Choosing a career after school is the most critical phase of student life. Your career has an immense influence on your future. It will reflect your personality and shape your identity. Just after 12, after coming out of their comfort zone, the biggest question that comes is “Which course are you going to pursue or what you want to be in life?” Don’t let the opinions or expectations of others influence your decision-making. Ultimately, your career choice is solely yours. Even majority of the you will be in the rat race and will select a career according to one whom you admire, follow, or dream of. But before you decide which career to pursue, it is important to keep the following factors in mind-

1. Know your talent/ interests

The tasks you enjoy doing can be the best career that would satisfy you.

1. What are your values?

Which values are important to you? Financial security, social justice, or work-life balance. These values will help you decide what career to opt for.

1. What is your personality?

The way you think and behave reflects your personality and is one of the most significant key aspects in selecting your career.

1. What are your skills?

Think of what you are best at are you good at maintaining people relations or you are happy with machines.

1. What are your strengths and weakness?

Everyone has some good and bad points which make them unique and these qualities.

1. Know the prospects of what you are choosing.

You should know the future scope of the career you are selecting.

Nothing in the world is termed as good or bad. One needs to realize their interest and capabilities and act accordingly. Know your talent and see what best you can do to achieve that. You should never choose a career in per or parents’ pressure. There are endless options to make a career in this contemporary and highly competitive world and choose what motivated you the best. There is a wide range of courses accessible nowadays and in the present era, it is not necessary to be just a doctor, an engineer, or a chartered accountant. You have far more options in hand. Talk to your teachers and counselors that can tell you what possibilities and options you have. Always have a guide in your life who can guide you in the process of selecting a career. Never choose a career based on money if you have no interest in it. As it might give you financial success, it will never give you a peaceful life.

Career is a very broad term before that start thinking about “What is your interest?” “Which type of work do you like?” “What are the occupations available?” “What is the nature of the work that suits you the best?”.  It might be difficult for you at the start to find the answers to these questions but once you have all these answers, your journey toward your career will become very easy. And once you know which career you are going to opt your research doesn’t end here. The next important question arises what all do you need to do to obtain your career. When you know which profession, you are going to take, then you ought to be preparing for entrance tests or get ready to fill out college applications. The most important thing to remember while doing all this is that you should also think of plan B if plan A doesn’t work out. It might be possible that you cannot clear your entrance test, which is quite normal. Don’t lose any hope now as you might have the right skill to pursue your career, but you lack some adequate knowledge to reach that step. Just remember one thing there can be various ways to reach a goal. One should not hold on to only one way and relate this to a very simple scenario from your daily life, let’s suppose you need to go from place A to B. You chose one way which suits you the best and start your journey but, meanwhile, there is some accident happened and there is a lot of traffic, so you will divert your route and choose an alternate one. In the same way, our career journey is not confined to just one way. There are always multiple options to climb and reach your destiny. You just need to be focused, determined, and never lose hope. Sit, relax, and try to observe what you are best at. Every person has some quality, and we just need to explore it. The only mistake students do at this stage is they ignore their inner self and do what most of their peers are doing. Take your time, think wisely, and then decide what suits you better because only you know yourself better than anyone else does. You know your strengths and what you exactly want in your life.

OPEN YOUR WINGS AND FLY YOUR WAY!!!

I’m Ratika Mehra currently working as a consultant in Big 4, Germany. Before that, she  
worked as an Assistant Professor for Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) and MBA 
programs in a reputed college in Gr. Noida and also worked as head of the computer department
in one of the schools in Delhi. Her skills and abilities are expertise in product development,
program management, change management, crossfunctional team coordination,
and vendor management. She is a friendly and engaging collaborator and a leader able to
inspire peers and students to perform their best. She is a meticulous and experienced technology
teacher.