India’s youth-The career options one can make in the context of social, economic and personal preferences
“So Beta, what have you decided to be after XIIth standard?”, a typical question that I am sure many young people (age bracket 17-21) will find difficult to answer. On same lines, “Yaar, what now!” a typical question of one of your friend from your engineering, commerce or any other graduation college in India.
This article is something that I would have loved to read when I was deciding about what exactly to do with my life. It was way back in year 1999, the year I passed class Xth. The question became of paramount importance in the class XIIth, when there were a lot of pressures, including the teenage adrenaline pumped thoughts combined with strange changes happening around (read IT boom and Web 1.0 bubble). I was very perplexed at the rapidly changing environment. Like the baby boomers of the west of the 70’s, my generation (those born between 1981-86 roughly), can be safely called as the revolution witnesses in the true sense. Apart from witnessing two millennia, we witnessed a sudden and momentous transformation in many fields. Coming back to the career options, at that time, there was not much awareness around, and traditional advisors of most Indian Middle class families (as in uncles, aunts, well-wishers, teachers, neighbours etc) were mostly at loss when guiding us (me and my millions of teeming brothers and sisters in India).
Today, as things have settled down and there has begun advanced phases of development in the growing economy, career choices today are far more numerous than ever. These are the best of the times, as some may like to point out. Youth can’t just let this beaming time slip from their hands and choose traditional “ever green” careers like engineering and medicine. All said and done, when it comes to real decision making, many middle and upper middle class families will still persuade their off springs to persuade relatively safe careers. The mindset might have changed, but not with fast moving times. From my personal example, when I started preparing for CAT, my parents wanted me to take IAS instead and settle for a “traditionally esteemed” option. Same was the case when I tried not to sit for my medical entrance, as parents and family wanted a very own doctor of the family. This is not to undermine the wellbeing and noble intentions of our parents. But sometimes in life, there has to be informed decision making. Making a bad career choice is like a merchant ship, travelling slowly from Rotterdam to New Jersey making only a 3 degree change in it course by mistake and instead ending up at Barbados!
The psychology and underlying factors involved in teens making their career choices:
I have listed following factors which influence the decision making: (in no way an exhaustive list)
· Societal pressure
· Peer pressure
· Choices made subconsciously from a host of environmental factors, including media
· Access (or lack of it) to relevant and unbiased information (most important to according to me)
· Parents’ mindset and their reference group
· Personal preferences and understanding of one’s strength and weaknesses (the most ignored factor according to me)
· Economic condition of the family
Explaining all these factors in some detail below, I will also mention some of the guidelines on which young people can act and take the rudders of their lives in their own hands. I will try to put my views on some of the important issues which affect our personalities, which in turn impact our career choices, which eventually decide our destinies. I am not a professional career counselor though, and won’t be able to put detailed options in front of you. That will be like giving a fish to you. Instead, I want you to learn how to get ready to learn expert fishing.
Societal pressure is one which forces a lot of pre conceived notions in our minds. IAS, Medical, MBA, Engineering, Law, Commerce is the typical ranking of many sub cultures of India. In today’s environment, where such different fields are open, these archetypes still rule the roost. One may become an environmental engineer and further his/her career prospects by specializing in Carbon Credit markets and alternative fuels. A lawyer may open a taxation consultancy as easily as an AFMC passed army doctor may opt for tele medicine specialization. But this is to talk of specialization. We are talking of primary colours of career rainbow.
Don’t ever form your opinions by the way society wants you to think. It will require courage to look beyond the easy options. But a trail blazer in truest sense will be able to capitalize upon the growing economic prosperity. Your decisions at the same time have to be made on well informed opinions. Develop original thinking and a tendency to gather as much information as possible. The youth in Metros and some semi Metro cities have a relative advantage over their tier2 and 3 city counterparts in this case. But this apparent information asymmetry need not keep you back from deciding about your life. Study the attend various career conferences held in your city/nearby cities. Good colleges of India organize career counseling. Try to take part in them. Ask your friends in metros to help you out with current trends. But that is not going to be of much help though. You will have to find out reliable sources. They may be some informed and intellectual neighborhood uncle/aunt or websites/blogs having discussion forums. Pagalguy, rediff.com and other good content websites offer this today, which wasn’t available earlier.
