Caution pays in career choices
I.M. Soni

You have graduated. You are exploring avenues for gainful employment. But you are on the horns of a dilemma because there is no clear-cut direction before you. It is possible you are at the crossroads of your career. What should you do?

First, let it sink into your mind that failing to prepare for a career means preparing to fail! Forewarned is forearmed.

Decision-making, regarding your study, training or choice of career, is a critical step for career development.

Know your likes, dislikes, skills, abilities, goals, lifestyle, limitations, and so forth. Knowing important things about different careers like profile and responsibilities of the job, skills needed, number of jobs available, pay, challenges as well as academic awareness is essential. Understand the make-up and implications of study or training, before ultimately coming up with a career direction.

If you are already in a particular study or training programme, then review your aspirations as part of your decision-making process.

You may read something about a particular career, be turned on by it, and ultimately decide to go for it. But after an interval, you decide it is definitely not for you.

If otherwise has happened to you, then you are, feeling pretty good about having cleared the first hurdle and are ready to proceed with it.

The following approach to making a decision or solving a problem is systematic. It follows a pattern of steps that should be completed to give you the best chance for success.

A word of caution — this approach is not going to give you magic results. It is, rather, a logical procedure. It is not a panacea but a method that may offer some assistance in answering your career choice questions.

Before you can set about the task of solving a problem, a clear definition of the task and the steps necessary to accomplish it are necessary.

The first step is to get this problem clearly defined in your own mind. The clearer it is, the easier will be its solution as well as the procedures you go through in attaining that solution.

One common error is to believe that you are defining the problem, when actually you are talking about a symptom of the problem. For example, in some cases an inability to decide on a career is really a symptom of the problem.

The actual problem is your own unwillingness to spend sufficient time and energy in making that decision. To solve the problem, you can’t devote efforts to the symptoms but must address the essence of your concern, the allocation of time devoted to career decision-making.

Commitment on your part to do the necessary work involved in making a decision is critical to the process and ultimately, to making a successful decision. Isn’t it worthwhile to devote an hour or two a day to an important decision that will definitely affect the rest of your life?

You can start by gathering or compiling information about study or training alternatives, and about career options. Another valuable area of information is the identification of your skills.

One further suggestion is about organising the information and writing it down in a systematic format.

Since every decision that you make involves a compromise, before the selection of one particular option or course of action, and the elimination of other courses of action, be certain that a decision is actually called for before you make it.

Maintain all your options as long as possible and then, only when a final decision is inevitable, choose one.

An example may be helpful here. BK has taken a number of employment interviews. He believes that two interviews went particularly well and that he will be offered employment by both organisations. BK decides that he will accept offer from an organisation. He, therefore, decides that he will no longer need his ‘B’ alternative. And declines it.

He has made a premature decision and is now caught in a mess. The moral of this story is: never make a decision until you have to. Hurry makes bad curry!

Also, in some cases, a decision is not really deciding between two alternatives: in others it may not be necessary to make a decision until a later date.

Students often try to make decisions before there are actually alternatives from which to choose. For example, you might attempt to decide between law or business before there are “real” acceptances from one or both.

A possible solution might include applying to both professional schools and waiting to see which one accepts you.

A better solution might be to examine each type of professional study, including career directions, thoroughly and determine which is most suitable for you.

When a decision can wait, wait!