It’s never too early to begin thinking about possible career paths. While most teenagers don’t think very much about justice and law, there are many rewarding career paths available in this category.
Not only do they come with a wide range of different responsibilities, but they also feature different pay scales, from modest to quite comfortable.
In this article, we take a look at how you can discuss law and justice careers with your teenager, and what career paths might capture their interest.
Step 1. Ensure That It Is a Nuanced Discussion
For some families, justice and law careers are a sort of tradition. Law enforcement, for example, is the sort of job that often breeds multi-generation entries. That’s great, but a fondness or familiarity for the profession should not cloud the complexities of it.
There are many rewarding components of law enforcement degrees, but also complicated ones. It’s important to emphasize all of these factors to help your teenager make an informed decision.
Talk about the good that law enforcement can do, but also be sure to highlight the components of the job that make it difficult.
Your goal isn’t to scare them away, it’s simply to ensure that they go in with reasonable expectations. It’s by setting the stage properly that you ensure a likelihood of career longevity.
Of course, not every career in law and justice is dangerous. Aspiring lawyers can still benefit from an introductory conversation. In their case, help them understand the difficulties of the job, as well as the financial challenges that often come with the early stages of a legal career.
It typically takes more than $100,000 in education to qualify for law positions, and aspiring lawyers should at least be aware of that reality.
Step 2. Help Them Find Early Exposure Opportunities
The more exposure your child has to these careers during their teenage years, the easier it will be for them to make decisions about credentialing once they graduate from high school.
Many police departments offer shadowing opportunities, which provide excellent firsthand experience. It may be harder to find similar access to a law firm, but if you know a lawyer, consider asking them to speak with your child about the job and possibly allow a brief visit to the office.
Step 3. Be Responsive to Their Feelings
Parents can become so confident in what they believe is best for their child that they overlook signs pointing in another direction.
Career discernment is a long and often nonlinear process. Many people don’t find their ideal career until their mid-20s or even early 30s. It’s iterative. Your role as a parent isn’t to guide them toward a specific job but to help them understand their options with a nuanced and informed perspective.
Step 4. Learn Alongside Them
Do you know the difference between criminal justice and criminology? Most people don’t, and most teenagers exploring educational pathways are certainly unaware. Teenagers often graduate from high school with a very limited understanding of the options truly available to them.
They might know “lawyer” and “police officer,” but are they aware of the many dozens of different specialty areas in law? Do they know about the wide range of law enforcement roles that exist? Probably not.
While it’s always possible to learn more as you advance and earn additional certifications, it’s much better to begin a career already understanding what you like and what you don’t. If your child is still in high school, they are very much in the exploratory phase of their career search. Introduce them to as many different options as you can, and see what captures their interest.
Help Them Understand Their Own Priorities
The job, of course, is not to assign them priorities, but to ensure they have a realistic sense of what it’s like to hold down full-time work. Did anyone do this for you? Probably not. Professionals spend 40 hours or more each week on their careers.
It isn’t acceptable to be unhappy, uncomfortable, or stressed out for that entire time. Emphasizing the challenges of employment is not meant to scare your child away from any particular career, nor is it meant to push them toward one. It’s simply meant to get them to think about potential career paths in realistic and productive terms. Something may sound appealing now—but how will it sound 50 hours into the workweek?
There are a few factors that determine workplace satisfaction. These are:
- Salary- Naturally, people want compensation that supports their ideal lifestyle. However, higher pay does not necessarily correlate with higher job satisfaction. It usually requires the right combination of other factors as well.
- Autonomy- People want the ability to make their own choices and be recognized for their insights.
- Workplace connections- This is the most difficult element to predict, but it still matters. Environments that foster camaraderie tend to be more satisfying than those that do not.
- Career mobility potential- People also want opportunities to develop and grow as professionals—something that both law enforcement and legal careers offer, though sometimes in limited ways.
- Fulfillment- Finally, and possibly most important of all, people want to feel fulfilled by the work they do. This, at least, is something both career categories can provide in abundance.
Why direct their attention to these concerns? Because these are the very factors that often drive people to switch careers in their 20s or 30s.
College students rarely think about workplace satisfaction because they haven’t yet experienced long workweeks. Encouraging your child to think like a professional may help them make a career choice they can feel satisfied with the first time around.
