Few Things to Think Before You Make Your Career Decisions

This anecdote reflects the classic dilemma of an Indian middle-class student. This dilemma also reeks of a burden most secondary and higher secondary students have to bear—a burden of choosing the right career for them.

This burden feels even weightier if the student feels not guided enough and carrying the load of his peers’ desires. S/he is expected to achieve what her/his parents failed to. This is hardly surprising for anybody coming from tier-1 or tier-2 cities.

You may ask why I am calling career selection a burden. This is simply because such career decisions are guided more by peer’s choices and social precedence rather than by students’ own aptitude. Manas felt that burden and many others do so every day. Let’s dig a little deeper into Manas’s Case.

Aptitude vs Interest: See What You Have!

This may surprise you that Manas evinced interest in mathematics despite his aptitude in biology. Notice the terms ‘aptitude’ and ‘interest’ which simply mean what comes naturally to you and what you like to do irrespective of your proficiency (respectively).

Biology was the subject that came naturally to him, and he did exceptionally well in it with little effort, unlike mathematics. The teacher believed that Manas had an aptitude for biological sciences and that he would do well in a biology-driven career. Manas would deny the teacher’s observation as he was more interested in PCM.

Manas failed even to notice that his highest marks in biology in XIIth vindicated the teacher’s opinion. The inertia of his misplaced interest was so forceful that it took him two consecutive failures to realize that mathematics wasn’t his cup of tea. Manas succeeded the third time only because he aligned his interest along with his aptitude. 

In Manas’s case, you may say that his father’s idea clicked and that Manas chose the wrong stream for himself. But you forget to ask why Manas’s interest lay in the wrong place after all.

Manas’s and his father’s preferences both were (mis)guided by commonplace social practices, not by conscious judgment of one’s own potentials. His ‘interest’ was the handiwork of social or general notions of success.

Know All Your Options!

The masses are aware of very few of the white-collar jobs like that of an engineer or a doctor or an accountant. Getting their children into these professions has become a fetish with the middle-class Indian parents.

They think of these jobs as the only source of fortune and prestige. These middle-class, half-guides also think that these jobs are the ultimate test of one’s knowledge or talent. This reminds me of a very popular saying (of Martin Luther), ‘Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity’.

I say so because there is an entire world of occupations and new emerging careers waiting to be explored, careers for each one of us as per each one’s aptitude, ability, and temperament. This sounds truer when the line between the white-collar and blue-collar jobs is blurring. But people care less to do any soul searching or brainstorming; they would rather follow the rat race and end up repenting.

Break ‘Sciences are Better’ Myth!

Sciences are the most sought-after stream and there is a prestige issue attached with opting sciences. Commerce is also somewhat acceptable, but humanities are usually looked down upon by many and considered apt for those who cannot score well in exams.

It’s the excess importance to exams and scores that many of the students cannot find their true potential or pursue a career in which they would do well, be happy, and feel satisfied.

Such stereotypes for a particular stream also hampers the growth of a country because there is a disproportionate number of takers for few jobs.

We don’t understand that certain jobs or resources look limited to us only because we all are interested in them. We don’t look elsewhere, which we should as per our own aptitude. None of the streams is superior to the other but are specializations for reaching a particular goal.

For example, very few students know at this stage that publishing is an enormous and thriving industry with the immense scope of many careers for all the streams, i.e. science, humanities, or languages. Many industries offer relatively unknown yet better-paying jobs where simple graduates are inducted and do well after brief on-site training, for example, jobs in polymer, paper, and processing industries. There are many others! 

We should base the stream selection on interest, aptitude, temperament, personality traits. We must pursuit something based on aptitude-driven aspirations and not on prejudices or social stigmas or on the fear of being left alone.

Do Away With Subject & Gender Stereotypes!

In Manas’s case, he was pretty sure of his aptitude for sciences. But he was unsure when it came to choosing between PCB and PCM.  He was more inclined toward PCM. There may be several factors behind choosing PCM over PCB, the most popular being the notion of availability of more opportunities in PCM than in PCB.

Then, there are the subject-related misconceptions, for example, biology is all about rote learning, but physics and math are application-based.

Some myths are as nonsensical as linking some jobs with a particular gender. For instance, math is for boys and biology for girls. All these misleading notions often affect the decision one takes when young; but, later in life, these decisions are regrettable when one gains more understanding of the world.

The same happened with Manas too! Despite his teacher (and his father in Manas’s case) giving him sign about his aptitude for biology, he preferred to prepare for engineering entrance exams. Failing to qualify, he realized he could do much better in medical sciences instead. And when he pursued his aptitude, success was all his.

Don’t Let Your Insecurities Decide for You!

Some students either are not clear on choosing between PCM and PCB, or they probably think that their scope will broaden if they have both math and biology. Such notions stem from their insecurities and low confidence.

Eventually, one would have to opt for only one of them from a career’s perspective. There is no need to realize the truth Manas’s way and waste so much of time and energy on a subject or stream you aren’t suitable for. It’s wise to select the aptest subject at the start and do justice with it.

You may assess your own abilities based on the performance history and other indicators. Or, you may take the help of a professional who may open up a whole new vista of career options based on your aptitude. Don’t worry, he will assess your aptitude in a few sessions with you.

This is a fact (and my personal observation too) that most of the students at standard XI stage cannot cope with math and biology together with physics and chemistry. Had they focused their energy on only one combination (PCB or PCM) they could have done better.

Even after XIIth grade, at the time of entrance examination, it is rare that a student qualifies for both JEE and NEET. Also, the eligibility criteria for getting into undergraduate studies are separate, and there is no requirement to study biology for engineering and allied fields.

Similarly, math is not essentially required for getting into biological science courses. Although there are a few courses and exams which may require both math and biology like B.Tech. in Biotechnology and National Entrance Screening Test (NEST) for getting into the pure research field, one must try to be very clear of his/her objectives while selecting subjects at the senior secondary level.

What Should Prevail, Aptitude or Interest?

Now you may wonder whether one should go for interest or with aptitude. Actually, your aptitude is the real indicator of what you are or can be good at. Aptitude is your natural ability to do well in a particular field.

You can get insights about your aptitude through tasks that you find very easy but might be difficult for others. For instance, the ability to see patterns, drawing, singing abilities, able to mend electrical devices easily, etc. Your parents and teachers who have watched you closely can also give you some idea of your aptitude. Your achievement in subjects also gives you a sign of your aptitude.

You may work too hard in math and study very few of the languages, still, you score better in language subjects when compared to mathematics. Sometimes, students can be good at more than one subject, and finding aptitude might appear difficult. Then, it’s best to approach a career counselor who may help you in identifying your aptitude with the help of psychometric tests.

Interest, on the other hand, may change with time and can be developed in a particular field if you have the aptitude for it. Interest results from the sum total of influences you receive from your surroundings. You may get interested in something only because it looks attractive to you. You may even try to achieve it without knowing if you really have the ability to succeed.

Each individual has some or the other aptitude, and everyone can not have the same aptitude. That’s due to individual differences that exist. So, it is very important to find your aptitude and give precedence to your aptitude over interest. If you find your aptitude aligned to your interest, then nothing like it.

Albert Einstein once said, ‘Everybody is a genius but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid’.  The crux of the matter is before you explore the world, you need to find yourself, what you are good at and then move ahead to get what you are meant to.