Career Paralysis :The 5 Mistakes

 Hey Varun,  would you stop that gaming and listen to me ?

Savita almost yelled at her teenager son , since she had called for him twice in last 10min.  Varun paused and and gave her a irritating look,  “ kya  hai Maa”

Don’t you dare to look at me that way.. Savita fumed at him and snatched his mobile and threw it on the bed

 Your results are  to come on 15^th and you havent even decided   what are you gonna do ?

What do you want to take up ? why are you not serious about your career ? she was anxious

"I don’t know Maa, I am confused" Varun murmered

Why didn’t you call your Mama.. I have been insisting to you for so many months

Varun kept silent .. he didn’t want to tell her that mama was almost forcing him to take up mechanical engineering and then get into IT …

17 year Varun didn’t want to take up engineering, neither was he sure of what he wanted to do . His grade 12 and CET / JEE results were to be declared soon, he was sure of getting good scores but that wasn’t going help him solve his confusion - rather  better performance was adding up to his confusion .

A very common story now a days and almost every other home has this scene with some variations.  

While we have done a decent job in education sector in last 70 years as a nation, we have terribly failed to provide a clarity of thought or the brain training that brings  the clarity of thought in various personal and social affairs

Inability to  identify career opportunity suitable for oneself is one such cavity being left unattended by the schooling system that has larger focus on imparting loads of Information ( they call it Knowledge)

Most of us having gone through the same experience couple of decades ago , doesn’t really help us and we still sail the same boat with our children , now in the changed and rougher waters .

World has changed , generations have changed , schooling syllabi and teachers  have changed but the basic schooling system hasn’t changed. The system that doesn’t trigger or harness Questioning Ability – thinking ability - hasn’t changed.

While we take pride that we are a Nation with world’s largest population of Youngsters , the recent advancement of India on the world Stage opens up a plethora of opportunities. But are we geared up to  shoulder the leadership in next 10-20 years ?

Some facts mentioned below are a cause of concern

96% of candidates found Unemployable according to 3^rd CII National Conference on Skill Development report of 2018

USA produces 1 Lac engineers per year for a $16 trillion economy, while India produces 15 lac engineers for a $2 Trillion economy. Nasscom recent survey states that Only 1 in 15 engineers are employable

On a Broader scale public  and Government has also acknowledged the systemic failure and hence Initiatives Like NSDC have been Launched.

lets us also see some more crude facts around us

56.49% - Passed NEET 2019  out of  7.97 Lac examinees 108620 students  remained absent . What Happened to 44% who failed ?

About 9 Lac students compete for the 12000 seats at IIT

About 33000 students competed for 946 Architectural seats in India

About 5000 students  competed for 100 seats of NID in 2019.

Not that all those who got admitted to the IITs or Medical or Architectural or design colleges end up completing or making careers in respective fields only.

For me more important question is where did those who could not qualify these exams go ? Took up something else ? was it in line with their aspiration  or skill sets ..  the answer will be No in high probability

The high rush to Engg and Medical field is mostly looking at the lucrative financial returns  being projected  ( by whoever) in these fields with the Ratio of success being cleverly  slid below the carpet .

Being better at solving papers and qualifying an exam is different from having abilities to lead a happy successful life in the  career offered through that exam.

No wonder  we are having Engineers without Engineering Aptitude, Doctors without Medical Aptitude ,  Software developers without Logical sense and Management grads without administrative or problem solving skills.

Degrees are the last thing that can warranty any success. When majority of the students who compete and emerge winners don’t get employed what would be the plight of the students who did not qualify  at all ?

Majority of us are leading a career and life  path we were not made for and hence we are possibly unhappy

This reality has created the need for Career Guidance to be an integral part of the education system.

Most students choose careers based on their marks obtained and not on what they are passionate about.

Having said that, lets get down  to individual levels and see what a youngster goes through while picking up a career

The 5 Cognitive biases  that lead to a Paralysis of thinking ( I call it career paralysis) are

1. Everything Looks attractive .

There are approximately 150 standard careers from which most students choose !!

Once you look at careers from employment or money earning perspective or  things like opportunity to  go abroad have a luxurious life then everything looks similar.  There isn’t much of a difference to  make a choice. Hence to make a clear career choice you need to change your approach  in order to avoid confusion.  A choice that’s guided by your personality strength areas, , Skills possessed , your interests your dream and your vision along with other environmental factors will make your choice easier

2. We approach choices negatively – What if??

Most students approach the career choice based on “Least Risk” method rather than “Highest Potential” Almost every elderly person around wants to give  advice and suggests to take up the safest route.

Some people have a great ability to see problems in every solution. So a career choice like photography or Music that triggers from deep within for a youngster  has been a very easy target for these people who pounce on to say, “beta Photography hobby ke liye thik hai – how will you earn” ? besides what social status does a photographer have ? “ is another scary perception they throw.

3. We prioritize the short term over the Long!

This is one more important outlook that dampens the career selection process and sometimes causes immense damage . If you want to do computer engineering and that’s your passion then you should be ready to study computers in any college or any location. I have seen people giving up their favourite stream over college or location.  Please note that your college will matter ( albeit hardly now)  just for your first job and that too only for Job . Therafter your performance is the only factor that decides your career growth,

The way technology has advanced and the situations like recent pandemic has  impacted  the way world lives , the reputation of college / institute where you have studied  will hardly matter henceforth.  Some world renowned institutes have started offering their courses online without any entrance screening.

Hence your choice should be purely basis your long term plan and you should be willing to take any pains to achieve your long term  goal. Leaving the hometown or college of preference  should never be a problem.

4. We’ve become ‘Functionally Fixed’

Its Very Unfortunate that most of our thinking is functionally fixed. We look at careers from faculty perspective. Quite often  a  youngster wants to avoid a stream because of one subject or because he doesn’t want to get stereotyped or maybe because its not fashionable . Our decisions are guided by a thinking that looks at careers in various streams and then making  a choice.

Whereas we should be thinking of what do we want to give to the society in the long run, what is my dream life , what can be my vision  and then work backwords to identify the stream that will lead to fulfilment of that dream.

5. We treat our thoughts as ‘Facts’

Quite often our wrong thoughts / perceptions damage us more than the decision.  How many of you have scored more than what you or your parents  thought you would score. Quite often academic performance in the past is taken as basis for making career choice or sometimes even a sudden improvement in academic performance in grade 10 or 12 also leads to a wrong career choice.  Think carefully your thoughts might just turnout to be figments of imagination .

The above 5 biases have in reality damaged many of us in our careers .  these Biases Push us to look more outside than inside to make career decision. Whereas , for optimal career choice one needs to look more inside himself than outside  

There are 6 important factors that lie within you which need to be considered while making a career decision and if you look at all the successful and happy personalities around the globe you will see that these people have avoided the above 5 biases and have considered the 6 important factors while making their career choices

We will  discuss those 6 factors in next article . Do Like and comment your feedback and subscribe to the blog to  read  6 factors that should form the basis of your career choice to accelerate the success of your career and life. See you again.

Avinash Deshmukh 

International Career Coach 

Multiple Intelligence Coach and Founder BOLDNET India 

the author  can be reached at 9657600076 or care@brainsmaart.com