan or Shiamak Davar.
Singing and Music
Singing and music are also one of the alternative career options which are popular amongst the youngsters like dancing, acting and choreography. There are many options available in singing and music. Your child can become a singer where he can explore opportunities in Bollywood. There are good reality shows which provide a platform for young singers. Your child can also become a classical vocalist or a musician. There are many singers and musicians who have proved their talent in this field. One of them is A.R.Rahman who has been honoured with an Oscar award for his work in this field.
Fashion Designing
Many parents do not allow their children to choose fashion designing as their career. Parents hesitate as they are not comfortable with the culture of the fashion and glamour world. However, it is not necessary that they have to follow the same culture. They can run their own boutiques and fashion houses also. They can even work with good fashion boutiques where they can use their talent and creativity. There are many popular names in this field. Amongst them Manish Malhotra’s designs have become the heartthrob of many Bollywood stars.
Alternative Healing
Along with medicines, alternative healing is preferred by many to solve health problems. Even doctors advise their patients to practice yoga and meditation to get quick relief. Therefore, alternative healing can also be one of the good career options.
Handwriting Analysis
Handwriting analysis which is also known as graphology is also one of the new career options. If your child has good handwriting and has interest in reading, he or she can pursue graphology as his or her career. A graphologist can apply his skills in the fields like medical diagnosis, checking marital compatibility, checking business compatibility, employment profiling, graphotherapy etc.
Diet and Nutrition
Taking care of diet and nutrition has become an inseparable part of today’s modern lifestyle. As such, a dietician or nutritionist’s role has become vital for dealing with diet and nutrition issues in people’s life. Therefore, a career option as a dietician or nutritionist is also one of the best career choices which your child can make in future.
Social Work
Social work is also an important field which can be pursued as a career by your child. In the field of social work there are many areas like adoption counseling, child welfare, human rights etc; which your child can opt for in future. Just like Rajashree Birla who was honoured with Rajeev Gandhi Award for her social work, your child too can become one of the achievers in the field of social work.
Graphic Designing
With the digital advancements in today’s era, there is a growing demand in careers that involve digital and technological use. Graphic designing is one of them and it has a lot of scope. As digital marketing is becoming a big deal nowadays, marketing and ad agencies hire graphic designers to design ad campaigns for them.
Journalism
Mass media is the most trending topic nowadays. Everything around us is either influenced by the media or social media influencer. A career in journalism or in the field of social media as a blogger could be a great success.
Other Alternative Career Options
Photography is one of the interesting and creative fields which can be pursued by your child.
There are lots of career options available in writing as well. It includes copywriting and creative writing. The demand for copywriting and creative writing is increasing with the growth of the advertisement industry.
If your child is good at drawing and painting; fine arts, calligraphy and commercial arts are amongst the creative career options which he or she can pursue.
Beauty and hair-dressing is also one of the career options which your child can pursue. Not only females but also lots of males choose this field for building a career.
According to a survey conducted by human resources solutions company, a majority of Indian workers prefer meaningful jobs over income and status. Out of the nearly 3500 workers surveyed in the country, about 62 percent said they will forego income or status to do something more meaningful.
Pursuing an alternative career can help your child achieve more in life. Nothing can be as great as converting hobbies and interests into careers. It is better to encourage children to become what they want to become in life instead of forcing them. Alternative careers are one of the best which can also help your child to have a secure future.
What are the benefits of pursuing alternative careers? Which are the most popular alternative career options? Are there any disadvantages of choosing alternative careers? Discuss here. 
