Making a right career choice has remained a challenge among many people. Or is it?
Over a long period of time, people have found themselves in a predicament of having to choose what they are passionate about.
Well, many if not all have heard of such cases or experienced at one point but the big question still remains, what is the cause of all these?
Choosing a career can be hard especially when you have a wide range of choices that you are interested in.
Wrong career choices
In most cases, people have found themselves in wrong careers, but how does this just happen? Well, most people choose careers basing on different aspects. Some pursue careers as a result of influence from their parents, guardians or friends and there is also another category that choose courses because of the name and a group that choose courses basing on their gender.
During our early years in school, we dreamt of becoming big tittles in the society but we happen to change our mindsets as we step to the next ladder.
Uncertainty in careers choices
Uncertainty in careers choices does not only affect high school graduates but also college students who ran for courses they did not have passion in, that is why we hear most university graduates saying at the end of their course that “I have finished my parents course”.
Farida Abdallah a youth coordinator at SOS Children’s Village ,states that she has taken the initiative of supporting young people attend national career programs to ensure that youths understand what the career selection process is all about.
She also gives one on one mentorship on career guidance and have access to labor information of current employer needs to be able to meet marketable courses with accordance to an individuals interests.
“I help high school youths in subject selection with the choice of specialization based on individual abilities, talents and skills,” she said.
Career path should be a personal choice basing on one’s goals and passion. According to Anam Javed a student of Fashion Design at Asian Institute of fashion design, her career choice was greatly influenced by self-awareness and diverse experiences. She states that passion has always driven her to achieve all her
goals.
“Career is the most important path and you should be the decision- maker, because when you stop making decisions for yourself people try to take control,” said Javed.
Anam acknowledges the fact that gender has been a hindrance for many young girls to pursue their dream courses in East Asian countries where women are merely given a chance to go to school. She expresses her happiness as her parents helped her make a bold move.
“Fashion designing is a male dominated field but women in Pakistan have earned their names. I am willing to be a top-notch designer renowned across the globe,” she said.
Parents have a great influence on child’s behavior or attitude towards a certain course. In most cases ,parents wants their kids to pursue courses that they feel that their child deserves instead of exploring where their potential and passion lies .
This will give parents swift time in mentoring their child into the right courses.
Ann Njeru a mother of two, says that she never had anyone to guide her on what course to pursue which gave her a hard time before joining college and that challenged her to take her children through mentorship programs whether online or physical to ensure her children are satisfied with the courses they select as they transit to college.
In Africa, many communities have been so stereotypical about girls and young women acquiring education or becoming leaders.
African traditions that hinder women from achieving their goals should be sensitized on the importance of
education for girls.
The unquenchable desire for women to acquire education has been spearheaded by great women lead organizations such as the UN women to at least ensure that gender equality is achieved in all fields.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields (STEM) are courses that have always been pursued by the male gender but with the empowerment women have also been able to pursue these fields.
It’s now clear that women have similar ambitions as men do but many women lack motivation to pursue
their dream careers.
I have seen many graduates working in fields they never trained for, this should act as a challenge for parents, teachers or lay leaders to empower children to follow their passion at an early age.
