How do you decide on buying a car?
Research, visit different showrooms, ask friends/experts etc. But we all know nothing can come close to the trial experience, right? The experience when you are in the driver’s seat. Until then it is all ideas in the air, not an experience.
You will take multiple trials. Carefully consider so many factors, compare and measure with each experience. This may be the most trendy car but how does it ‘fit me’? From cars to dresses to even mattresses, you have the facility of trying different models, brands multiple times before making a decision. When so much goes into deciding on a car, how are we deciding on one of the most important factors of life? PROFESSION.
We posed this perspective on our WhatsApp group and a parent exclaimed – everyone needs a Profession to earn.. right? To make money, run a family, a child needs to grow up and earn. How many trials and errors can a child possibly take until he reaches his age of earning? May be 3 or 4 trials of switching his or her interests. How can these trial duration be determined? Is it like 1 year or 2 years for each interest of the child?
In fact, this is one of the most common concerns we come across from parents when it comes to their child exploring different interests. There is a worry as to when will the child find their calling? How will they earn out of their interest? What if they never find their passion?
At the same time, most parents have the intention to empower their child to chart their life and professional journey too. How can we then empower youth to decide on their career choices?
Youth should not decide about their career merely on ideas
A CoVersity Journey can enable the youth of today to explore different domains deeply and then make an informed career choice through actual industry exposure and experience.
- One huge benefit that CoVersity youth feel about their journey is to be able to ‘deep dive’ in a domain by working on client projects, doing internships, networking with the industry etc. By actually being in the industry and getting a sense of the domain, skills etc; they feel more equipped to decide whether it is something they want to pursue as a profession
- The second benefit, they feel, is the flexibility to move to another domain after rigorously doing actual industry work in a domain for at least 6 months.
This helps them assess judiciously with actual industry experience, which of their interests could be their profession. - For most, who are not clear about their interests the flexibility to switch immensely helps in deeply exploring different domains, to be able to make an informed career decision based on experience rather than choosing something merely on ideas and assumptions.
- Even if they switch to another domain, the learning and experience is cumulative and keeps adding, helping them reach where they want to be. Nothing goes to waste in the process 🙂
SO many adults switch careers today
Coming to the aspect of time, a quick cursory glance in our family and friends circle will reveal so many of us have gone on to pursue different career domains, far removed from our degree many a times. We all did that after our degree, often managing it with other responsibilities like family, marriage, kids, loans etc.
Many may not even have the privilege of switching owing to these circumstances and other critical demands from life at that point in life.
Why are we then penalizing youth who are not clear about their interests and expecting them to decide on their career stream without any exposure and experience. Wouldn’t it help if our youth, full of vigour and barely any demanding responsibilities, be given the opportunity to utilise this phase of their life to figure out their profession with ample opportunities, experience, guidance and support.