Motivation Series 2: Choosing a Career

A normal person spends most of his/her adult life in pursuing one or the profession. So, choosing the right career becomes very important. For most of us it is not so easy to decide which career he/she wants to be pursue 5 years, 10 years or 20 years down the line. Even if you know the sector in which you want to go, there are various factors still to consider for the right profession at the right organisation.

With my limited experience and interaction with my friends and colleagues, I consider following four factors to be important while choosing a career:

1. Interest or Passion

2. Skillset and Knowledge

3. Work-Life Balance

4. Remuneration or Money

The factors are not arranged in any particular order and may differ from person to person. Now, delving into each factor in detail:

1. Passion

Everybody has some hobby. I am talking about the activity during which you are in flow; time becomes immaterial. Hours feel like a second. This is the thing you love the most.

After getting a job, many of us do not get much time to be ourselves - the real us. So, it is very important to continue pursuing your hobby. If the job is aligned with your hobby/passion, then it is sone pe suhaga - you will never feel like you are doing anything which you don't like. You will enjoy each and every moment of your working life. 

Then again, not all hobbies will generate sufficient wealth to lead a normal life. Less than ten cent would actually be pursuing the job which aligns very much with their passion. And they are indeed very lucky. 

For majority of us, that is not the case. We have a professional target or dream job which involves studying. In that case, everybody has a favourite subject. If you are good at History, Geography or Polity, go for Arts. Do not go for science just because everyone is doing do. Same goes for choosing engineering/medical over other fields and vice versa.

2. Skillset

If you are pursuing engineering, it is not at all advisable that you go for medical. This is because you are in a stream which is entirely different from the other. In medical studies, biology is considered to be the primary subject, while the subject is not covered in engineering.

It is therefore necessary to pursue a career where you have the required qualifications. This is very important, but is generally neglected. Many people prepare for UPSC CSE or State PCS examinations just because their parents want them to. Do not be like that. Cracking such exams is a long and tedious process and you should be very focused during the process. Be ready to face failures and have the courage to get up every single time if you are planning a career in these areas.

Skillset is one of the areas where you can improve upon. Engineers are in almost every field because they develop various skills while pursuing B.Tech. Later on, these skillsets determine their career trajectory.

Knowledge is very important while choosing a career. This does not mean you stop upgrading your skills once you get your dream job. In this competitive world, it is advised to always learn new things which would be helpful in climbing your career ladder.

3. Work-Life Balance

Mental peace is very much required for a long and healthy life. Most of the chronic physical diseases have an inherent root in mental disturbance. Imbalance in personal and professional life leads to many mental issues. So, work-life balance is very important.

You may get another job, but you cannot see your children in their infancy once they go to school. Being workaholic is good, but when you grow old, what would remain is the memory and time spent with your family. At the time of retirement, you should not look back and say, "Alas! I should have attended all the important functions of my children when they were growing up." Do it right now.

Try to keep your personal and professional lives as apart as possible. Try not to bring the work at home to office and vice versa. In such cases, you are not performing to your full capacity in either of the two spheres.

It is easier said than done. This phrase is very apt for "Work-Life Balance" and every one of us struggles with it. So, it is normal to have a little bit of imbalance. But, if you know that there is some imbalance, try to get back to the normal situation. Neglecting this may affect both your personal and professional lives adversely.

4. Money

What is one of the main reasons for choosing a particular career? The answer is 'Money'. It is indeed very important for leading a better, happy life. We fulfil most of our daily needs using money. In fact, it is very difficult to survive in this world without money.

Now you would be asking - "If money is so important, then why are you discussing it now?". To answer your question, I have kept money as the fourth important factor intentionally. This is because, everybody knows that money is very important. But, if you solely are after money, then no amount of money can satisfy you. You would become a servant of money and its addiction is pretty nasty. Money is a good servant, but a bad master. So, be careful while dealing with money.

CONCLUSION

I would like to end the article with a quote by Brian Tracy, author of the famous books, Eat That Frog:

Your success in your career will be in direct proportion to what you do after you've done what you are expected to do.

~Sujit

4th Jul, 2023

NSSTA, Greater Noida, UP