Towards Making a Career Choice

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.

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, liberalisation, 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.

Some of the new and unusual career choices

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 -----

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.

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.

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.

For each occupation on your list, look at the job description, educational and other requirements, advancement opportunities, and earnings.

c) People who have firsthand knowledge of the occupations in which you are interested. Identify who they are and conduct informational interviews with them.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Wanjohi, A.M. (2011). Towards Making a Career Choice. KENPRO Online Papers Portal. Available online at www.kenpro.org/papers