Overcome dilemmas in making career choice decisions

“The greatest accomplishment began as a decision once made and often a difficult one.”

― Michael Rawls

When a youth steps out of the portals of a college armed with a degree, he suffers from assorted feelings – exhilaration at one end of the spectrum to consternation at the other. The achievement of having graduated inspires delight and the uncertainty of the future arouses anxiety. Whatever be the state, nervousness is more pronounced, though not initially sensed.

Researches undertaken have indicated the preferred lines of action by students to lend effectiveness to their career pursuits and improve their prospects.  Statistics point to the fact that nearly fifty percent of fresh graduates are unable to find a job straight away and have a tough time doing so. And hence, it is no surprise that they struggle to discern what their initiative should be like to secure a job at the earliest. However, the manner in which students prepare for and execute their job search is instrumental in creating a long-term effect in this context. Their career choice satisfaction is influenced greatly by their ability to make sound career decisions.

Making career decisions entails two different methodologies. The first one entails deciding on and pursuing a course of action satisfying the minimum requirements to achieve a goal. People who resort to this have a tendency to grab the first opportunity that is in harmony with their basic aspiration criteria. The second method is to make best use of available options, but after detailed evaluation; people who adopt this approach invariably carry out exhaustive research of different career choices available and then make a decision.

Individuals who conduct in-depth research of career options face a peculiar challenge in making career decisions. They have restricted capability to realistically weigh different career options to discern the most appropriate one amongst them. Efforts are made by them to evaluate each and every option that supposedly meets their own benchmarks before making a final decision. This process calls for having more time at one’s disposal; more often than not, the experience turns out to be rather exasperating.

Just as a motorist gets confused on a highway from which several roads branch off from a particular point on it, if ab initio, you have many options and alternatives, you will invariably end up battling question marks. A thought process like that is unfruitful by all standards. It can also have an adverse effect on your well-being. Therefore, making massive efforts to identify that single, ideal career opportunity from amongst a multitude of them can cause you more detriment than advantage. In actuality, you tend to clog your own ability to make a decision.

To overcome the dilemmas associated with career choice decisions, the following aspects warrant serious deliberation:     

· Be pragmatic with regard to the job market: You must understand that the prevalent conditions of the job market conditions are indeed tough. It will be very difficult to firstly, spot your ideal opportunity and secondly, grab it as it whizzes past you. Therefore, you need to harbour a practical outlook to everything and accordingly fine-tune whatever aspirations you may otherwise have. Remember that a sensible approach towards your aspirations will invariably bring about a boost in your satisfaction level, particularly those related to the choice that you exercise. 

· Don’t be irresolute: If you have to make a decision, there is no way that you should not. But you simply cannot keep pondering over the pros and cons for long; you must impose some strictures of time for it. If a decision-making process is unduly put off, the degree of anxiety that will be aroused in you will be intense. It should be remembered that you are bound by a decision that you make. No career decision should be regarded as absolute; it can be modified at any time. That is precisely why career change-overs are not glowered upon today.  

· Take responsibility for your decisions: It is essential that you direct your attention on the upbeat advantages that your career or job choices offer. Brooding unnecessarily over opportunities that you think you missed out from some career choices serves no gainful purpose. All your efforts should rally around positive issues only so that your move ahead in your career and life is facilitated.  

If you move forward confidently in the direction of your dreams to live whatever life you have imagined, you will surely encounter success. And that calls for being clear about what you seek in your career and life; and then leaving no stone unturned to achieve it. Therefore, making good career choice decisions is contingent on your self-awareness. However, you must trust your instincts and make judgements on what your heart tells you. Your heart will never let you down.