Towards Making a Career Choice
By Anthony M. Wanjohi
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Unpacking the Term
Career
Watts, in his
article Reshaping Career Development for the 21st century, defines
career as an individual’s work and life roles over their lifespan. This version
of a career makes it clear that people can progress through their career
horizontally as well as vertically.
Career choice entails
making decision about what one wants to do with his/her life that is, in terms
of occupation.
1.2 Sea of New Areas of
Career Choices
There is no dearth of
career choices. Gone are the days when we used to think of just few courses
that every second or third student of our batch was dying for. Thanks to
factors like internet, economic expansion, liberalization, technical and communication revolution. Some of these
new career choices did not even exist few years back. Students are vying for
new courses because of obvious benefits; less competition and a head start over
potential competitors. New generation is also willing to follow its passion and
not just tread down the beaten track. They say, if
you truly love our job, money and success will automatically follow. So, it’s
always suggested to go for what your heart and mind desires instead of falling
prey to the herd mentality.
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Some of the new and unusual career
choices |
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Actuarial Science Agricultural Engineering Food Technology Art Restoration Physical Education Plant pathology Ceramic technology Counseling Dairy Technology Earth Sciences Edible Oils Technology Pharmacovigilance Plastic Industry Fire Engineering Footwear Technology Foreign Trade Occupational Therapy Para medical |
Museology Nanotechnology Forensic Science Social work Speech Therapy Forestry Horticulture and floriculture Fisheries Flour Milling Hospital Management Hydrography Jewellery Design Jute Technology Leather Technology Tourist Guide Traditional Medicines Market Research Meteorology |
Poultry farming Psephology Radio Jockey Video Jockey Detective Services Disaster Management Rubber Technology Sign Language Silk Sports Tea Management Packaging Paint Application Technology Technical writing Translating Transcribing The list is endless ----- |
1.3 Key Steps to making
career choice
Introduction
There are hundreds of
career options out there. How do you make a career choice when you don't really
know what you want to do? Does it seem like a BIG task. Yes,
it can be for a many at many times!!
Let me highlight the key
steps that students should considered when making a career choice.
1.3.1 Making career
Assessment
Before making a career
choice, one should learn about him/herself. Some people choose to have career
counselors or other career development professionals administer some self
assessment tests. There are also self assessment tests available in the
internet. One can search using GOOGLE search Engine.
When you go for career
assessment with the help of a career counselor, remember that assessments are
primarily used to guide you towards the right career. You can take number of
free career assessments available on internet. However, it is recommended to go
through the process with the help of a qualified career counselor who will
administer and interpret your scores of the assessments.
Overly relying on
assessment test is not really a wise decision. Keep your expectations in check.
Assessment tests often suggest you some new career avenues that you had never
thought of. Try to have a career snapshot of different assessment tests. This will
help you in finding some definite patterns.
1.3.2 Making a List of
Occupations to Explore
a) Look over
the lists of occupations generated through your use of the self assessment
tools.
b) Come up
with a much shorter list, consisting of between 5 – 10 occupations.
c) Circle
occupations that you qualify mostly depending on your strengths (for instance
based on your Form Four Performance in various subjects
).
d) Write
these occupations down on a separate list titled "Occupations to Explore.
1.3.3 Explore the
Occupations on Your List
For each occupation on
your list, look at the job description, educational and other requirements,
advancement opportunities, and earnings.
1.3.4 Making more
inquiries/interviews
a) At this
point you should only have a few occupations left on your list.
b) Gather
more information about these occupation from
career counselors o
c) People who
have firsthand knowledge of the occupations in which you are interested.
Identify who they are and conduct informational interviews with them.
1.3.5 Continue Narrowing
Down your List
Put down your list of
possible occupations based on what you learned from your research. For example,
you may not be willing to put the time and energy into preparing for an
occupation for which an advanced degree is required, or you may consider the
earnings for a particular occupation inadequate.
1.3.6 Setting up career
action plan which includes training requirements
Make career plan how to
go about acquiring the occupation you identified.
If the occupation
requires a certificate, or a diploma or degree, then go for it!.
To reach to choice/
decision making stage takes time and effort. It requires not only personal
effort but reinforcement from others. Thus making choice for life is an endovour that takes the effort of various
‘stakeholders’ in one’s life – parents, teachers and friends and professionals
1.4 Role of a Career
Counselor in Career Choice
A counsellor is a person who has the psychological
understanding of the environment you are functioning and the current job
market.
A Career Counselor gives
you an impartial view point of the things that need to be worked out. This is
important as the counsellor may evaluate
your current positive findings and also suggests areas for improvement.
Going to a counsellor is almost like a remedy to the current
situation, though the individual has to work out a feasible solution.
A counsellor evaluates your corporate skills and also
suggests personality improvement which enhances your all around development.
The counsellor hyphenates the doubts and solutions and the
final result is a confident ‘You’.
It is important to
maintain a diary or schedule your meeting with the career counsellor in such a way that there are no other
matters in your mind while a session is going on. Ensure a pragmatic approach
to display your concerns with a career counsellor.
1.5 Role of Parents
Career advice and
direction is something that should start early in a child's life so as by the
time they get to high school, they already know what subjects they need to
select and work hard on.
When kids are away from
school, it is much wiser for parents to grab the opportunity to find out their
progress in school as well as probing their minds to know what they would love
to do when they graduate.
As far as influencing
children’s career choice, all a parent can do is listen and understand their
children as well as giving their own points of view but not coerce them to
fulfill their own dreams, for children are different beings from their mothers
and fathers.
Conclusion
Career development is a
gradual process. It takes time, effort, perseverance and planning. But the
concept of career development begins with self development. If you
can’t develop yourself, there is no question of your career developing at a
desired pace. Thus, as counselors, parents, teachers, friends continue to
expose you to different career paths, the final choice is YOURS. Charity begins
at home and in this case, with self.
Suggested Citation
Wanjohi, A.M.
(2011). Towards Making a Career Choice. KENPRO Publications. Available online at http://www.kenpro.org/papers/career-choice.htm
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