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The Importance of Dads in Workforce Development

This Father’s Day, I wanted to take time to reflect on the importance of fathers from the perspective of workforce development.  Like mothers, our fathers are so important to our identity as career professionals.

My father is a member of the baby boomer generation. He is also a Veteran, having served in the Air Force. After leaving the military, he married my mother and worked a career in sales until he retired. My father had multiple jobs, but worked in the same industry for his entire career. My father knew many people and had an excellent reputation as a worker. When the time came for a new job, he was able to rely upon his network to assist him. My father taught me the value of a professional network and a good reputation.  

My two grandfathers were hard workers. My mother’s father worked two jobs to support his family. He was hard working, but knew the value of rest and relaxation. Each summer, he would take two weeks and take his family on vacation to the beach in Maine. My mother’s father was a hard worker devoted to providing for his family, but when he was on vacation he was totally on vacation and not connecting to the office. Like my mother’s father, my paternal grandfather was a hard worker. An immigrant, he came to this country as a child and had to overcome obstacles to success. He graduated from college and intended be a gym teacher, but life had a different plan. Despite the change of plan, he worked a career in production and supported his family. My grandfathers taught me to always remember what is really important.

My experience alone shows the value fathers model in our career experiences. In workforce development, we think about job seekers as individuals and focus our attention on the job seeker’s employment desires, but they are part of something bigger. Each male job seeker could be a father and an employment role mode to his children. Each female job seeker brings a perspective about work that was modeled by her father and her father figures.  On the employer side, many companies have been started by fathers or inspired by fathers. As you can see fathers are important not only for parenting, but to shape our perspectives on work and careers.

Happy Father’s Day to all the father’s in reader land. Take time this weekend to love and appreciate your father and the contributions of all fathers.

~Karen Cirincione
Email:kcirincione@gmail.com
Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/karenjcirincione
Twitter:@kcirincione

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