The dilemma of Choosing Careers in a fast-changing world

Janghaolun Haokip *

It is obvious today that the world is fast -advancing in all aspects. Similarly, to be employed has become a gigantic task especially in the midst of an unimaginably high number of job-seekers and of course the rising unemployment rate in the country. In fact, many students and teenagers today are “missing the mark” in their lives primarily because of wrong career choices.

It is quite unfortunate that despite the plethora of career options available today, most of our youths remain unemployed and are sadly living only from hand to mouth. This basically has to do with many factors, some of which we will discuss:

Difficulty in Choosing a Career: Most of our students, especially undergraduates, are facing a huge problem today in choosing their Careers. Subsequently, most of them usually end up making the wrong career choices. This is primarily because they aren’t fully aware of themselves; their strengths and weaknesses, their abilities and capabilities, and their personalities and passions, without which they become vulnerable with their careers on the line.

Peers and Parental Pressure: Our students today are also facing a massive problem with parental and peer pressures. It is true that many parents, without really understanding their children, are desperate to make career decisions for their children. Moreover, peers too often act as a career obstruction in the life of the students who tend to fall into the trap of “togetherness” ignoring the basics of career and professional demands.

Lack of Information: This is the most crucial problem faced by our students today. Unfortunately, a much greater number of our students today make career decisions based on highly limited information where they are unaware of the number of career options they can choose from. Career decisions should be the result of an informed decision and not based on arbitrary and temporary inclinations which are often unrealistic and destructive in the long run.

Besides these “Career Obstacles” there are other factors which are primarily beyond the control of the students. These factors include; firstly, the quality of education in our educational institutions -that makes one employable while the other is not. Secondly, the relevance of education that is imparted to our students: our students should be taught relevant education for relevant professions and not on random selection.

For eg. a student with excellent numerical skills should be trained to be a mathematician not a boring entertainer or something else. Finally, there aren’t enough opportunities available for students for vocational and skill training for students or otherwise there is a negligent effort to give awareness to the students for the same.

The right Career Choice is optimum for a fulfilled life, both in terms of professional and personal lives. It is therefore all the more necessary for students to make informed career choices, based on careful evaluation of themselves, their strengths and weaknesses, being extra vigilant of peer and parental pressure and of exploring career opportunities.

One aspect for students to make informed career choices is to seek the help of a professional career counsellor. A Professional Career Counsellor is a trained person who helps individuals make informed decisions about their career paths and whose primary goal is to assist individuals in identifying their strengths, interests, and skills and match them with career opportunities that align with their values and goals.

They provide guidance and support throughout the career exploration process, which includes identifying career goals, researching job prospects, and developing a plan for achieving those goals. For a rough understanding, there are over 160 plus Career Paths and 3000 plus Career Occupations where Professional Career Counsellors will help students pick the best Career Choice for them.

Making the right Career Choice is important. It is to be understood that it is not the role of the students alone and both parents and teachers have equal responsibility towards making the right career choices for students.

It must also be realised that in a fast-changing world like today, students cannot only rely on traditional employment opportunities, but look out far and explore more opportunities such as new-age careers like digital marketing, artificial intelligence, cyber security, Data Science etc. Nevertheless, it is most advisable for students to get help from a professional to make career choices -that one choice that can alter the course of their lives.

“Our choices today is our destiny tomorrow.”