Making Career Decisions- How I Am Thinking About It
By: Atharva Chitre
Introduction:
High school can function as a turning point in an individual’s life. As students, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade are the years in which most of us make decisions in pursuing a career pathway that will affect our lives in college and even beyond. The incredible significance and gravity of these decisions therefore add enormous amounts of pressure to an already stressful life in high school. As a high school student, I am experiencing this pressure myself, and am figuring out different ways to make these consequential decisions. In this blog, I will share my current thought process on how I am approaching these decisions.
Here are some factors that are affecting my thinking:
· Passion: I want to choose a career path that will lead me to a career that I will truly enjoy. While factors such as salary, travel, and a few others I will mention down below are important, if I am not passionate about my career, it is unlikely that I will enjoy it. For many teenagers like myself, our passion comes through things such as sports or video games, which for the majority of us, will not directly help us in the future. Let’s face it — what is the likelihood that I will grow up to be a LeBron James or Patrick Mahomes? Thus, it is somewhat limiting to think about our passions only to what we like today. However, there are some ways in which I am looking to find other passions that may not be evident on the surface. To begin with, I am looking at the classes I have taken over my high school career and seeing which ones I have truly enjoyed. In high school, there are plenty of elective classes that explore different pathways and can help one to find his or her passion. Also, I have taken a few courses online, outside of school, which have helped me explore different career paths. Finally, I have talked to other adults who have different jobs and these conversations have given me a fresher and wider on career planning.
· Trends: In the 21st century, the world has become more and more reliant on the use of technology. Most stock trends for big technology companies such as Apple and Google are on the rise, and they are a fair indicator of where the future lies. On the other hand, manufacturing jobs in the US have declined significantly over the past several years. In my opinion, these trends are important to take into consideration because if I am looking to go into a sector that is experiencing a downward trend, my chances for success are limited. While looking at trends may seem like a tedious task for some, a reasonable amount of simple research and asking other adults about these trends can help change one’s perspective on their career aspirations.
· Employability/Job prospects: In any career, it is important to look at the number of prospects and the employability that a career offers. I have always been interested in mathematics, but I don’t know if there are a lot of opportunities within the broad subject of math. And if so, which specific sub-streams within math are promising? While having fewer prospects does not mean the job is harder by any standards, it is fair to assume the job having fewer prospects is more specialized and does not have broad scope compared to jobs having more prospects. For example, a career in microbiology will have significantly fewer prospects and will be more specific than a career in business, but it may not necessarily be more difficult. As I mentioned above, finding a passion is extremely important when deciding on a career, but for many people, their passion lies in something more specific which is why looking at the number of prospects and employability is important because it allows one to see if he really is interested enough to go into that field.
Conclusion:
While there are definitely other ways to help to find the best possible career path, the three methods I described above have helped shape my perspective on what I want to do in the future. In my first few months of high school, I was starting to get nervous about my potential decisions over the next few years (due to their enormous significance). If you have these same worries, you may want to employ these three strategies. I cannot say that I have absolute clarity myself. In fact, I am going to continue to modify the above thinking by talking to young adults who have been in this phase not so long ago. As I listen to their advice, I will be sure to share.