- 07 Mar 2007, 17:02
#9460
A Career! For any youth today, this term is certainly not alien. We constantly come across this term everywhere we go. It is one of the most emphasized issues in the life of a youth. What exactly is a career though?
A Career as defined by the oxford dictionary is “an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person’s life, usually with opportunities for progress.” From the definition we can see that it covers a significant period of our lifetimes. In fact, for some of us, or maybe even most of us, our careers tend to precede us in the form of those dreams and hopes that our parents and our families have even before we are born. “ My son will be a pilot,” or “ My daughter will be a doctor.” This is clearly enough to put emphasis on the importance of efficient career selection. I tend to define career simply as something that is going to be with us for a very long time in our lives, maybe even more than most of our friends.
In today’s expanding world of opportunities, the choices for a good career are endless. Yet this is what makes the process of career selection even more long and tedious. And to make things worse, advices on careers start flying in unexpectedly confusing us more. So for this first time I decided to brush up and remind us on some very important DOs and DONTs associated with career selection. I know we may have encountered them a lot of times, but it helps to be reminded.
DOs
Identify your strengths and weaknesses, your interests and capabilities.
A career must be a perfect mixture of interest and abilities. You wouldn’t want to be doing something that you are very good at but have completely no interest in. At the same time you wouldn’t want to be doing something that just interests you but being unable to do it efficiently.
Decide what you want from your life and your career before you jump into the ocean of careers searching for your oyster.
Make a potential list of careers.
Thoroughly research your fields of interest and try to narrow your list down very slowly.
If you are having trouble with some of your decisions, check out your school’s career counseling centre (if it has one) or try to talk to a career advisor. They are the experts and a humongous source of information and experience.
Another very good source of information is people who are already pursuing the careers on your list. Talk to people who are already in those fields, either working or studying. They will give you information not only about the studies but also about the prospects in the real world after pursuing that career.
Most importantly, TAKE YOUR TIME. There may come a time when you feel like you have to take decisions about your career as soon as possible mainly due to all the pressures around. But remember Haste makes Waste and it is your life that your dealing with just now.
DONTs
Select a career only because of MONEY. I agree that money is a factor in today’s world. But you wouldn’t want to end up just filling your pockets but wrecking your life. You’ll be spending a long time at work and you would not want that to be unfulfilling.
Become a doctor, engineer, lawyer or accountant just because your parents and your family want you to become one. Our families and parents understand us but often they are often not aware of the many opportunities around. The right way is to sit and talk over your choices and come to a consensus with all their blessings. Also don’t just carry the trait on. Sometimes it may be easy to just follow a path set for you, but if your heart is not in it, you are not doing your relatives or yourself any favour.
Narrow yourself down. There are career paths out there that you may never be aware of. There is a world out there for you to explore.
And lastly, don’t be afraid to ask for help. There are many people around you who are more than willing to help you out in getting a better career and a better life. Feel free.
And as the last point states, feel free to ASK and we can be one of your media. This section is especially dedicated towards guiding people, primarily youths, on to the right path of success and satisfaction with their careers and lives. We request you to help us in helping you.
Please send us any questions or queries that you may have regarding careers or any other career study related issues for which you may need advice. Also send us the names of any careers that you may want to be profiled on here together with information about universities. Don’t hesitate. I will also be placing some useful sites regarding careers so watch out for next time.
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