Sunday 17 / November / 2024
Hello Readers,
I hope all of you are safe and keeping well.
Career is a much talked about yet still a vague topic for most people, especially young students. Hence, in the coming weeks and months, we shall be embarking together on an exciting journey to explore the various facets of a career — finding your path and voice, understanding the diverse options ahead of you and mindfully developing your career throughout your life.
When you are still in the throes of adolescence with your own immediate worries and priorities – like experiencing fun and friendships, scoring good grades, and choosing what to study further in college, career as a thought may seem too distant.
A word to the wise: begin visualising your future well in advance so that you are able to enjoy a greater sense of involvement and ownership when it comes to choosing your path from the many directions ahead of you. It gives parents too great confidence to see their child be an active participant in this decision-making process and select a path that best suits and interests them.
Reports show that an average person spends 90,000 hours at work. Therefore, our choice of study – from senior school to higher education and beyond, determines how we are going to spend a considerable span of our lifetime — our job life.
And as we all know, in our world today, the job market prefers individuals who are well-versed and knowledgeable in their fields. This is why at multiple points of your school life, you are asked to choose what you want to do in the future or what you wish to learn in college to pursue your interests.
With rapid growth and development in technology, the options available for pursuing study or jobs have widened tremendously. There exist jobs and subjects today that didn’t exist for the previous generation; some of you may also be preparing for jobs that do not yet exist. How do you get access to this widespread canvas of potential courses, jobs, and lives? When you are faced with a forked road, perhaps towards the end of your schooling – which of the paths do you take?
This dilemma is exactly what career counselling can help you with, and my goal here is to explore with you the ways and means to arrive at your decisions regarding your education, career and life.
How do we do this? I will meet you through this column every week to slowly and steadily understand the ocean of opportunities ahead of you and help you find the right tools and the right mindset to sail this ocean and reach your dream future.
Every week, we will be exploring a different aspect of higher education and employment, beginning with understanding yourself– your interests, abilities and preferences. The series will also feature information on jobs, career pathways and educational avenues available in the world today.
Hop on with me as I take you on a tour of the plethora of opportunities that await you. I hope you shall enjoy treading with me on this journey as much as I do writing to you.
You can reach me at [email protected] for queries or suggestions.
Dr Saamuel is also the Vice-Chairman, Knowledge Oman and is Ex-Chairman, Indian Schools in Oman.
