Today, there is a lot of emphasis on letting the young generation follow their dreams rather than pursuing a conventional career option like engineering, medical or management course. Acting, modeling, singing, dancing, journalism, photography, writing etc. - all these passion cum career options are getting more and more prominent.
There is a mass awakening that one should not just become a 9 am to 5 pm, 5 days a week office going money generating machine who comes home dead tired, having no energy left to do anything else fulfilling in life. We live our life only once, so why not follow your dreams, do what your heart yearns to do rather than regret on our death bed.
Today’s India is an ocean of opportunities thanks to our booming economy, the fastest growing in the world. Career choices are not just limited to the conventional ones. Courses hardly heard of earlier like BBA, BBM, BMM etc. are now most sought after.
A decade and a half ago these would not sound too familiar. When my son wanted to do his graduation in Mass Media, I had to spend many hours surfing the internet, talking to my friends and acquaintances to figure out what this course was all about? I had no clue about the job prospect after completion of this course, the salary level, the career growth as well as career switch options. My eighty-year-old father who belongs to a much older generation was quite concerned thinking that his bright and intelligent grandson would end up becoming a ‘Patrakar’ i.e. journalist with a very meager earning.
Earlier a Law degree meant making rounds in the courts, toil hard for many years before one became a reputed advocate who could demand a good fee. But today a Law degree graduate from a relatively good institute is also quite sought after in the corporate world with an attractive remuneration right after graduation.
Till the late 1990s, a photographer would mean someone who would be seen moving around in various social and professional functions clicking photographs for a paltry sum but today professional photography is a highly sought after and a high-end career option with a fat five-digit monthly earnings.
My friend's son had been a bright student from his childhood and fared quite well in the Higher Secondary Examination. To everyone's surprise, he decided to become a professional photographer. Several of us including his dad was somewhat skeptical about the choice but his parents supported his decision. Today, he has an enviable career as a professional photographer who travels to exotic locations on his assignments in addition to earning handsomely.
Those who have a passion for various performing arts like dancing and singing, numerous talent hunt shows have mushroomed in every TV channel. These become conduits for a rapid rise to unexpected stardom and fame for few whereas there will be many who would suffer from painful dejection from rejection or disqualification.
We all have read or heard how life has changed almost miraculously for many poor parents when their kids excelled in such shows and got lifetime opportunities to showcase their talent in the entertainment world to establish themselves for long innings.
We have also read stories of many failures after short-lived fame and glory when such young talents struggle in the real world of entertainment where in addition to the talent, other factors also matter a lot for survival. These range from powerful contacts, politics to money power and what not.
The film industry is probably the harshest or most challenging in terms of testing the resolve of the young aspirants who leave their homes in pursuit of their long cherished dream. They wait day after day, month after month and year after year with unlimited patience and persevere in agony hoping to get a breakthrough one day which would change their lives forever.
A very handful of them tastes success following the footsteps of their worshiped heroes and their heart-wrenching stories of struggle. But a majority of the aspirants do not realise their dreams, in the process spending their or their parents’ hard earned money and the precious years of their youth. Finally shattered and in tatters, many such innocent young dreamers get lost forever in the massive ocean of mankind.
Various fictions and non-fiction writers have urged today’s generation to follow their dreams and not to succumb to the age old tradition of a monotonous professional life which destroys the creativity and the dreams of the individuals by leaving no spare time for them.
Movies which reach out to a much bigger audience than books also have been made on this theme, immediately striking a strong chord with the huge young population of India. As a result, there has been a big stir, a major shift in the thinking process of the students as regard to their career choice. The demarcating line between a professional career and a personal dream is getting blurred very rapidly as the students desire to pursue a professional career which is linked to their creative interest.
Lots of real facts and figures are not touched upon or deliberated in the process of promoting the concept of 'follow your dream'! As a result, lakhs of young and innocent minds are influenced perhaps in a partial way, to assess their career choices. Many from the affable young generation end up making incorrect career choices.
So, few aspects need to be taken into account before making a decision to plunge into something as a career option.
1. For every individual who has successfully pursued his dream following his heart, there are also accounts of many thousands of painful failures. Their stories of struggle, sufferings and indignation hardly come to the fore in form of any movie, article and fiction. These are mostly swept under the carpet while glorifying the success stories. It is very important to realise this aspect and necessarily to be aware of some of these stories of the darker side.
2. When a graduate steps out of the relatively non-complex and blissful world of educational institutes into the professional world, there are bound to be few jolts – the expected and the unexpected one. Not every student is fortunate enough to have parents or relatives from the corporate world to guide them. Not every student is from a sound financial background to get career counselling in advance.
3. The world of creativity is no different from other business streams. Even there the ultimate goal of every entity, be it an organisation or a successful ‘independent creative professional’ is to make money and create a brand – an identity. So, in contrast to a utopian thinking, this world is not different from the rest - one can’t peacefully pursue his interest as a career without having to go through the grind of competition, politics, back biting, failures and rejection etc.
4. The students who nourish entrepreneurial dreams also need to make themselves aware of the various pitfalls in waiting. It is critical for them to know where they are heading to for which they require to connect with established entrepreneurs and gather pearls of wisdom from the horse's mouth. Take a peek into their world after removing the curtain of ignorance through their eyes and it would help immensely while making the right career choice in the entrepreneurial world.
5. We fail at times to consider the fact that the students belong to various economic strata of the society. Some are lucky to have a solid financial backing from their parents while a majority aren’t as they belong to the lower middle class or poor class where life is always full of struggle.
While the students with good financial support can pursue their dreams and careers with no burden, responsibilities or obligations, the other category carries a big responsibility baggage on their back – of supporting their parents financially for the rest of their lives, of taking care of the education of their younger siblings etc.
So, the impact of a wrong career choice for the latter category can be catastrophic for them and their entire family. At the same time, I am not undermining the frustration and sufferings that a fresh graduate from a strong financial background will undergo in a similar situation.
‘Go, chase your dream!’ should not be a standard slogan for all of them. It simply doesn’t work in all the cases.
6. In spite of whatever we think, say or pretend, money is indeed important in our lives. Unless we are comfortable financially, we can’t chase our dreams, we can’t afford to have a life of our choice and we can’t discharge our responsibilities towards our near and dear ones effectively.
So, making the right career choice for a graduating student is important. Agreed, one should not become a money churning robot, one should have a work-life balance and one should pursue his creative interests. But one does need to make an informed decision on the choice of a career.
As a wrap-up of this deliberation, my advice to the young career aspirants will be:
As a wrap-up of this deliberation, my advice to the young career aspirants will be:
ü Evaluate your career dream vis-a-vis your responsibilities. Always strike a balance between the two if there is conflict.
ü Financial stability is critical to the success and happiness in life as much as other factors.
ü Reach out to knowledgeable people working in a particular sector where you wish to join and gather relevant information.
ü Don’t simply go by the cliché - listen to your heart! Do a fair amount of self-study on the outlook of an industry that you choose and keep abreast of the latest developments. You will find yourself that now your heart might say something different and more sensible.
ü The professional career is quite a long journey of 30-40 years. If the beginning is good, the foundation is solid, then a lot can be achieved and the sky will be the limit.
Signing off with a sincere ‘Best of Luck’. If I can be of any help or guidance, I am always available – just a message away!
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