- Most people in India don’t know the meaning of the word ‘career’. And fewer people know the vast number of amazing career choices that educational institutes and employers in India have on offer.
- The result is disastrous: most millennials end up with the wrong qualifications and are unable to create an excellent career for themselves.
- Are you among one such an Indian that doesn’t know what is the meaning of the word ‘career’? And don’t know about the very large number of careers that are available in India?
- Regardless of whether you’re a parent selecting a career for your child or a student that doesn’t know what career to choose, this article will help clear all your doubts.
- Therefore, I’ll begin by telling you what’s the exact definition of the word ‘career’.
- Definition of Career
In the
simplest words, career covers every part of your life: family, education,
social status, profession, and finances.
The exact
definition of career is the actions and progress of an individual throughout
their life, especially at a specific profession or occupation. It consists of
types of jobs and positions one holds in the occupation over a period of time.
There are
five main words that stand out from this definition. They are: action,
progress, life, position, and profession.
In simplest
words, career means the actions you take to make progress in your life
to reach higher positions in every sphere in your chosen profession.
The higher
positions relate to your standing in the family and society, financial status
and level of happiness.
Understandably,
this might sound very complex. Let me assure you, it is very simple.
As yourself:
why do you study a particular course? It is to ensure you enjoy a superb life
in every aspect.
Therefore,
it is extremely important to select the right career even before you leave
school.
Why that
doesn’t happen? Here’re some of the reasons.
- Reasons for Wrong Career Choices
Most people
blame various situations but never find fault with themselves for making a
wrong career choices. The world around us is evolving even as you read this
article.
Therefore,
there’s no point in blaming economic scenarios, the Indian
education system or for that matter, government policies for failing
at a career.
Therefore,
here’re some reasons why parents and their students- which could include
yourself- make wrong career choices.
1. Prestige v/s Practicality
The majority
of Indians have a wrong notion that certain educational degrees are very
prestigious and will secure an excellent future for themselves or their
children.
Consequently,
parents spare no effort to harp on virtues of becoming an engineer, doctor,
architect, Chartered Accountant or Master of Business Administration (MBA) to
their children.
While doing
so, most parents remain blind to the realities of the job market. They prefer
their kids to hold prestigious degrees that are far away from job market demands.
This
pressure by parents on their children to become a doctor or engineer or opt for
another so-called prestigious degree often borders on coercion.
Parents
ignore the inborn skills of their child and force them into
professions for which they lack interest and skills.
And if you
think I’m unduly blaming parents, here’re some facts and figures.
2. Lack of Awareness on Career Options
Over 93
percent of Indian students and millennials between 17 and 21-year age know
about only seven career options in India, a survey by Mindler, online career
guidance, and counseling organization shockingly reveals.
In fact,
educational institutions and employers in India have as many as 250 career
options on offer at any point of time.
Of the
10,000 youth respondents of Mindler survey, 23.52 percent would consider
engineering, 11.81 percent for accounting and finance, 9.56 for computer
applications, 8.08 percent for medicine, 6.71 percent for management, 6.06 for
designing (including architecture) and 4.38 percent for the law.
This
ignorance about other careers primarily is the direct result of poor career
counseling. Most educational institutes in this country don’t have career
counselors. Hence, parents assume this role without having adequate knowledge.
And the
results of usually disastrous.
3. Joblessness & Wrong Career Choice
Unemployment
or joblessness and working on poor salaries is the first, direct and most
severe impact of a wrong career choices.
Over 300,000
students graduate with MBA every year from about 5,500 business schools in
India. Yet, only seven percent of MBAs are employable because they lack
skills typical to the degree.
Only six
percent from the one million engineering graduates in India have skills that
can get them any suitable jobs, says a report
published by a leading financial daily.
About 55,000
students graduate with medicine degrees every year from so many medical colleges across the country.
However,
there’re more than 200,000 unemployed doctors in India. One can make a good
career in the medical field with proper clinical skills and with a
knowledge of modern day medical practices.
It’s very
prestigious to be known as an MBA, engineer of add the prefix ‘Dr.’ to your
name. But if you’re jobless and can’t use the degree, you’re a failure in the
chosen career. Because you chose the wrong career in the first place.
4. Wrong Career & Financial Crises
Financial
problems are just waiting around the corner to trap anyone that makes wrong
career choices. How’s that, you might wonder.
During the
financial year 2018-2019, nine percent of education loans given by nationalized
banks in India became Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), according to the Indian
government.
The Indian
Banks Association says the highest default rates for education loans are from
nursing students- at 21.28 percent. The next highest default- 9.76 percent is
by engineering students followed by 6.06 percent from medical students and 5.59
percent by MBA students.
In stark
contrast, students pursuing other careers had a total default rate of only 9.09
percent.
Indian
students borrowed whopping Rs.104.09 billion from banks as education loans.
Inability to find jobs due to lack of skills and to some extent, higher
interest rates are to blame for this colossal loan default rates by students.
At the same
time, the rising cost of education means students are taking larger loans from banks.
The
inability to repay education loans and default creates severe financial crises
for a millennial. Firstly, defaults ruin
their credit score, which is now a decisive factor for getting
housing and other loans in the future.
This
translates as difficulties in buying a house, marriage and other important
events of life.
5. Unemployment Causes Mental Disorders
Yes, it
does. A large number of medical studies worldwide link unemployment to various
forms of mental disorders. While some of these mental disorders are simple and
can be overcome by counseling, others require proper psychiatric intervention.
From the
facts I present above, it is clear that a wrong career choices leads to
unemployment.
And that’s
not all. Unemployment due to wrong career choice combined with the inability to
repay education loans has an even greater mental impact on a millennial.
Studies abroad prove this completely.
Consequently,
you might fall victim to some serious psychiatric disease that requires complex
and long-term treatment. Loan related problems also distract a person from
working properly on whatever job they may hold.
6. Wrong Career Choices & Suicide Rates
Here’s
another unfortunate feature of selecting the wrong careers. Unemployment
accounts for 2.5 percent of all suicides in India and its evil effects, says
the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
The latest
figures on the number of Indians that committed or attempted suicide is not yet
available.
However, a
shocking report by leading English-language daily says, an average of 15 Indian
women and men, as well as minors (below 18-year age), fall victim of suicide
for various reasons.
Actual
figures of suicide due to unemployment could be even higher. A Lancet study on
suicides in India claims 230,314 minors, women and men in India were victims of
suicide in 2016- which is almost twice that or the NCRB figure.
Further, 3.3
percent of all suicides in India in 2016 was due to the inability to repay loans and bankruptcy.
Additionally, 2.7 percent suicides the same year were due to alcoholism and
drug addiction while about two percent were due to failure at examinations.
If one
examines these figures closely, you’d definitely find some link between the
wrong career choice and suicides.
- Closing Thoughts
As you can
see, choosing a wrong career can cause immense problems for your child or
yourself. Hence, the best thing to do is to avoid looking for prestigious
careers.
The second
is finding out trending and emerging careers. Often, trending
careers have a better scope than traditional favorites.
And finally,
never choose a career due to any external pressures or coerce your child into a
specific course because as a parent you feel it’s better for your child.
THANK YOU
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