An average person spends 90,000 hours at work in a lifetime, so one should make sure that they are using their time by following a career that makes them happy and utilizes their talents.

Perfect stream for a perfect career

Hey folks! Many of you among the ones who are reading this blog might be wondering what stream you shall go for to establish a base in the journey of your career. Some of you will opt for science and will go for engineering, research etc. while others might be planning for chartered accountancy hence C.A or business etc. 

Confusions and their solutions

For those who are sure of their choices, it’s good and all the very best for the path that you all will be pursuing in the future. But, there are students, who are highly confused in terms of choosing a perfect career path for themselves. In this blog, we will be covering certain things that one should keep in mind while choosing his/her career path.

“Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it” — Katherine Whitehorn

Before finalizing any career path, one must try to answer the following questions. This questionnaire will help a student to go for a career that is of interest and choice.

• Ask yourself about what interests you? Start this by making a list. In that list, mention all those things which are fascinating to you. While making the list, don’t think about anything related to your future job, your expected wages etc. Instead, focus on what excites you the most and about the things you love to do every day. They can be anything like for example Photography, Poem writing, playing with gadgets/machines, writing poems etc. This list will act as the building blocks of your career and will provide you with opportunities accompanied by passion.

• What are your talents? To answer this question, let us dig into your regular day. You all must be having smartphones, laptops/desktops etc. Do you like to explore them? No, it’s not about digital games. It’s all about the curiosity that arises in the mind of a student like how these gadgets work? What is an operating system? What is an android? etc. or are you curious about the vehicles present in your house? Moreover, you all must have acted as an engineer once in your life by detecting the fault present in your dad’s smartphone. Isn’t it? If you already play the role of a resource for people, that skill set should be considered.

• Who inspires you? This is the most common question that career counsellors ask while helping someone with his/her career choice. Are you inspired by the richest man on the earth or his businesses? Or do you feel Goosebumps after seeing people from the army? Do you want to serve the country and are inspired by civil servants or do you want to win a medal in sports for your country? Focus on persons belonging to your favourite field. It can be certain industries as well like Acting, Music etc. Choosing an ideal and following his/her path will help you to go for a good career. 

• What are your qualities? One must go for a SWOT analysis to learn his/her qualities. Knowing your qualities is very crucial before applying for a job. Whether you are an introvert or extrovert, short-tempered or happy, serious etc. you must know. However, qualities can be acquired and can be changed over time but basic qualities must be well kept in mind to remain happy with the job that matches your personality.

• What surroundings are you looking for? What kind of people do you like? What location/environment do you prefer for your job? What culture suits you the most? Do you want an MNC or a small-scale company that will be fine for you? Answers to all these questions will surely help towards a good career choice.

• Internships: Internships can be taken as mini-jobs. You can learn various new things related to your preferred job while doing internships in that particular sector. The following points can be helpful via internships: –

1. You will get to know whether you are made for that particular job or not as internships are mostly practical domain-based.
2. You’ll get to know the various perks related to the job which you’ll be opting for in your career.
3. Work environment and what that job demands can be well understood with the help of internships 
4. You’ll get an idea of your ideal salary in your career. Accordingly, you can choose or reject that career choice.

Key Takeaways 

Selecting a good career isn’t that easy. It comes with a great sense of responsibility, understanding and interest. However, one must not choose anything in a hurry as it can have bad consequences like low efficiency, less interest towards the job and negligible productivity. So one must properly keep a note of all the above-mentioned steps and then go for a career choice.

Also published on Medium.