Knowing Yourself

Developing your career is a unique opportunity to express yourself and spend your life doing what you enjoy most. Understanding yourself is crucial to each step you take on your career journey. This is where self-exploration enters, through it you grow to understand yourself. Careers require courage, risk, and belief in ourselves to become reality.

It is important to understand that people are evolving during their teenage years. They are when a young person learns who they are, questioning their world, measuring themselves against peers and growing in confidence. So have to keep in mind that their experiences so far have been limited and that future events may change our course dramatically. This time is when the unique identity is forged and the big decisions about life are made.

From a career development point of view, self-exploration is about identifying your strengths and weakness. You need to understand what motivates you, what your hopes and aspirations are, and using this information to point you in the right direction.


Our self-concept is what we believe about ourselves. We build our self-concept through communication with others, contact with others and relationships with others and, in particular, the bonds we have with significant key people in our lives. Other influences on the development of the young person’s self-concept are contact and involvement with groups such as sports clubs, social or voluntary activities. Media, Social Media and Stereotyping can all play a role in the development of a young person’s self-concept.

For Parents

Parents play a crucial role as mentors, coaches, counsellors and safety nets. Parents can’t tell their children what career path they must embark on, but they are vital source of guidance, perception and support. They should be available and be supportive but be sure to give their children space, so they develop as individuals.

With different experiences a child will consider different possibilities for themselves. A young person set on becoming a pilot may suddenly aspire to be a psychologist. This is the process of discovery, where parents can find themselves listening as their children jump from ambition to ambition.

Importance of Self-Esteem

Before considering the results of any aptitude and career tests your child may have undergone in school, it is worthwhile being aware of how your child's self-esteem may influence their answers.

Self-esteem is an important factor in the psychological health of all of us. Self-esteem is a measure of how a person values and believes in themselves, for example, whether they believe they are worth something to themselves or others.

For a person to reach their potential they must have the opportunity to develop in an environment that provides them with

  • Genuineness
  • Acceptance
  • Empathy


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