Selecting the right career is probably only second in importance to selecting the right spouse. Yet, whenever I look around I find a hoard of people who have chosen the wrong career or are ambivalent towards the career they have selected. Many a times I have seen a friend of mine who was average in the career s/he was in but, one could easily make out that s/he will be outstanding in some other career. I think most of us choose our careers based on what people around us think of those careers. The parameters that affect our decision are
- What have my friends chosen?
- Do my parents approve of the career?
- Do other people I know approve or appreciate this career?
- Et cetera….
A person who is sufficiently self confident will definitely make the choice as per his own mind but those that lack self confidence will choose the career that is most easy to justify or will rather trust the people close to them or some expert than to check out things for themselves and take an informed decision.
This is one of the reasons why so many people find it difficult to cope up with studies and by the time they realize they have made a mistake, its too late for them. They will either have spent quite a long time in the career or succeeding in the career would have become a matter of life of death for whatever self confidence they have remaining in them. Both situations are undesirable.
When an individual does not have confidence in his decision, he turns to the society to find an answer. So, then the decision depends upon the intellectual capacity of the society and not everyone is blessed with intellectual acquaintances. This is generally true especially with young people. Career selection should begin quite early on in one's life. Children should be exposed to a variety of careers early on, say from grade 6 or 7 onwards. Some interesting careers like event management, nature excursion specialist, HR training, etc. are not very popular in India. They have not yet got their worth from the society. Its about time the society took notice of such radical career streams, some of which don not even require conventional formal education. Also, at the end of grade 10, before selecting the stream it would help if they know the network of careers originating from the 3 basic streams. Students don't know what do people specializing in say History or Geography do? How much do they earn and what are the growth avenues in these careers? I think it is the responsibility of the parents to educate their kids.
Later on, after graduating also there is a chance to switch over to a career which suits us better. At this point the selection is very crucial because it's a bargain between what we feel is right for us and what we have been doing till now. Some may end up losing both in the end. If the choice is not perfectly clear, it would make sense to take up a job somewhere for a year or two, understand what goes on in the world outside and then choose. These years should not be considered wasted as we gain valuable work experience in them. At present it is very easy to take up a job in a BPO or KPO with good remuneration, if no better option is available. Not only do we gain work experience but, we also develop our personality, our language and learn team work. For anyone with the right senses, employment is not an issue these days so we must take advantage of it.
I also feel people aim low so they are worried about whether they should take up the career of their choice or not. If we choose any career and put our heart and soul into it to become one of the best in it, money follows. This fact is less known. In our surroundings we find that most rich people are engineers, businessman, MBAs, doctors, etc. So, these seem the obvious careers for success. People earning so much in other careers are less common, probably because their careers are less common. While taking decisions, if we can't see an example before us, it becomes difficult to justify the decision. If you don't know even a single history expert who earns well and enjoys his job, you'll find it difficult choose history as the major. This is exactly what is called as lack of awareness of careers.
Whatever may be the case with you, it would help to select the right career and aim big in it and put your heart and soul in it - that's the only formula for success. I would like to end with a few lines said by our former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam seem quite relevant to this -
Dream Big, Aim Big, Small Aim is a Crime!!!
Author: Vj
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