Falsehoods & illusions about selecting a career

People tend to suffer from wrong notions that they are aware of all elements and subtleties that go in to make an informed career choice. Most of them also suffer from fallacies that they know the correct method required to be adopted for selecting a profession. Such misconceptions and erroneous beliefs often lead to an inappropriate career choice and which eventually causes immense disenchantment and dissatisfaction in later years.

There are several figments and misrepresentations associated with career selection. The more common ones that prevail are:

· Career selection is a doddle: Making a career choice decision is actually an intricate procedure and calls for sparing time for it. In fact, it is a process that comprises several stages and which entail being self-aware and knowledgeable about the pros and cons of various professions that you may be wanting to take up.

· Hobbies cannot become a source of livelihood: There can be nothing more distant from truth than this. When you are going about trying to select a career, there is nothing wrong in deciding on one that offers you concurrent pleasure and contentment, particularly if it happens to be pertinent to your leisure. You can become very adept and accomplished in your leisure activities, though most of the dexterity that you develop is a result of practical acquaintances in that field.

· Forecast & publicised jobs only warrant consideration: Career specialists forecast several career streams periodically and foretell jobs that will be in abundance or much sought after. There is nothing wrong in perusing such forecasts to discern if any of them appeal to you and to your proclivities. However, you cannot allow such predictions to influence your selection. The predictions made could be based on factual statistics, but they cannot be said to be relevant forever. Something that is popular and in demand today may not be same, say after five years. Hence, due caution has to be exercised in incorporating them in your decision; however, you cannot ignore your inclinations, principles and knowhow while selecting a career.

· Emulation of a successful person makes you successful you: A person could be excelling at his work and consequently being happy about it No two personalities are alike and anything that works for one person may not necessarily work for another, certain commonalities between the two notwithstanding. Therefore, if there happens to be a person whose career interests you, you must understand that the same may not be really your cup of tea.

· Things automatically come together after a decision: When you select a career, it is just the beginning of a journey. There will be a plethora of actions that will be required to be taken as time passes and you inch forward. Such actions have to be visualised and put down in black and white in what is known as a career action plan. The entire gamut of activities from the time you select a career, embark upon it and eventually attain your objectives should invariably form part of your career action plan.    

· Job satisfaction flows only from earnings: Remunerations are definitely a significant component of career selection. But they cannot be the only or prime consideration. Researches and studies conducted worldwide have proved that pecuniary issues do not necessarily and always bring about job satisfaction. It is what you get delight in at work that does so. The foregoing notwithstanding, income should always be considered as a factor when you weigh any profession for its suitability.

· Careers & jobs are for ever: Those days are history when people took up a job and superannuated from it. There is nothing that should preclude you from making a career change if at all your level of job satisfaction has plummeted. It is no wonder therefore, that quite a few people change careers during their working span. Career counsellors can pinpoint the career that you ought to pursue, though no accurate prognostication can be made. At best, he or she can simply guide you in arriving at a decision to select a career.

· Expertise related to one career is not relevant to another: The skills that you develop and acquire are exclusively yours, they ought to be retained and carried from one job to another where their application could well be put to use, albeit with some reformation. Skills, once acquired do not go waste.  

· Knowing about any profession is possible only when you join it: While a direct and personal practical experience is the best option, you can get to know about various professions and careers through other means too. Researching about them through online efforts or reading published works are a good source of knowledge. Meeting and interacting with people who are already in such a career can also be very beneficial.

Career selection is much more than choosing a job; several factors go into your decision and several things will be contingent on it. You will definitely want a career in which you will succeed in it. Therefore, you should go in for a career that fits you well and can continue to support you in the long-term too. Any tendency to fall prey to myths can lead to failure.