What to do if you choose the wrong career?
(Baonghean.vn) - That question is not new, not strange, and not easy to answer for many young people, especially students. Some of you discover that you have chosen the wrong career while still in school, others after graduating and working; no matter when, you should try to follow my little advice.
Another exam season has just passed, unemployment season is even closer, perhaps it is the right time for me to share the most common things with those who need to read - young Vietnamese people who are struggling to find themselves, on the career path.
1. CHOOSING THE WRONG CAREER IS VERY NORMAL, DON'T PANIC!
Imagine when you find out you are in the wrong career, it is like a person driving on the highway and finding out that he is going the wrong way. What will you do? Make a U-turn immediately? That is not always possible, you will be crushed before you can find the right path. You are still in your 3rd or 4th year of study, almost graduating, but you find out you are in the wrong career, drop out of school immediately, to "rather throw it all away, start over", whether you can choose the right career or not, we do not know, but you have definitely burned up your time in the blink of an eye at the very moment when you need to calm down and think the most.
Every panic leads to disaster, and this situation is no exception. Don’t be surprised because with the tradition of imposing education between parents and children, and an ineffective career guidance system like in Vietnam, choosing the wrong career is very common, and you are not the only one, so stay calm. You find out that you have chosen the wrong career, that is already a good start. Everyone can make the wrong career at some point in their life. Really!
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| Illustration: Internet |
2. ASK YOURSELF "WHAT IS THE WRONG CAREER"?
One fine day, you wake up feeling like you don’t want to go to class or leave your job, a feeling of emptiness and want to give up on everything. Is that a symptom of choosing the wrong career? Not necessarily. Any job, whether it’s a janitor or a bank CEO, will at some point experience difficult moments like the ones mentioned above. Facebook created the status Feeling Empty to describe those moments. However, Westerners write very well and a lot about choosing the wrong career “Job-Mismatching” like this:
Choosing the wrong career is not a momentary boredom but a long-term lack of motivation for work, making your commitment and development opportunities very low. So, don't rush to conclude that: Oh no, I chose the wrong career just because your boss scolded you a few times, your colleagues were a bit cold or your salary is not commensurate... Everything is just a challenge, and there is very little room in the world for perfection. So if you find a job that you are both excellent in that field, has a sky-high income, you are passionate, enjoy it with all your heart, and are also well-trained to do that job... Congratulations, you are in the rare lucky percentage compared to the rest of the world. So, don't rush to conclusions!
3. DON'T OVER-EMPLOY PASSION, IMPORTANTLY BE READY TO ADAPT.
The best English sentence I learned during my years studying abroad was not a quote from a famous person or a famous person, but a very simple sentence that people often say every day: “We do what we have to do”. Overcoming the “wrong profession” is a test of overcoming adversity that you should have in your life if you want to be different from the majority.
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| A message about career choice from Dr. Hoang Khac Hieu to students. Photo: Internet |
Indeed, in Vietnam, people often spread a message to young people, to young people that sounds very good: "Follow your passion." However, not everything that sounds good is always true. On the contrary, I choose an attitude of life that focuses on being ready to adapt and accept opportunities. And I have come to the conclusion that "Don't pursue your passion AT ALL COSTS". Opportunities are always rare and hard to find, and they can come at any time, but only reach out to those who are ready to seize them. If you take the time to watch Vietnam Got Talent or talent competitions, you will see that very clearly. Not everyone who loves to sing sings well, and not everyone who sings well becomes a singer, and not everyone who is a singer is famous and rich, and not everyone who is famous and rich is happy.
So, when choosing a job, a career for your life, don't be too ambitious to pursue an ideal job that you used to dream of when you were a child. The best job is a job that harmonizes your own abilities - the economic value and social contribution of the profession and passion. Passion is a beautiful flower, but it still needs water to live. You pursue your passionate job, but you are not good at it, and it cannot support you, making your wife lack money - your children cry, are you still completely happy to pursue that passion??
Doing a job well even if you don't like it is a skill that employees must practice, as long as it is not against the law or ethics, and it is a valuable manifestation of professionalism.
If we cannot be lucky enough to have the best choice, let’s choose for ourselves the least bad choice. And like that, you will feel lighter and realize that our life will be a series of days of learning wrong to be right without stopping, so even if we “make the wrong career” a few times… we should calmly accept it.