Always remember, that before seeking the specific information, you have made up your mind on a general area you want to focus upon. Now, here is what we can safely call a catch 22 situation for many young people. But don’t worry. If you keep your mind open and try to gauge yourself from an unbiased angle, you may get an inkling of the career you want to specialize in 5-6 years down the line. But his introspection calls for a very important thing:
Self belief and confidence
When I was in my engineering college sophomore year, I was driven by what many may call adrenaline rush. And I am sure males will identify with me when I mention of some crushes, which at that time seemed very serious to us! Only things that revolve around a young male/female of 18-22 years of age are his/her self image, construed largely as s/he compares with the reference groups. These may be seniors in the college, relatively older neighbours, Film and sport stars etc. An uncle elder son went to merchant navy, and that will be a good enough reason for you to pursue the same, not to think of the implications of choosing that career (both positives and negatives).
What is lacking especially at that point of time in most of us is self belief. It is true, and don’t try to run away from it. We may seem sure of ourselves on the surface, but on the inside, a demon of unceratinity haunts many of us. And that is a normal thing. Nature didn’t want all of us to be child prodigies. But with self enlightening, one can make a more mature decision.
I reiterate the point that you are very special and very very unique. Don’t get carried away by the peers and relatives want to see you as. Just think what type of role in your later life you will be more comfortable. Don’t think absolute long term; just think for coming 5-8 yrs. You can always change your choice from generalization to specialization later on. Don’t worry, booming economy wont let you get off track for long. But it is important to form at least a primary domain of choice.
Don’t feel trapped at all. Choose wisely where you want to go. Finance and opportunity will follow your desires, and won’t be a barrier when you truly desire something from the bottom of your hearts.
The major part of decision making is again the basic one, believing in oneself. There happen instances in one’s post teenage years when one feel it to be end of road. It may be anything, from “betray in love” to passing away of your loved ones. Or it may be some instance where you fail in life to live up to the expectations of your parents and carry a guilt feeling around your neck for a major part of your life.
Learn to let go. Learn to forgive yourself and remember one thing. These things one will realize sometimes later in life anyway, but by then, your prime age of career choice might have passed away.
Read the biographies of great men and women of science, medical, commerce, industrialists and rags to riches success stories. That will inspire you the will to fight in the adverse circumstances and also make you appreciate the most opportune times that you are in presently. History is replete with example of these famous men and women, who eventually blazed trails in their respective fields, had to make many tough and life changing choices at many times. They were opportunistic and inherently motivated to make most of their lives’.
Tackling parental pressure:
First things first: your parents are your well wishers. They want you to succeed in life. But this is where the problem creeps in. In the western countries, children are forced to do part time jobs and they leave their parents by the time they are around 20. They have to choose their life partners themselves (mostly), so have to remain in good physical shape also. Here in oriental cultures, parents take care of their children for the major part of their maturing to adulthood.
But why do your parents force things on you? Simple, they don’t assume that you are mature enough to make your own career choices. They may be right many times though, but many times, they turn out to be wrong. Forcing an artistically and creatively conscious child to army may mean dissatisfaction and possible grudges in his/her mind for many years in life. The way out is simple. Make your parents see your level of maturity in simple day to day handling of things. Your posture, way of talking, daily dealings with your friends and relatives are the involuntary signals you give to your parents. Try changing these. Shun some bad habits that your parents think you have. Engage in meaningful and healthy discussions with them, instead of ME versus THEM fights.
Once your parents see positive change inside you, they will be forced to change their point of view too.
A final word:
My friendly advice to you is this; always gauge your position in the life path. A life path is your life chart, with its time periods divided in 4-5 years time periods. Each period encompasses a major change and a couple of minor changes that shaped the life which you presently are having/forced to have.
Just take a break from everything and be as impartial as you can to yourself. Never lie to yourself. Think over your actions and their validity in your and your family’s current economic condition. It is never too late to correct yourself. And think big. Think pragmatically and imaginatively at the same time. Build castles in air, but at the same time, put bricks under them. For example, it may be fine to become an aeronautical engineer from a good US university after your B tech. But for that, you will need good scholarship, requiring a good GRE score. That will require a very good verbal and analytical skills and your parents’ confidence.
