I didn't take a gap year but I changed programs from Arts & Science into Business between first and second year. Would be a little tougher for him if he really has no idea what he wants to do but there were loads of people in business program who switched in from other majors.
My partner does not have a degree but a 1 year diploma, and the job search outside of their healthcare path is very difficult. As much as I would also encourage the gap year to figure out what he wants to do, any degree will help open doors for him, even if he gets a job in a less related field.
Don't ask your son what he likes. Ask what he can tolerate as a job. There's a difference between job and career. Scope wise, job is basically whether to fold at big blind/little blind, career is much closer to all in/calling some pretty significant raises.
It's not just blue collar vs white collar, but also expected work locations and compensation. "I like doing this, but I can't see myself doing this for a decade" is valid. "I don't want to still be grinding some menial jobs or a job I seriously hate a decade later, I'd want to have money to have cool things or reach a balance of work hard play hard."
I've told people before to consider thinking of job interviews like dating. Two sides trying to figure out if they want to get into a business relationship together. Asking your son what type of job he might consider sticking around for long term (ie: a decade) is helpful. Then confirming whether the decision matches the expectation with hands on work experience or continued schooling is the next step for him to figure out.
Picking your career at the start of university is like walking into a bar looking to find your spouse. It happens, rarely and not always successfully, but most are better not thinking that way.
Unless he actually dislikes school and rugby isn’t enough I’d be in the group telling him to just keep going and don’t worry about career choices. He has life by the kiwis right now. Good companies will line up to hire a high end university athlete and graduate. In anything. Skills can be taught. A young person who’s shown that kind of drive and perseverance is much more rare. He’s not wasting time.
Respectfully, as obviously I don’t know you or him and this is from afar, suggesting he leave might be bad advice. I think for some kids gap years are just drifting much more slowly. If he doesn’t know what he wants his job isn’t to find it, but to cross off options. It’ll be different in 5-10-20 years. Get on a good path, and see where life goes.
Your questions tells me I lacked information in my initial post, apologies.
Qualification - Grade 12, currently at UVic
Interests - Rugby & his G/F
He is having trouble really identifying his interests as the pertain to a life long career.
Don't get me wrong he is a good kid, got good grades. Is engaging when he wants to me.
Does he have any known neurodivergence?
I was also a "good kid" and had good grades, but I didn't know about my ADHD+ until age 40. Fit for ENVIRONMENT has been a bigger problem for me than fit for INTERESTS/aptitudes, but I only understand this now in hindsight.
My first job was as a paperboy around age 12/13, then I got into working in a restaurant as a dishpig eventually working my way up to run the line and then front of house where the money was best. That job paid my University tuition. Again, in hindsight, that environment was very good for me and was probably my favourite job.. but I felt destined for other things because my grades were high, and I loved science and math as subjects.
No one that I knew in my immediate family had been through post-secondary when it was graduation day, but I was always conditioned to believe that was the path. Not knowing any better, I chose to stay in town where I would be able to live at home and get through a degree without student loans. I do regret not exploring my options further, because I think PLACE matters more than I could appreciate at the time.
I took mechanical engineering because the recruiter that came to our high school was pretty and she said "if you're interested in alternative energy, mechanical engineering is for you". She was partially correct, but this city is not the place for that.
My first office jobs were in O&G, of course, so that was acceptable enough being in and around energy. There was a lot to be interested by and fascinated with there, but the environment of an office job and in corporate culture was a poor fit for me.
Despite having an insane amount of energy, enthusiasm, workaholism; my upbringing and previous schooling did not prepare me to "work hard" in the way that is required to become proficient at a skill or role over many decades.
I did not appreciate how much I needed the school environment to succeed. The structure, limited choices, lack of access to low grade dopamine via forums like CalgaryPuck all day, built-in motivators + frequent long breaks + clear and progressive objectives laid out for you in advance... and the short term nature of it all.
Employers like to talk about providing all of this structure and development resource for their staff, but it hasn't really been there and has actually degraded since I've been in the workforce.
What I didn't realize is that I was subconsciously expecting all of that to remain in place, meaning I never learned how to supply those frameworks and supports for myself. I would just stay up all night and work longer to meet expectations, which is a recipe for dissatisfaction and burnout. I'm doing the work to rebuild these things now, but it would have been really helpful knowing my neurotype needs this more than an allistic neurotypical person. "Being smart" was not the magic wand in adulthood that it was in childhood and adolesence, and relying on that alone has been a big problem.
Regardless, that's on me and I accept that. What I lament most about my career arc is that I have yet to FIND MY MASTER to "apprentice" under. Downtown corp culture just didn't work like that for me, and being an engineer has not been the source of pride that I thought it would be.
Also, I think these things can be cumulative. Things happen the way they need to. Being mobile and flexible is a good thing for those times that quitting/moving on is actually the right idea. Sticking with something long enough to develop a few skills, relationships, and resilience is a good thing, but so is knowing when and how to extract yourself from the wrong situation. Embrace the fact you're likely going to change a lot. I give myself 7 years to do what I can with a new arc, and then re-evaluate from there. So far that's been a very helpful mental model to cope with the stress/reality of change/instability.
Balancing taking big bets to propel your wealth vs saving hard cash to give yourself personal freedom to change lanes is a valuable thing to learn how to do as well. Employers will take everything you're willing to give them, and then some, never forget that.
In sum...
1. ENVIRONMENT - consider the type of environment and culture he needs to perform and be content. This can narrow down the types of fields he is considering, and should be a major factor in applying for specific jobs.
2. INTERESTS/APTITUDES
Being generally smart means he could probably do almost anything, and too many options makes choices harder.
Remember that the word PASSION is based on the root word "To SUFFER", meaning a thing you're passionate about is a thing you're willing to suffer deeply for. I do not imagine most people actually want to suffer on purpose for 60 years, not like that.
Look into taking Strong Interest Inventories or Personality Tests with the Canada Career Counselling Group. It is a paid service, but layers a bit more psychological profiling into the process than most programs seem to. I found it fell short for me with more specific mental health needs, but it could work well for him.
If budget is an issue, check out resources like Career Hero as others have suggested. This particular 5 day workshop is free, and you can take other courses if it was helpful and you want to do more.
3. PLACE
People tend to congregate in "skill hubs". Calgary-Edmonton is one such region, Silicon Valley for tech, NY for finance, fashion; etc...
This is a huge deal. If you're in a place that is aligned with you, you're more likely to "get lucky" with your life choices like friends, mates, jobs, etc.
Richard Florida writes on this topic amazingly well. His book "Who's Your City?" is amazing. Here's a little Place Finder Quiz that he can try to see what place might be a good fit for him to run into serendipity and good fortune.
4. FIND YOUR MASTER
Check out the book "Mastery" by Robert Greene. He describes the arc of mastery, and how it involves:
Discovering your calling is where your son is at (and so am I).
He suggests exploring early memories, returning to your origins (family names often spoke to the craft or trade your family owned for many generations and are a clue to your latent aptitudes, seriously), finding a niche to occupy, staying off false paths, letting go of the past, and getting back to your calling.
I would add finding the right place is a big part of finding one's purpose AND right master to apprentice under.
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Remind your son he still has to live his life two more full times before he can even sniff retirement. As SeeGeewhy said, go experiment with work, projects or anything that you find interesting and enjoy. Knowing what you don't like can be just as useful in the effort to find what you do at a young age.
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