Choosing which career path to follow is a key part of any adult’s life and something that is important to consider very carefully. By taking the time to think about what you are good at and what you enjoy, you can move into a sector that suits you best.
For those who enjoy working with younger people in society, this can mean looking for a career in which you can help them directly each day. If you have a connection with young people, lots of patience, good empathy and oodles of compassion, then these kinds of roles can be an ideal choice. When you begin to look at specific roles in this area, you’ll soon find that there are a lot to consider choosing.
But which are some of the best roles for assisting young people and children?
School counselor
If you are passionate about helping children and young people, this career choice is worth thinking about. School counselors are key figures in educational establishments and provide much-needed academic/emotional support to pupils. They also have an important role in shaping young lives and enabling young people to fulfill their potential. This can be anything from helping disabled students thrive in education to helping bright students achieve more and looking out for vulnerable students.
If you plan on becoming a school counselor, it is a good idea to enroll in a suitable academic course first that teaches you all you need to know. The online Master of Arts in Counseling and Human Development – School Counseling program, from Walsh University, is one of the best around to consider and sets you up perfectly for a career helping young people in education.
Teacher
The other major role within education that can see you helping young people and children is teaching. While you might not get as involved with providing targeted emotional/academic support to specific pupils as a school counselor, it still offers plenty of scope to help students achieve their full potential.
There is just no doubting the impact teachers have on children and how positive an influence a good teacher can be. Training to become a teacher also means you get to pass on your knowledge to the next generation and help them gain valuable skills to progress in life. Teachers can also help young people understand what behavior is acceptable in society and help shape their personalities in a positive way.
Teaching also means you can work with age ranges you feel most able to help and can specialize in a subject you enjoy. When you add in the decent pay and summer holidays, it gets even better! To break into teaching, you would normally need a bachelor’s degree in education as a starting point.
Child nutritionist
All adults know that a good diet is key to our health. This involves drinking enough water per day, not eating too much processed food and ensuring we are educated on certain things, like the benefits of vitamin E. Children need more assistance/education in this area and working as a child nutritionist is a great way to help them with this.
As you might expect, these trained professionals help children whose diets may be poor and who need help in terms of healthy eating. Often, this can be due to the child’s current diet causing medical issues, which the nutritionist can help resolve through setting out a better diet plan for them. To move into this role, a bachelor’s degree in dietetics or nutrition is usually needed first.
Pediatric nurse
Health care plays a major role in keeping us all fit, and this is true for young people, as well. They need specialized care, though, and this is where pediatric nurses come in. These are specific types of nurses who are focused on providing care for children and young people. As such, it is a great career choice if you want a job that involves helping this section of society.
To become a pediatric nurse, you would usually need to gain a bachelor’s degree in nursing first, gain licensing as a registered nurse and then pass a certified pediatric nursing exam. This ensures that qualified nurses in this role have specific knowledge in children’s health. This could be anything from illnesses, which are common in children to how certain conditions present themselves in younger people.
Pediatric nurses are also trained to perform diagnostic tests on younger patients and have a knack for making them feel calm when receiving treatment. This ability to reassure young, and often nervous, patients in a clinical environment is a key skill for this type of job.
Child psychology and child psychiatry
Although pediatric nursing is great for helping young people with physical problems, many can often need help with mental issues. If you want to provide this kind of assistance in your role, then child psychology or child psychiatry might be for you. Both career choices enable you to work directly with young people and help them deal with a range of distinct mental problems.
Child psychologists specialize in assessing and treating emotional, social, or behavioral issues in young people. As with pediatric nurses, they are specially trained to work with children in this setting and offer help in a reassuring, non-threatening way. They can work in various health-care settings where this kind of service is needed, with private practices being a good example. This role helping children needs a master’s degree in clinical psychology or child development to begin with – plus the relevant state certification/licensing — to work.
Child psychiatrists perform a similar role but are able to prescribe medication to patients. This makes them very useful for helping young people with more severe mental health issues, where safe medication is required as part of the treatment plan. As well as gaining a medical degree, professionals in this role must also pass certification in psychiatry and undergo a health-care residency.
Social worker
One of the most well-known jobs for helping young people and children is social worker. This role basically involves caring for vulnerable young people in society and making sure they are kept safe from harm. This is a career choice that not only has you working directly to improve young people’s lives but also making a positive impact in your community. Social workers can also help offer advice to the families of young people to improve their circumstances at home.
This is a varied role that is always interesting, and each day brings new challenges. If you enjoy making young people’s lives better, this is a job that gives you the chance to do just that. Many roles like this, for example, involve removing children from dangerous environments, and this enables you to really make a difference in the world. To become licensed as a social worker, you would need to obtain a bachelor’s degree in social work.
Why move into a career helping young people and children?
The above shows some of the best careers to think about moving into when it comes to helping children and young people. Why do so many people consider doing these careers?
To begin with, these kinds of roles are very rewarding on a personal level and bring a feeling of real satisfaction. There is nothing like seeing a child you have helped mentor flourish, for example, or the feeling you get when you have saved a child from danger. In addition, these are jobs with real meaning and that enable you to do something for work that can drive positive change in the world.
Although these are the main reasons most people like to work in roles helping young people, you also must factor in the pay. This is particularly important if you enjoy living a luxurious lifestyle outside of work and affording the finer things in life. When you think that the average salary for a school counselor is around $52,350, you can see what roles like this bring, in terms of financial reward.
Jobs helping young people are also popular because they offer superb job security and are in high demand, generally. We will always need trained professionals to nurture and care for youngsters after all, and this means jobs in this sector will never disappear. The increasing demand for qualified professionals in roles helping young people also makes them appealing.
Consider a career in helping children and young people
If you feel a real connection with young people and are passionate about helping children, then it is perfectly possible to move into a career that is focused on this. As the above shows, there are some superb roles to consider training for and some awesome jobs that enable you to not only work with younger people but also make their lives better.