Making the Right Career Choice

I was once asked to speak to a group of high school students on how to choose careers. I wanted to know what they defined as a career and so we started to list all possible options they could come up with. We first listed choices that would, “make their parents happy”. This was a short, predictable list, which featured choices like medicine, engineering, accounting and so on. We then made lists that students classified as “unconventional careers“.The majority said they had to choose a fail-safe career and that often translated into walking the beaten path. Sadly, what we love doing and are passionate about, never seem to feature in making a choice that we have to live with for so much of our adult lives.Every day, thousands of men and women groan when the alarm goes off in the morning. It is time to wake up to another day they must endure as they drag themselves to work. What makes this even more frustrating is that most of these people are eminently qualified for the jobs that they do. So what makes so many people groan at the thought of another day at work?Dropping engagement scores in the workplace year after year show that increments and promotions do not always lead to happy employees. We may not necessarily enjoy doing something that we can do well.Without a sense of passion, the job remains a transaction we have to complete every day to be able to pay the bills. When we enjoy what we do, it helps us feel energized as we do the task, to stay updated about the profession and keep innovating. This state has been described by psychologists as “flow”.We have all experienced that, when we have worked at something that completely absorbed us and we lost track of time. Imagine if you could experience such a state at work every day or at least for a few hours a day. Imagine yourself working at some-thing where every skill is being used to the hilt.Self-awareness is the first step that can lead us to make better choices in our career. This is as true for teenagers as it is for their parents. It is never too late to know what gets you into the flow. Even if it is too late to pursue that as a career, it is certainly possible to pursue it as a hobby. Just spending a little time on the hobby can leave us feeling rejuvenated. So do make time to practice your long forgotten passion.Think about it.————Join me on Twitter @abhijitbhaduriFrom my column in Economic Times <here>