Opinions of Friday, 25 February 2022
Columnist: Lord Atta Quaisie
2022-02-25Career must be by choice not accident
File photo of a career path
Many people never make a career decision; they simply follow a path of least resistance. That is, they choose to do what is nice and easy and as result neglect that which is best.
People are often dissuaded from going into occupations in which they would be quite successful and happy because these occupations are not ranked high enough in
Read full articlethe prestige hierarchy.
Most people find themselves in a particular career that was chosen based not on interest and talent but from chance or available opportunity. (Furnham, 2001 as cited in Dzigbodi, 2019).
It is said that fully 80% of people working today would rather be doing something else, and 84% of them, by their own admission, feel that they are working below, even far below their potential. Only 5% feel that they are producing at their full capacity in their jobs.
The thesis of the blog is simple; you must choose a career that corresponds to your interest, talent, and skill if you want to experience job satisfaction, better performance, good health and longevity, high self-esteem, as well as utilize your skills and talents.
The best way to make an occupational choice is for an individual to have the exact understanding of their personal traits (e.g. personal abilities, aptitudes, interests, etc.), and also to have knowledge of jobs and labour market; and be able to make a rational and objective judgment about the relationship between these two groups of facts.
In the words of AnisHaffar, leadership coach and education advocate, career directions serve many purposes, one being the ability to develop skills that matter to one’s own self, to society, and to solve problems.
