Astronaut one day, artist the next: How to help children explore the world of careers

When Angelina Rivera was a third grader, she wanted to be a scientist and was excited by bugs, rocks and everything in the natural world.

- By CATHY BUSSEWITZ

But a family trip to visit relatives in Honduras changed her perspective. Police stopped her family's car and aggressively questioned her father about a crime someone else committed the night before. The experience left Rivera, then eight, shaken but also realizing that people may be treated differently based on their appearance and location.

Over time, that pivotal experience evolved into an interest in politics. After studying international relations in college, Rivera, now 22, works as an assistant at the Consulate General of Japan in Detroit.

"The more I tried to explore different interests(,) ... I found that it was hard for me to ignore that urge, that calling, to go into diplomacy," she said.

Sometimes career paths follow a straight line, with early life ambitions setting us on a clear path to training or a degree and a specific profession. Just as often, circumstance, luck, exposure and a willingness to adapt to change influence what we do for a living.

Developmental psychologists and career counselors recommend exposing children to a wide variety of career paths at a young age.

Sometimes children assume they can't work certain jobs because of their gender, race or background, Curry said. "That's what we're trying to avoid, because kids do start limiting very young, like age five," she said.

Here's what experts have to say about how to talk with kids about careers.

Start young

Toddlers begin making sense of occupations while visiting a pediatrician's office or waving to garbage truck crews. Encourage their curiosity by pointing out the people working at a post office or bakery, or appearing in books or on television.

You can ask young children, "What jobs do you see? What kind of things do they do?" advised Curry, who consults on career content for the PBS show "Skillsville," which is geared toward children ages four to eight.