Choosing a career is not an easy task. There are so many factors that need to be taken into consideration while selecting the one that, oftentimes, people get intimated by the complexity of the procedure. However, this is by no means a bad thing. It’s perfectly normal to get a bit nervous while making such important decisions in your life. Not to mention, this is not the only time you will be forced to make such tough decisions in your life, and knowing what to do in such situations will go a long way to help build you into a confident and reliable individual in the future. As has rightly been saying, “We don’t grow when things are easy, we grow when we face challenges”. And to help face this challenge, listed down below are a few Dos and Don’ts that you should keep in your mind while selecting your career.
The Dos
1)Self-Reflection- Have a thorough self-reflection session. Nobody knows you better than you yourself. Be it your shortcomings or your strengths it only takes a few minutes of deep self-talks to get this information on the surface. The best thing is, it has no complex procedure either! Just sit alone in a calm environment and take deep breaths for 5 minutes. After you’re sure that your mind is in a calm state, start asking yourself things like “What do I enjoy doing?”, “What do I have to offer that others don’t?” etc. You don’t have to do all of it at once. Adjust the pace according to your own requirements.
2)Do your research- Go on the internet and look up the scope that your field has to offer. Look up what are the requirements and benefits of any job offer that piques your interest. There are also many experienced people out there who have already worked in the fields you are interested in and will be more than willing to guide you. All this information is just a click away from you! Websites like Internshala.com are perfect for beginners who are willing to start working immediately.
3)Be honest with yourself- You know what you’re capable of in your current position and that should be a clear indicator of what type of work you should be starting with. If you lack any sort of work experience, there is no harm in doing an unpaid internship so that you can get a hang of your work and become a more qualified individual who will keep progressing as time goes on. Don’t expect too much when you are starting as a fresher as that will inevitably lead to disappointment.
The Don’ts
Now it’s time to look at some common mistakes that people tend to make while selecting their career that you must aim to avoid.
1)Falling into peer pressure- Doing anything out of peer pressure is seldom a good thing and this is an extreme example of that. You don’t have to start preparing for UPSC just because your friend is doing it or pursue a higher degree in engineering just because your neighbour’s kid is doing the same. You must realise that each individual is unique and blindly following someone else’s path will never lead to your desired destination.
“Life is the most difficult exam. Many people fail because they try to copy others, not realizing that everyone has a different question paper”
-Anonymous
2)Settling for too little- In the above section, I talked about how having too many expectations can be detrimental to your experience. However, the opposite of that is true as well. Settling for too little will also hinder your progress in life. Just because you are now in a financially stable condition does not mean that you should stop venturing into other possible options that are available to you. You never know when life will provide you with an even bigger opportunity than the previous one. Hence, you should always be willing to try out new things.
3)Dropping your interests- Due to the time demand of pursuing a career, many people drop their interests thinking that it will be a waste of time and spending all that to maximise productivity is a
much better idea. The thing is, it does not have to be like that. You should aim at creating some free time in your schedule that you can dedicate to your interests and hobbies. This will not only act as a great way to deal with stress but also might lead to a potential career option for you.
With all this being said, I hope this list was useful in some way to you. With proper planning and precautions, it will be easy for you to settle on the career choice that you are compatible with.
by Shashank Nath Mishra