This article is something that I would have loved to read when I was deciding about what exactly to do with my life. It was way back in year 1999, the year I passed class Xth. The question became of paramount importance in the class XIIth, when there were a lot of pressures, including the teenage adrenaline pumped thoughts combined with strange changes happening around (read IT boom and Web 1.0 bubble). I was very perplexed at the rapidly changing environment. Like the baby boomers of the west of the 70’s, my generation (those born between 1981-86 roughly), can be safely called as the revolution witnesses in the true sense. Apart from witnessing two millennia, we witnessed a sudden and momentous transformation in many fields. Coming back to the career options, at that time, there was not much awareness around, and traditional advisors of most Indian Middle class families (as in uncles, aunts, well-wishers, teachers, neighbours etc) were mostly at loss when guiding us (me and my millions of teeming brothers and sisters in India).
Today, as things have settled down and there has begun advanced phases of development in the growing economy, career choices today are far more numerous than ever. These are the best of the times, as some may like to point out. Youth can’t just let this beaming time slip from their hands and choose traditional “ever green” careers like engineering and medicine. All said and done, when it comes to real decision making, many middle and upper middle class families will still persuade their off springs to persuade relatively safe careers. The mindset might have changed, but not with fast moving times. From my personal example, when I started preparing for CAT, my parents wanted me to take IAS instead and settle for a “traditionally esteemed” option. Same was the case when I tried not to sit for my medical entrance, as parents and family wanted a very own doctor of the family. This is not to undermine the wellbeing and noble intentions of our parents. But sometimes in life, there has to be informed decision making. Making a bad career choice is like a merchant ship, travelling slowly from Rotterdam to New Jersey making only a 3 degree change in it course by mistake and instead ending up at Barbados!
The psychology and underlying factors involved in teens making their career choices:
I have listed following factors which influence the decision making: (in no way an exhaustive list)
· Societal pressure
· Peer pressure
· Choices made subconsciously from a host of environmental factors, including media
· Access (or lack of it) to relevant and unbiased information (most important to according to me)
· Parents’ mindset and their reference group
· Personal preferences and understanding of one’s strength and weaknesses (the most ignored factor according to me)
· Economic condition of the family
Explaining all these factors in some detail below, I will also mention some of the guidelines on which young people can act and take the rudders of their lives in their own hands. I will try to put my views on some of the important issues which affect our personalities, which in turn impact our career choices, which eventually decide our destinies. I am not a professional career counselor though, and won’t be able to put detailed options in front of you. That will be like giving a fish to you. Instead, I want you to learn how to get ready to learn expert fishing.
Societal pressure is one which forces a lot of pre conceived notions in our minds. IAS, Medical, MBA, Engineering, Law, Commerce is the typical ranking of many sub cultures of India. In today’s environment, where such different fields are open, these archetypes still rule the roost. One may become an environmental engineer and further his/her career prospects by specializing in Carbon Credit markets and alternative fuels. A lawyer may open a taxation consultancy as easily as an AFMC passed army doctor may opt for tele medicine specialization. But this is to talk of specialization. We are talking of primary colours of career rainbow.
Don’t ever form your opinions by the way society wants you to think. It will require courage to look beyond the easy options. But a trail blazer in truest sense will be able to capitalize upon the growing economic prosperity. Your decisions at the same time have to be made on well informed opinions. Develop original thinking and a tendency to gather as much information as possible. The youth in Metros and some semi Metro cities have a relative advantage over their tier2 and 3 city counterparts in this case. But this apparent information asymmetry need not keep you back from deciding about your life. Study the attend various career conferences held in your city/nearby cities. Good colleges of India organize career counseling. Try to take part in them. Ask your friends in metros to help you out with current trends. But that is not going to be of much help though. You will have to find out reliable sources. They may be some informed and intellectual neighborhood uncle/aunt or websites/blogs having discussion forums. Pagalguy, rediff.com and other good content websites offer this today, which wasn’t available earlier.
