Career: Phases, Consequences and Fear of Failure?
The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”
-Steve Jobs
Do you think that we have more opportunities and choices in a career than before? If your answer is yes, there is a twist for you. A study has revealed that 93% of Indian students are unaware of various fields except for seven (7) career options. Even when we have so many advancements, we still lack awareness. These statistics show the need to increase it about upcoming possibilities. How do we attempt to increase recognition of uncommon career fields? Everyone goes through a period called the career phase. Here some people can find a correct path successfully while some get confused and make a wrong choice. This phase includes many other obstacles and consequences.
The career phase can be defined by the 5 stages that an individual goes through. Those stages are:
Exploration: it is the pre-employment period where people are just exploring themselves. They closely observe their preferences and guidance from friends and family. They just begin to experience the work environment.
Establishment: This is the learning stage where a person works under a mentor. The person commits mistakes, learns from them, and then makes a firm position in society.
Mid-career: Nowhere, the person is said to be well-experienced and his mistakes are taken seriously. An individual aims to maintain a balance between personal and professional life.
Late-career: People in this stage mentors others and guide them. They tend to be at a higher position in the hierarchical setting.
Decline: This is thought to be the last stage where an individual has to give up all the duties and attain retirement. It is difficult for people to leave work and firms that they have been working for a long time.
Some of the common challenges are :
Financial crisis: to pursue any career, one needs a primary education. To attain this education, one needs financial assistance. A study revealed that women with financial barriers tend to see career as a privilege. They understand the obstacles. A career should not be a privilege for some and an inspiration for others.
Fear of failure: it is complex to know the outcome without even trying. People have a fear of having undesired results. Hence, they don't even begin their career. According to a survey of 2016, the most common worry is fear of personal failure among Americans. It is also called atychiphobia.
Lack of networking: it is vital to stay connected and updated to last in the market. In an experiment, participants considered networking a notable skill for the success of a business. They even agreed that training in networking would be beneficial if they received it earlier.
Lack of motivation: People who were not motivated at work increased to 29% in 2017 from 18% in 2016 in the UK. It is observable that motivation is decreasing. Some of the reasons for reduced enthusiasm could be: i) that people do not have an interest in what they are doing, ii) could be that the rewards they get are not sufficient.
Other consequences are societal and peer pressure. People tend to choose the career that their friends are choosing just to not part from them. People also fear "what people will say ?" If they choose a profession that is not popular. People have to overcome this one has to rely on information and facts, acknowledge their interests, and consult the right professionals.
During this phase, it is the responsibility of parents and society to support the individual so he/she can successfully and with satisfaction can win over the consequences. Instead of criticizing people based on stereotypes, stopping them from consulting a professional, it is necessary to guide the individual and lead them away from the confusion. This is one way to encourage them to look over the pre-decided career categories.
Other helpful steps to overcome unawareness are:
i) Prioritise interests and analyze which field would give the most satisfaction. Give aptitude tests and their personality tests that give you a clue about your characteristics.
ii) Explore skills and work on weaknesses. Focus on feedback from genuine people that will enable you to work on your areas of improvement.
iii) Try various courses and recognize which one seemed best. There are several apps that provide various short-term courses for you to avail yourself and learn from it.
iv) Search for facts and statistics from reliable sources with regards to your career category. The Internet can be useful if you go through the studies which reveal facts and also follow famous people and identify consequences they faced.
v) Improve networking as it can be a source of information and influence your decision of choosing a career. If you feel resistant to do so, you have to push yourself more to do it and achieve the target. Make drafts and strategies of how you can contact people.
The phase is crucial and sensitive. It can have the best memories for some, while it could be something they regret later in life for others. The consequences and obstacles have solutions if there is the determination with hope and intention to only settle for the best.
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
-Abraham Lincoln
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