Why and when should one choose a career?

Writing in this column two weeks ago, Dr. Simon Gicharu advanced the position that job satisfaction begins with the course a student studies after KCSE.  Although this is not a complete rejoinder to his article, I would like us to examine the issue of job satisfaction from the brief answers to the twin questions; why and when should a student choose her/his career?

 

But first things first. What is a Career? Simply put, a Career is a life-long occupation, vocation, job or work. The world of careers is dynamic, ever evolving and never static. No two careers are exactly the same. Each career has its own unique characteristics and requirements. That is why choosing a career is not an easy task but an involving process. Hence one should give it the time it deserves. When choosing a career, it will make perfect sense to choose the one that is related to what one enjoys doing most. Choose a career that helps you balance your unique talents, gifts, passion, interests and abilities. If your current or future career also happens to be your passion, lucky you. If not, don’t be discouraged as it is possible to pursue your passion and a career simultaneously or at different stages in your life. Remember; do not short-circuit your way to a career destination because by doing this, you will have short-circuited your ability to manage the destination.

 

Why do you need to choose a career?

You need to choose a career because you want to enjoy a ‘cool’ working life. Unfortunately, a wrong career choice will result in low morale in your work, poor performance and low productivity, not to mention job monotony and boredom.   However, a right career choice will result in job satisfaction, self-motivation, self-drive, self-esteem, work discipline, high productivity and commitment to work. In addition, your career choice may to a great extent determine your salary, earnings or compensation from your employer. While salary is an important factor when choosing a career, it may not lead to job satisfaction. You may find that enjoying what you will be doing in your career may be more important. It is hence imperative to guide and help students in choosing the right careers because this will among others:

• Give them confidence and direction in their studies.
• Help them identify the right subjects or subject combinations early in their education.
• Give them the opportunity to figure out what they want to do after school.
• Help them decide the university or college they want to attend.
• Assist them in choosing the degree or diploma course to pursue at the university or college.
• Determine their type of daily challenges they will meet in their chosen career.

 

When should one choose a career?

As Dr. Gicharu wrote, it is true that currently before the KCSE results are out, most students grope in the dark as they choose their careers. But, should this be the norm?  The answer is a resounding no! Choosing a career earlier rather than later is the golden rule! One should not wait too long to choose a career. A student who is serious about a career, should have started thinking about it early enough, perhaps while in primary school. Students who think of their future careers early in their education, find it much easier attaining grades required to pursue the relevant courses at the institutions of higher learning.

On the other hand, students who don’t, will lose focus and strategy in their education and the grades they obtain may not suit the choice of post-secondary education career courses that suit their aspirations.  Students should therefore, not wait too long or until after KCSE results to explore career options!  Instead, they should be encouraged to make their career plans and decisions as early as possible. Just to emphasize, this will help them identify early enough the subjects they will need to concentrate on, as well as the right subject combinations (clusters) that they will need in order to study for courses that may lead them to their desired careers. Once students have seriously considered the available career options and identified the one they want, they must be encouraged to aggressively seek more information about the requirements for the same.

It may be true that many students in public universities find themselves in careers that are not aligned to their ambitions. According to Dr Gicharu, this is because they choose their careers before the KCSE results are out. This is not entirely true because KUCCPS, the body responsible for admissions into the Kenyan universities and colleges normally gives the students at least two chances to revise their choice of career courses after the KCSE results. This does not, however, help the situation because majority of qualified students prefer joining the public universities and colleges as regular students under the government sponsorship. The government however, does not have the capacity to accommodate or sponsor all the qualified students into the limited competitive programmes that may be aligned to their competencies, dreams and aspirations. Under the present circumstances in Kenya, university education or a degree is still viewed as an important investment in securing one’s future. Against this background, most students in the public universities find themselves pursuing courses that are largely irrelevant to their ambitions because this is what they are being sponsored to study and is affordable to their parents or guardians. But for the students whose parents can afford, options are available for them to pursue courses relevant to their career choices in private universities or as module II or self-sponsored students in public universities and colleges.  The question is; what is the way forward? I propose the following as some of the measures that can be undertaken to address this issue:

• The government should transform and enhance the relevance of TVET system in Kenya to make it more attractive as an alternative or the pathway of choice for the career- minded students who know what they want to do after KCSE.
• Tertiary institutions should take innovative measures to develop and implement more competitive (relevant, quality, and demand driven) programmes.
• Education stakeholders should take necessary measures to develop elaborate career guidance systems to help learners choose appropriate post-secondary school education and career pathways.  
• The government and other stakeholders in the education sector should actively engage in undertakings that will expand access and improve quality of courses in our tertiary institutions.
• The government should extend its sponsorship to qualified who want to undertake relevant programmes available in private universities.
• The government and its development partners should increase investment in HELB and diversify its funding to ensure that it can give affordable loans to all qualified students in both public and private universities.

 

The writer is the author of the book entitled: Exploring Career Options; an essential guide for students on career planning and choice. [e-mail]