Career plan for 2023
Published on: Monday, January 09, 2023
By: K Krishnan
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You will be sitting for your final examination in early 2023. After completing your examination, you must have a career plan.
You will have many career paths in front of you? The path that you choose will determine your future.
You can choose to continue your studies and enter the University of your Choice. You can learn a skill. You can join the work force.
You can idle away your time till the results are out. You are responsible for your future. For those who are still lost let me give you a guide.
There are four simple steps in career planning.
Whether you are a student, a school-leaver or a working adult, you can use this career guide to start: -
Step One: Discover Yourself
Before you start your career plan, you must know about yourself. All of us have our own passion something which makes us feel good.
For example, we like some numbers and like to avoid some others. When we want to buy a new phone or a new car, we want to choose a number that we like.
When we want to buy a new shirt / blouse, we like some colours and like to avoid some others. We want to choose a colour that we like. We like some hobbies and like to avoid some.
There are people who spend hours and hours playing video games. On the other hand we have people who spend hours watching football. We like some skills and avoid others.
If we like cooking we are fond of trying out new recipes. It s the same with careers. When it comes to careers, we are interested in some careers and wish to avoid some. Why is that?
We all have our own passion. If we follow our passion, we are happy and feel comfortable.
We are at peace. It gives us a good feeling. So, the first step in career planning is to take an inventory of yourself. Over the years you would have experienced many things in life. Some activities would have made you happy.
You would have done extremely well in certain activities. People would have appreciated your talents which would have made you proud.
Take a paper and list down all your passions. Make an “inventory list “. Write the subjects you liked best in school. The hobbies you liked most.
The skills you were good at. The occupations you were interested in. The jobs that you dreamt of. The achievements that you were proud of. Put it in writing. This is you!
Step Two: Explore Options
Look at your “inventory list”. Match the activities, subjects, skills, occupations, likes, etc with careers that are related.
For instance, if you like art in school, perhaps careers related include graphic design, computer graphics, designing, fashion design, interior design, architecture, etc.
If you like teaching, related careers include teaching, training, motivating, coaching, etc. If you like writing, related careers include journalism, editing, proof reading, copy writing, mass communication, news reading, etc.
When you research about a career in the internet, you will come across other related careers. Read about them too.
This will expand your knowledge and you will learn more about the world of careers. Make a list of careers that you have chosen. This is your “job list”.
Step Three: Making Decisions
Look at the careers that you have short-listed and written in your “job list”. Talk to your parents about the careers that you have in mind.
Invite your parents to participate in your decision making. Let them know the careers that you have in mind and why you have chosen them Your parents may not be familiar with some of the careers that are on your list.
Tell your parents about the new careers and the future prospects.
While deciding on careers, look at society’s needs too. You may like a career, and your parents may support your choice, but there may not be any demand for the career in the job market.
Do some search in the internet and look at the demand for some of your careers. Talk to your counsellors, teachers or people who work in these careers. You will get an idea on what to expect.
Your list would be getting shorter and shorter. Next you need to implement your plan.
Step Four: Taking Action
Once you have short-listed your careers, you have to find out which college / university/ college, offers the course.
The course may not be a popular course and you may need to go abroad to study. If it is a popular course, find out whether it is available in the public and private universities.
Learn about the entry requirements, the subject requirements, the duration of the course, the tuition fees, etc. Visit the website of the institutions involved and learn about the course. Expand your knowledge.
Remember that Public universities are cheaper compared to private universities. But, entry into Public universities can be competitive. If you are unable to enter Public Universities, you need to study in Private Universities, in which case, you need funds.
If your family is unable to afford it, you need to take a loan. Be familiar with who is offering loans and how to apply. Learn about PTPTN loans, bank loans, scholarships, etc.
Conclusion
To accomplish all the above steps you may need more than 3 months. But, all these cannot be done overnight.
You need time and resources. So, be prepared to plan ahead. By planning, you will be able to save a lot of money and hassle.
If you have a career question write to: [email protected].
