From the author: An article about what teenagers experience at the end of their school journey. Why is it so difficult to choose a profession and a university? What can parents do to help their children choose? Choosing a profession is one of the most difficult tasks that a person faces on the path of his development. And it’s not easy for several reasons. Firstly, this choice has to be made during the period of the teenage crisis: at that moment when the teenager is overcome by a huge number of internal conflicts and doubts, and when the leading activity is grouping with peers and finding oneself in this group. This means that a lot of strength and energy is spent in a completely different area of ​​life, but most importantly, it turns out to be truly difficult to make a “choice for life” when there are continuous doubts inside!.. Secondly, at this moment the teenager has something wrong behind him a lot of experience, but not enough knowledge in my head to make this choice truly thoughtfully and carefully. Knowledge about the world of professions, as a rule, is limited to knowledge about the areas in which parents and relatives work. And about many professions, unrealistic and naive ideas are formed. And finally, as such, a teenager’s knowledge about himself is quite superficial, because during this period the process of deep self-knowledge is just beginning, and only after going through this stage does the teenager acquire a more or less realistic image of himself !..So it turns out that, being overwhelmed by all the passions in the world, experiencing hormonal changes in the body, and having almost nothing in his head except doubts and torment, a teenager is forced to make a choice that in some sense will determine his future life!. .So how can you make this choice without making a mistake? And how do you understand what to rely on when making this choice? Let's start small: in many families, the teenager's parents take an active part in choosing the child's future profession. Sometimes, they are so active that they choose this profession themselves, directly informing the child about where he will study, or in every possible way pushing him to the “right decision.” Let us immediately note that this is one of the saddest and most ineffective situations that are possible. . Because, often, parents choose what they like, but does not suit their children! And even if it fits, it may not correspond to the interests and values ​​that a teenager develops during this period. And unfortunately, in the practice of working with adults, one often has to deal with unhappy and unfulfilled men and women: those who once went to study “where their parents sent them” and now do not enjoy either their work or life in general...Of course, one can understand those parents who make this choice for their children. They are afraid of their “wrong” decision, do not feel in them the ability to “make a choice on their own,” but most importantly, they do not trust the choice their children make. In other words, out of fear for their future, in this way they only try to help their children, but thereby, inadvertently, ruin their lives... And all because this choice cannot be made by the hands of another person. This choice requires attention to oneself, contact with oneself, but most importantly, the courage to believe in oneself and in the force that guides our development!.. No one except the person making this choice can say for sure where the area is located true interest, which means in which area a person can reveal himself as effectively as possible!.. Because in practice it turns out that doing an unloved activity or an activity that does not bring joy, a person turns out to be unable to achieve high results!.. That is why we recommend that parents who are worried about the future of their children, support their children and help them find their own decision, and not make this choice for them... So, how can a teenager help himself, and parents help their child, so that this choice is made as harmoniously as possible? first toTo determine a suitable profession, the teenager needs to determine the area of ​​his interests and the abilities that he would like to use/develop in his future job. It is important to understand where his strengths and weaknesses are, what is really interesting to do, and how a teenager imagines his future field of activity!.. It is for the implementation of this task that career guidance is carried out at many schools and psychological centers! In the form of a conversation or psychological testing, a psychologist helps a teenager learn about his strengths and qualities, determine an approximate range of suitable professions, and find out what difficulties he may encounter if he chooses some other areas of activity. However, determining his abilities is only the first step choice. The next stage is to expand the teenager’s knowledge about the world of professions as a whole: about those areas of activity that exist, about those areas in which it is possible to apply and develop the teenager’s abilities and interests, about the demand for certain specialists! You can fill this deficit by visiting job fairs, open days of various universities and faculties, and, ultimately, collecting information about specialties on the Internet! In addition, ordinary communication on the topic “what specialties exist” - with your friends and parents’ friends, with acquaintances, etc. helps you find out more information about what areas of application of your abilities exist! However, you should remember that that the situation on the job market changes every year and the knowledge that was reliable and relevant 5 years ago may not correspond to reality today. Therefore, the knowledge and beliefs of representatives of the older generation do not always correspond to the current reality of the labor market... As an example, I will give a situation that occurred in one of the families that turned to us for help. The child in this family showed amazing artistic abilities, but the parents were categorically against choosing in favor of an “art university”, since they assumed that the prospect that would open up for their child was to be a free artist on the Arbat and drag out a miserable existence... Of course, the parents’ anxiety was transmitted to child (it’s always difficult to make an independent decision when there is no parental support), and he himself began to doubt that drawing is what he really wants. It was with these doubts that he came to career guidance. Tests, however, showed that art was precisely his path. And having thoroughly studied the labor market, the child was able to convince himself and provide parents with a large number of examples of a different “path of development” for graduates of an art university. It turned out that they became successful designers, architects, illustrators, worked in advertising, cinema, book business... And, as you can already guess, they earned very good money doing what they loved!.. In this case, simple research steps taken by the child also helped parents reduce their anxiety about the child’s future, and the teenager himself strengthens his desire and desire to further develop his artistic abilities. In addition, these steps helped the child receive reliable information about the current situation on the labor market!.. This example shows how effective these simple steps are, but most importantly, how much the support of loved ones means to a teenager at this moment! Overwhelmed by a lot of doubts, a teenager is ready to give up what he feels inside if his parents do not approve of the choice he has made. That is why we want to emphasize: the most important thing a teenager needs during this period is the support of loved ones! Just so that his choice is supported... so that they don’t criticize, but listen... so that instead of trying to convince him, they help him hear himself!.. Going against parents is difficult even for the bravest teenager. And this is why many give up what they really “like”, and then regret the mistake they made for years... Dear parents, remember this when!..