Helping hand for kids and careers

The ING Foundation has teamed up with one of our non-profit partners, Junior Achievement (JA) USA, as a sponsor of their latest kids and careers poll. The survey evaluates teenagers’ viewpoints on careers and the workplace. The survey covers sources of finance for children’s education and training after high school in order for them to aim for their “dream job”.

This is JA’s 11^th kids and careers survey, with ING serving as the sponsor for the second time since 2010. The initiative fits in with ING’s global Community Investment theme of Children and Education. Both organisations believe in preparing students to enter the workforce with the knowledge and skills they would require to be successful, through hands-on money management training. JA programs empower students to make a connection between what they learn in school and how it can be applied in the real world.

This education model enhances the relevance of students' classroom lessons and increases their understanding of the value of staying in school. For ING, partnering with JA on this survey underscores our commitment to education.

Some of the key findings of the survey include:

• Less than half the teens surveyed (43 per cent) are “very confident” they will someday have their dream job;
• A significant majority (71 per cent) would consider giving up their dream job for one that paid a higher salary;
• The most popular careers, selected by 61 per cent of respondents, are in science, technology, engineering, math, or the medical/dental fields;
• More than a third (35 per cent) of those surveyed did not know anyone who is in their “dream job” and learned about their desired career through school. This finding emphasises the importance of providing students with access to real world work experience and career mentoring. This includes programs such as Junior Achievement’s JA Job Shadow, which give students the chance to “shadow” employees at a business like ING and gain valuable insight into the importance and application of “soft skills” such as teamwork and problem solving in the workplace.
• More than a third (35 per cent) had changed their college plans due to the state of the US economy and job availability.