THIS is probably one of the most popular questions asked by high school students and graduates. This is indeed a critical question as one’s career choice often affects the quality of life that an individual will have.
There are many factors that need to be considered when choosing a career. Since over half of your life will be spent in career occupations, one of the most important factors to consider is job satisfaction. While many people equate job satisfaction with high income and lavish perks, income and perks are often the last things one should consider.
More important things to consider include personal interests such as family life and religion and prospects for growth, that is, are you likely to have opportunity to improve yourself as a professional while in that career.
To do this, you need first of all, to be aware of who you are and what your goals in life are. Understanding who you are involves clearly identifying your values, beliefs and interests.
For instance you may value living with your family as opposed to being separated from your family for extended periods. You may also value your religion and as such when choosing a career you may want to settle for one that will enable you to stick to your religious beliefs.
You may also value marriage and you may not be interested in a career that may put a strain on your marriage.
When you have identified your values, the next thing is to consider your goals. We all have different goals. Goals can include getting married, owning own house and car, retiring at the age of 40, or having a business. Understanding yourself and goals enables you to define the kind of career you would like to have.
For instance, not all careers give you an opportunity to have a business and not all careers can enable you to have enough money to buy a house and car.
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If you are interested in having your own business, it means you may have to consider a business-related career. If one of your life goals is to retire at age 40 you may also need to consider a career that will enable you to acquire enough wealth to ensure that at that age your wealth will take care of you.
The next important thing to consider is your personal interests. Personal interests include those activities you enjoy doing and even your style and approach to life.
Some people enjoy travelling and meeting, while others are less outgoing and would prefer less company and limited travelling. Some enjoy reading and writing while others enjoy working with numbers. Some appreciate art while others do not care for it.
Some people prefer fast-paced living while others prefer a laid back lifestyle. All these things must be considered when choosing a career.
For instance, if you enjoy travelling and meeting people, you may find a career in journalism, public relations, marketing or tourism quite satisfying. If you enjoy working with numbers and puzzles, you may be suited for a career in accounting or auditing.
If you enjoy helping the needy and realise you have a highly compassionate spirit, your best choice might be social work, medicine or nursing.
After considering all these things, you must then do a bit of research to find out which industries need people like you. This is important as it will enable you to acquire relevant skills that will ensure you get employed.
There are some careers or industries that do not have many job opportunities while others offer better chances of employment. The best place to get this information is at employment agencies or going through job advertisements in newspapers and getting statistics from the Internet-based sources.
Of late, the computer technology industry has emerged as one of the fastest growing industries. This has been a result of increased technological advancement and integration of information technology and digital communications into the workplace environment.
As a result, there has been increased demand for systems analysts, designers and developers, computer programmers, web developers, consultants, information managers and hardware engineers.
Another growth area internationally, is the healthcare sector. The increasing number of healthcare jobs is a direct result of the growing age of the population. People are living longer, so there are more people in the older age groups.
There has also been an expansion of treatments available for medical conditions, whether delivered in the primary healthcare sector or within hospitals. Consequently, there has been an expansion in the number of administrative and support roles needing to be filled.
Identification of future career trends is of great help when you are seeking a career direction. It will help you look for a career that requires a high level skill, but which cannot be done remotely. Therefore, you would be safest learning a skill or profession that requires your physical presence such as a nurse, physician, dental hygienist, or hair stylist.
Ultimately, your career choice must depend primarily on an assessment of your own skills, abilities, personal qualities, interests, availability and geographical location. This is essential if you want to be successful, no matter how good the prospects are in that area of employment.
Thandolwenkosi Nkomo is a lecturer in the department of journalism and media studies at the National University of Science and Technology
