How did you choose your career?

How did you choose your career?

This question is to the people who have already started their career.

It is been five years, I started my career in the world of computers, to be precise in the world of business applications or ERP, to be more precise in world of SAP. I am satisfied with whatever I achieved in these five years. Yeah, I could have done little better in terms of position but in terms of knowledge and money, I have done fair. So bottom line is, I am satisfied with my career but the question is, am I really in the career of my like or my interest? Let's get an quick overview why I am here!

From the class 7, I was pretty much inclined to two things, one was my first love cricket (like many other, perhaps lacs of other Indian kids!) and other was my second love "The Computers"! I was never good at studies, but by God's kicks :) , in polite words by God's grace, I could do little good in 10th class and worse in 12th. So I landed in Diploma in computer engg, this time I did worst and landed in what I deserved, Valia. Taking everyone by surprise (including God and even myself!), I topped in Computer Engineering! :) :) :) And finally I landed here, where I am today! It's not that I am not happy with my life and that is why I am writing this blog. I am very much satisfied and happy with where I am today. I am writing this because parents should take enough time and do not impose anything on their kids.

Anyway I am in career of my like for sure, but I could have choose my first love as a career, but my parents were not that much aware about cricket as a career or they might not have thought in that direction at all. Being a Gujarati, my father was busy in a Govt. job and developing business and providing us everything we need and mother was housewife. In that time, there were very few fortunate kids who could choose their career by their own with or without any hurdles. I am definitely not blaming my parents, but that time very few kids could develop that much of maturity and that kind of mentality or thought process that, "what I'll choose now, will stay with me forever!" Because of economical situation of family, or immaturity or whatever may be the reason, but we tend to think in conventional way of choosing job or family business as a career and not any sport or art or social service! Today at least kids and their parents dare to think about choosing all these odd streams as a career.

What I really think, today parents are very much aware about the world outside their world. At the age of 16-17, we should not expect kid to tell parents that I want to go for this and that. I don't think kids at this age can have level of maturity to think pros and cons of what they choose. Kids gradually start understating world and gradually starts developing likes and dislikes about different things. So the point here is, Parents have to be more responsible towards kids’ career.

Parents should always be a friend and make kids understand about all aspects of life. I am not talking about only academics. Career choice also depends on your personal responsibilities. At the age of 25-30, if a person realizes and wants to serve poor and needy or wants to enter into politics, can he/she do it easily if he is responsible for a wife and kids? There is where parents have to make kids understand from the beginning that personal responsibilities go hand in hand with career you choose.

Every person develops a 'like' feeling at some point of time for something, which he/she might love to have as a lifetime career, but most of the time, that like comes when you are already in middle of your career and bound to social responsibilities. For rich people there may be a chance to change career but for middle class and poor, it is simply no chance to take that risk!

Take time to make kids understand about career and personal responsibilities and let kids take their time to grow up and get that maturity level to choose right career for them. It should be kid's choice of career rightly guided by parents and not the opposite!