Hitches in selecting a career

One of the major predicaments faced while selecting a career is identifying what you want. Even when it appears that you know what you seek, you may still have doubts about your career choice decision. Dispelling all abstruseness on the issue is perhaps the most significant thing you can do in your career

Under ideal conditions, all individuals will generally be able to identify what the correct career for them would be and what it involves. But pragmatically speaking, career selection can be a very challenging task. From apprehensions at one end of the spectrum to a general absence of discernment at the other, there can be many impediments to the very process of choosing a career.

The more knowledge you have about the difficulties and downsides of career selection, the better geared you are likely to be when you actually get down to any exercise associated with it. Common difficulties faced during the process of selecting a career are:

· Ignorance about talents, ideals & concerns: If you are not aware of your abilities, principles and appeals, you are likely to run into serious problems while selecting your career. This phenomenon is more applicable to people who are embarking upon a work arena, but can afflict any person who lacking up-to-date knowledge or information about what he actually seeks from his career. Today, there are many career counselling institutions where your propensity for different careers can be determined. You can always visit them for help.

· Finding your cup of tea: Every person has his own calling; in fact, his capacity and abilities are his call. No man can succeed in a line of endeavour which he does not like. In other words, a person’s career has to be the just right match for him. That there is only one great career for every person, is a fallacy. As a matter of truth, there are several careers that have similar features and highlights. Rather than seeking only one work path that may perhaps appear to be an ideal match, it is prudently significant to explore an array of options that have analogous attributes. The primary essential is to find out what you are cut out for and what you can do with delight. Your perfect career match lies in one where your heart is. And wherever your heart happens to be, you will find a minefield of gold there. Finding that perfect match implies discovering that minefield so that whatever you learn as you move along in your career holds some meaning for you.

· Anxiety about fulfilling present responsibilities: Harbouring undue worries about your inability to fulfil any of your current commitments can prompt you to ignore certain careers.  You will have doubts about your capability to suitably assimilate and amalgamate your obligations and career in your life schedule. To illustrate the point, if your domestic compulsions necessitate presence at home, you will not take up a career that involves frequent travelling, howsoever suitable you may be for it. But if you feel strongly about taking it up, you can always formulate a line of action with a cut-off date in mind to fulfil your obligations and render them redundant in the context of moving on your preferred career path. You will perhaps use that aim as an inspiration to adhere to your line of action.

· Possession of requisite academic & technical qualifications: Different careers have different qualitative requirements. If a career that you seek to pursue calls for a particular or higher qualification, you should waste no time in planning to acquire it. Any failure on your part can prompt you to go in for another career that may not truly be very inspiring for you. In case you are unable to acquire the required qualification straight away, you can always go in for a subordinate job in that field. Concurrently, you can pursue your studies to acquire the higher qualification to be able to make your dreams come true.

· Fright about debacles & botches: If you suffer from any fear of failure, that fear will invariably get reinforced. In the context of a right career selection too, anxiety and fear will manifest themselves as problems that will have to be dealt with. You may have serious apprehensions about a career if you bind yourself to it. Trepidations related to the likelihood of not doing well will always be there. You can certainly put to rest such angsts by carrying out exhaustive enquiries about various jobs and their characteristics, interacting with those who are into similar careers and even taking some time off to observe what things are at the preferred venue of work. You will have to look all apprehensions straight in their eyes and supplant them with sureness and poise.    

The point to remember is that you do not have to limit yourself to what you think you can do. You can definitely go as far as your mind lets you. You can achieve whatever you believe. All of us are in the gutter, but some of us are always looking at the stars. Look at the stars and you will be what you want to be.