Career Decisions and How?

 

How does a young mind decide upon a career option? Well, most of us senior professionals are confused even today about our own careers, so should a young mind be guided at all for careers or no? Should we just leave them to figure it out on their own? 

Well, there are different kinds of people in this world and it will depend on many factors. One rule does not fit all. While there are some families, where the parents and kids are super-engaged and the child gets to discover and experience a lot, and develops maturity to take the right decisions in time, in my experience, this situation is quite rare and there needs to be a method to this madness. 

In today's fast moving age, things are changing at a rapid pace, and as the child turns a teenager, there is huge information overload and they are spoilt for choices. I term this "information overload" as "EXTERNAL NOISE". Being a student of Acoustics, we were taught about White Noise and Signal to Noise ratios, while designing "Active Noise Cancellation Devices". Why do i demean this information as NOISE? Because, most of it is superficial and coming from the "Social Media Universities" and/ or "ill informed peers" who are either studying in colleges or about to enter into their Graduation. 

The education "Market" is busy convincing parents to get their wards signed up for graduation programs and there is an ancillary "coaching Market" which works in tandem. The entire education system is only focused on a "degree" as an Outcome, unfortunately, in most of the cases. There are exceptions but they are far and few, and in most cases, these rare good colleges are unaffordable to the majority of the population. The worst part of this "convincing" is the use of this evil tool called "FOMO"( Fear of Missing Out) by most of these institutions who drive fear into the minds of already confused and afraid parents. With lack of awareness and fear driven approach, all students and parents are joining the "HERD" of  "Entrance Exam preparers" without really having any Long term plan for a  real "CAREER". 

I feel the most important stakeholder here is the "child" or the "Youth" who should be allowed to take his/ her own decision, without any external noise contamination. How do we avoid this "all pervading" Noise that exists in our environment, in terms of peers, education counsellors, coaching classes and so  and so forth? 

There are two approaches:- (a) Do what you feel is Right for you, i.e. focus on what gives you happiness and just stick to those things, do not get into unnecessary comparison with peers and try doing things because you want to prove to someone that you can also crack some exam or get into some prestigious college. But, yes, dive deep into your area of interest and get some reality checks from the Industry Veterans( not seniors in colleges) about the future prospects, how work actually happens, what are the "cons" of getting into that field and ask yourself if you still feel excited about it. 

(b) If you feel you do not have it in you to do the above stated things, get a credible Career Mentor who can connect with you on a personal basis with full commitment. The mentor should ideally be a person who has seen the Ups and Downs of life and has good credibility in the Industry of your choice. If not from the same industry, still, the credibility is important, because he/ she will be hand holding you in times of  difficulties and helping you to achieve your Goals.  Generally, industry veterans are well connected and can always connect you with someone from your industry for special coaching or mentoring. 

What if a child/ parent does nothing stated above, and allows things to flow their way?

Well, it is a gamble of life!! Do you want your child to be a "Dancer in Life" in the peak of his/ her youth?  90% people in the age group of 22-30 are changing jobs every 6-8 months or at least every year or so. This is a huge "Loss of Opportunity", as we would like these youth to be "productive" and "create" amazing stuff or provide amazing services with their energy, rather than just running around chasing jobs and whiling away their time in irrelevant work, which will have minuscule value in the future. 

To summarize, every youth has some talent which can be honed for Success in life. Instead of chasing education and Jobs, youth must focus on "identifying their uniqueness and honing those talents to produce spectacular things/ products/ services etc.". I think career need not be defined in terms of education/ job designation etc.. it is just an occupation of time and energy in the right direction towards Happiness and Satisfaction, while producing value for Humanity and the world. 

We will discuss more about the How's and What's in the next blogs...  

 #careerguidance #careercounselling #careerplanning #careermentoring #mentor #careercoach #careercoaching #careerdevelopment #careerdecision #decision