Selecting a career path while at college

If you are ignorant of the direction in which you are heading, you are bound to be lost when you reach your destination. This is equally true for your career. When you select a career, it amounts to getting down to an expense-value assessment; the process is also an examination of one’s mettle. Overall, it is a game where actuality is pitched against ardour; and you can get going at it at the college itself.

The above notwithstanding, you also need to understand that every career is arched and you happen to be located at the commencement of the camber. Therefore, you should not be astounded if your career course gets altered considerably several times during your career journey as also after reaching the zenith. So, the question is, “How do you go about selecting a career path while still at college?” Some aspects warranting consideration are:

· Never ever allow anybody to shatter your dreams. In case your dreams are difficult and uncertain, you must have robust support and alternative plans at your disposal.

· When you are small, you may harbour ambitions to become something. That ambition is poles apart from your dream job. If you dreamt of becoming a doctor when you were at school, you should understand what a doctor’s day is all about. Likewise, if you dreamt of becoming an army officer, you should know what life in uniform is all about and the risks that plague it. Occupational surveys conducted have revealed that in any profession, nearly half the people are not fully contented.

· You must make certain that your dream job does not happen to be a hobby pursuit. You must understand that hobby pursuits are simply recreational efforts and offer very little compensations.

· You may have taken jobs in your vacations or may still be working part-time. They are all experiences in learning and hence you must ponder over how you can make optimum use of them to make your resume attractive and augment your work skills.

· Getting to decide on your career path calls for taking time out of your free time and taking up either apprenticeship training or honorary jobs that offer you an insight of a particular profession. It is only practical exposure that will provide you a better comprehension of a job; theoretical knowledge gained through other means, though helpful is not effectual.

· If you have passion for a particular job, by all means go for it. However, you must make certain that your choice should not lay on the line anybody – and that anybody also includes you.

· You need to find out if you want to work independently or if you are disposed to work in return for a regular remuneration. This calls for an honest evaluation of your personality attributes and the perils that are associated with both likelihoods; the perils being referred to pertain to the dangers of investing your finances in a venture where you are you are your own boss vis-à-vis the possibility of being given a pink slip in a company with which you may be employed.

· Your parental influences cannot be totally disregarded. You will continue to seek advice from members of your family and other close relatives. But you must do so differently. Instead of discussing career matters in an off-the-cuff manner, which usually happens in a family, you must do so in a formal manner. A time should be set aside for the purpose and you should talk of specific issues in a deliberate manner. Preparation on your part for the purpose will be inescapable and will thus prompt your parents and others to reflect more seriously, particularly the responses that would be forthcoming from them. In all probabilities, such considerations will also throw light on their individual career encounters, trials and successes.

· There is no place for or role of good fortune and providence in any career. Therefore you should not waste time in pondering over such influences because professional success calls for placing yourself on a pedestal to generate your own prospects.   

· As you move forward in your career, you will bump into a couple of prominent career prospects. This will be the time when you would require trusted personal mentors and advice-givers to help you to act promptly and factually evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of future prospects.  

· Anything about you that is obtainable in public domain should draw your serious attention. This means cleaning up your social media listings. The truth is that any information available publicly may not augur well for your impending work.

Remember that proper preparation on your part will prevent poor performance. You may plan your objectives well, but they will remain fanciful hopes unless you chase them with passion.