Education
Do Students Face Career Choice Too Soon?
We have all been faced with the question, what would you like to be when you grow up? In our early stages, it does not cause much problem. We are happy to answer with whatever we want, whether that be a superhero or a firefighter.
However, as we age, the question becomes more daunting. We struggle to understand it, yet we can not answer “I do not know” due to fear of never being anything.
My younger sister is turning sixteen soon and recently got some career advice. She told me that she met a career advisor who asked her a series of questions to learn what she may enjoy as a career.
The questioning lasting for 30 minutes, and she finally landed on the career of a paediatrician. I asked my sister what she had said, and she let me know that he just looked at her top-performing grades. Then he asked what she liked most about the subjects she was doing well in.
Finally, based on her answers, he popped out a career choice that best suited her skills and happiness. I think the education system is getting better at this. I never had a career advisor when I was sixteen, and I think it would have been helpful.
However, students are never fully prepared to answer the question of career choice when it comes. I am still unsure whether that is a good or bad thing, but I know that I was not.
To put students minds at ease, I want to highlight some of the things that can affect your career choice beyond the scope of your learning. These things would be vital to know to make an informed decision. Unfortunately or fortunately, they are often left for us to find out.
Some Things Are Not Your Choice
Students are hardly ever told that some choices in life have already been made for them. Although they can have a massive effect on the outcome of those choices, they influence the way they think and operate.
The most interesting one I have come across is the average level of happiness people experience. Studies have shown that genetics play a role in our pursuit of happiness. So, considering that we make choices with our happiness in mind, it appears we still do not have that much control over it.
If our parents have experienced lower levels of happiness in life, we could inherit some of those feelings through genetics. That was not our choice, but it was made for us. However, it even goes further. Things like where we lived, the occupation of our parents, and household income can affect our career choices too.
None of these things is your choice, but they all have an impact on your psyche and unconsciously move you to make decisions. It is not as easy as seeing a list of careers and choosing the one that makes you happiest. After all, part of your happiness was not decided by you in the first place.
Once again, students may not need to be taught all of this in the curriculum. But, it is clear that these things weigh in on our decision making and should be considered when making life-changing choices.
Nothing Beats Experience
My friend spent most of his time letting me know that he wanted to work in private equity. He had worked at it for four years and spent much of his time building a network in the field.
Recently, he landed work experience at one of the best private equity firms in London with hopes he could get a job after. However, the career was nothing like he expected. He actually can not wait to finish it so he can start applying for jobs elsewhere.
Can you imagine that? Four years of hard work and dedication to finding out he does not like it. But it is not a bad thing. He is still young, and it is better he found out now rather than later. Some people spend six to seven years in med school only to hate their role as a doctor.
Students do not have the required work experience to know what they would like to do. At this early stage, much of the work experience is not very practical but more informative. My first work experience was listening to people explain their jobs.
When you are a young child sitting in a technology firm, you think every job is fascinating. It is only when you put it into practice you realise engineering is not really for you. That child was me.
It is important to let life continue and build on your experiences. Life is not a race, and you do not need to know the path all of the time. With time comes experience and more knowledge of self. And that is one of the biggest reasons why students may not be prepared.
Your Career Is Not All That Important
When you put things into perspective, a career is not all that important. I remember listening to a proverb that says there are three things a man should do:
“Plant a tree, have a son and write a book.”
Although you can argue the three things in the list, they all point to a deeper meaning. Plant a tree so that you can return something to nature as a thank you for sustaining your life. Have a son so that your life is never forgotten. Write a book so that your experiences can help someone else.
All of these things hold intrinsic value and live on beyond us. Our careers stop at retirement, and you will find that there are so many more important things in life. As a student, we do not see this far into the future. Plus, we would not know what any of those things are like as we have never experienced them.
However, in the future, we will care much more about family, love and experiences. We will appreciate companionship over money, and that is what makes us human.
Closing Thought
The answer to the title of this article is yes, in my opinion. But I do not think it is a bad thing. I believe there are some things we must allow for students to learn by themselves, and these discoveries come with life experience.
We can always do things to better prepare them, and I am not against that either. Maybe making students more aware of these things might be helpful. Nevertheless, we must let students develop into their own person. And that comes by understanding self and experience.
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