Career decisions made by learners at school will impact their lives in the future. I remember when I made my first decision which had an impact on my career. It was in 1995, I was in Grade 9 and only 14 years old. It was mostly my decision, with some influence from the teachers. They mostly based their advice on which subjects I was doing well in. I cannot recall making a decision pertaining to which career to pursue. In hind sight, I realise that I was not exposed to a lot whilst I was at school. We had limited options (at least that is what we thought at the time). I recall our options being:
- A Medical Doctor;
- An Accountant;
- A Lawyer;
- A Teacher; or
- A Nurse
At least our list had grown from the lists our parents had many years before. In considering how important a decision like this is, I should have had more time to make this decision. Perhaps more stakeholders should have been part of this decision, such as my parents. Being exposed to other professionals such as accountants, doctors, teachers and lawyers could have helped me to make a more informed decision. I should have had an opportunity to engage with them to get an understanding of what their careers entailed.
Secondary schools perform a very important function of helping to prepare learners to transition from the schooling system into the career of their choice. According to the career industry of Australia, the function performed by the secondary school “involves providing curriculum opportunities to build students’ general capabilities, support students’ interests and aspirations, and support them to make informed decisions about their subject choices and pathways”.
Their experience is also that “students are more engaged in education and highly motivated about their future when they have a clear understanding of themselves and how they might live and work when they leave school”.In almost 20 years of working in human resources I have met many people who were unsure about what they wanted to do with their lives even after many years of studying. . This is not necessarily wrong, as we can see how the world of work is evolving, and pursuing one specific career seems not to be the only way. Going through a career guidance process is however important to steer learners and students in the right direction. By the right direction I am referring to a career that is more closely aligned to their interests, skills, values, personality and dare I say love. Ok, maybe love is taking it a step too far, but if we were all able to do what we love and get paid for it, would that not be cool?
There are also a couple of reasons why learners often make the wrong career choices, and five of these are summarised very well by Krishna Reddy as:
- Peer pressure
- Fulfilling parent’s desires
- Market boom
- An assumed social life
- Confusion
You may be asking whether career guidance is the magic pill? No it is not. It will however help you to identify possible career choices early on. At Ex-Aura, we can assist you by conducting assessments concerning your interests, personality and values.
I referenced a couple of sources that may be of value to you below. If you would like to explore further please contact us at admin@ex-aura.africa.
Sources |Additional articles for reading:
http://www.pssfw.myskills.gov.au/media/1754/career-education-why-is-it-important.pdf
https://theundercoverrecruiter.com/live-happier-doing-what-you-love-why-you-should-change-careers/
https://content.wisestep.com/students-make-wrong-career-choices/
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