You could have a career – a job that you drag yourself everyday- or you could have something that you actually love. I spent a majority of my day balancing profit and loss accounts of a business and crunching numbers. Then, on a whim, I ventured into I textile prints and that made me happier. If only I had know this early on in life! Okay, but I can’t be the one dishing out career advice. I am currently working working at a media firm where I create content regarding nail art and DIY. But hey, I can tell you what to do right because I took such a meandering course to get here. Read on!
1. Look within!
Rack your brains for instances and incidents that can give you insight into your interests, if you are uncertain about them for the time being. Remember that time when you couldn’t stop colouring every blank surface you encountered? Or that time when you were actually addicted to music? Yes, those might be some clues right there!
2. Take Your Time
Don’t rush into anything that has to do with your career, Sort things out in your head first. It’s okay to always not know what you want to study. Life is not a rat race, it is not mandatory to go junior college right after school, or dive into a degree college right after your junior year. Talk it out with your parents and if they are on board, take some time off to explore photography, cooking, dancing, anything that you feel like you can convert into a career.
3. Get That Internship Going!
As Drake said, “Started from the bottom, now we’re here!” He was probably talking about an internship. Internships give you a chance to dip your toes into the industry, learn the craft, shadow your role model, and may guide you in the direction you want to go. You will learn more from an on the job experience than many lectures put together.
4. Research Everything
Look, you might want to pursue pearl diving as a career but you might actual need to know how to swim. Do your research before you launch yourself headlong into a career. Think job prospects, moving up the ladder, future options, everything. Thorough research will help you understand what it is that you need to do, in order to reach where you want to be.
5. Check for Job Availability
It would be pointless to spend all the time and money on a degree that might not even translate to a well-paying job, or even a job at all! For example, bio-chemistry is a great field if you are working in America, but in India for the most part, a bio-chemist might not be able to secure a job of his or her choosing. The money matters!
6. Work Backwards
Play this game backwards! Don’t set yourself up for a course at NIFT, internship at Vogue and a job at Femina in order to become a psychologist. First, decide what role you want to play in the industry and then figure out how to get there! Let’s say, you want to be a celebrity fashion stylist, take a course in fashion styling, intern with a stylist, or get a job that will help you explore this further. But you know, interning at an ice-cream parlour might not be ideal.
7. Everyone Needs Money, Honey!
If you are going to spend 30 Lakhs to go to FIT for a year for a textile design course, and end up earning 30,000 per month back in Bombay, then maybe it isn’t worth going for the course in the first place. Yes, you’ll have to climb the corporate ladder one rung at a time. But if your career choice comes with peanuts for pay, you might have a lot of moments where you have to give up lunch for rent. And that’s never fun.
8. Consider Other Life Decisions
Before making a career choice, it might make sense to consider other life decisions. Marriage, family, migration, these might affect what you do, how you do it and where you do it. So if you have a heads up on this, it might affect your choice of career. Because even if you have a job, sometimes, you’ll want to see your family.