Always remember, that before seeking the specific information, you have made up your mind on a general area you want to focus upon. Now, here is what we can safely call a catch 22 situation for many young people. But don’t worry. If you keep your mind open and try to gauge yourself from an unbiased angle, you may get an inkling of the career you want to specialize in 5-6 years down the line. But his introspection calls for a very important thing:
Self belief and confidence
When I was in my engineering college sophomore year, I was driven by what many may call adrenaline rush. And I am sure males will identify with me when I mention of some crushes, which at that time seemed very serious to us! Only things that revolve around a young male/female of 18-22 years of age are his/her self image, construed largely as s/he compares with the reference groups. These may be seniors in the college, relatively older neighbours, Film and sport stars etc. An uncle elder son went to merchant navy, and that will be a good enough reason for you to pursue the same, not to think of the implications of choosing that career (both positives and negatives).
What is lacking especially at that point of time in most of us is self belief. It is true, and don’t try to run away from it. We may seem sure of ourselves on the surface, but on the inside, a demon of unceratinity haunts many of us. And that is a normal thing. Nature didn’t want all of us to be child prodigies. But with self enlightening, one can make a more mature decision.
I reiterate the point that you are very special and very very unique. Don’t get carried away by the peers and relatives want to see you as. Just think what type of role in your later life you will be more comfortable. Don’t think absolute long term; just think for coming 5-8 yrs. You can always change your choice from generalization to specialization later on. Don’t worry, booming economy wont let you get off track for long. But it is important to form at least a primary domain of choice.
Don’t feel trapped at all. Choose wisely where you want to go. Finance and opportunity will follow your desires, and won’t be a barrier when you truly desire something from the bottom of your hearts.
The major part of decision making is again the basic one, believing in oneself. There happen instances in one’s post teenage years when one feel it to be end of road. It may be anything, from “betray in love” to passing away of your loved ones. Or it may be some instance where you fail in life to live up to the expectations of your parents and carry a guilt feeling around your neck for a major part of your life.
Learn to let go. Learn to forgive yourself and remember one thing. These things one will realize sometimes later in life anyway, but by then, your prime age of career choice might have passed away.
Read the biographies of great men and women of science, medical, commerce, industrialists and rags to riches success stories. That will inspire you the will to fight in the adverse circumstances and also make you appreciate the most opportune times that you are in presently. History is replete with example of these famous men and women, who eventually blazed trails in their respective fields, had to make many tough and life changing choices at many times. They were opportunistic and inherently motivated to make most of their lives’.
Tackling parental pressure:
First things first: your parents are your well wishers. They want you to succeed in life. But this is where the problem creeps in. In the western countries, children are forced to do part time jobs and they leave their parents by the time they are around 20. They have to choose their life partners themselves (mostly), so have to remain in good physical shape also. Here in oriental cultures, parents take care of their children for the major part of their maturing to adulthood.
But why do your parents force things on you? Simple, they don’t assume that you are mature enough to make your own career choices. They may be right many times though, but many times, they turn out to be wrong. Forcing an artistically and creatively conscious child to army may mean dissatisfaction and possible grudges in his/her mind for many years in life. The way out is simple. Make your parents see your level of maturity in simple day to day handling of things. Your posture, way of talking, daily dealings with your friends and relatives are the involuntary signals you give to your parents. Try changing these. Shun some bad habits that your parents think you have. Engage in meaningful and healthy discussions with them, instead of ME versus THEM fights.
Once your parents see positive change inside you, they will be forced to change their point of view too.
A final word:
My friendly advice to you is this; always gauge your position in the life path. A life path is your life chart, with its time periods divided in 4-5 years time periods. Each period encompasses a major change and a couple of minor changes that shaped the life which you presently are having/forced to have.
Just take a break from everything and be as impartial as you can to yourself. Never lie to yourself. Think over your actions and their validity in your and your family’s current economic condition. It is never too late to correct yourself. And think big. Think pragmatically and imaginatively at the same time. Build castles in air, but at the same time, put bricks under them. For example, it may be fine to become an aeronautical engineer from a good US university after your B tech. But for that, you will need good scholarship, requiring a good GRE score. That will require a very good verbal and analytical skills and your parents’ confidence.
posted by Raman Sallaria @ 8:31 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home