The Hindu Business Line : The road taken

Does a teenager have the right to choose a career and if yes, is the choice the best of the options available. Here is a look at experiences across generations and continents.

Everyone remembers being asked as a child "What do you want to become when you grow up?" Invariably the answer at that time would have been "a doctor, a pilot or maybe even a leader". Reality changes as one grows up, with parents, friends and the environment dictating the choices we ultimately make. One of the biggest crossroads in life is when you reach high school and have to decide the subjects you need to choose. This is a critical point in one's life for these subjects and the results eventually decide what career options one has. At a tender age of 15 one is actually casting the net in terms of how far you can drift in life or how close you can be to the shore.

As I grew up in the mid-seventies the choices were still very narrow and rigid — medicine or engineering seemed to be the only two worthwhile careers to pursue. I wonder now what the world thought of the rest. My uncle in the IAS was adamant that I should pursue the bureaucratic dream ... my dad thought I would make a good teacher or a journalist ... my mum and grandfather wanted me to follow a profession that would give me a respectable income ... what about me? I just let myself be tossed like a catamaran in the bay, ultimately deciding to study engineering. What a mistake!! I eventually realised half way through that I hated it. I did not enjoy even one day of my courses and managed to finish with a good result only because I drove myself to perform than be thought of as a failure. My escape tunnel came in the way of an MBA from a reputed institute that then led me on to a career in international marketing.

How many of us have the choices to escape from what we choose? How many of us end up thinking that one should have followed ones dreams rather than follow someone else's' dictums? How many of us feel unhappy everyday in the careers we practice? How many of us want to just give it all up and start something else?

Having grown up in India and living abroad, I have observed how career choices are made in the West. Invariably someone from a family business of catering, hairdressing, plumbing or electrical work decides to follow in their fathers or mothers footsteps, not by force but because they have seen first hand what the profession involves and if they have an aptitude for it. The school system continuously strives to identify all your strengths as an individual as opposed to how well you can perform in exams and subjects. There is a great deal of emphasis on sports and extra curricular activities to make you a well-rounded person and every school has a career counsellor. The main advantage in the West is that everyone has a viable choice of making a good living without necessarily having to go to a university to get a degree. While a degree has high value and commands respect, there are a host of community colleges and vocational centres that can train you very well to start off a career . All along the system has several `abort' buttons and great flexibility if one decides to change ones mind at anytime. For people who have missed the boat in getting a degree, distance learning and evening/weekend classes are a viable option. This does not mean that legal, medical, business degrees are not sort after. They are in high demand and attract the best brains, but these admissions are not automatic, based on school final marks. The universities have now introduced several systems to make sure that those who perform well academically also have good social and communication skills before they are admitted. Career choices are life-long decisions. "Follow your heart and not your head," would be a simplistic advice. In India one has come along way from the two-profession syndrome of engineering and medicine. Today careers in information technology, business administration, banking, computer graphics, tourism and travel, journalism, media, hospitality industry and para medical courses are in top demand and command good remuneration and a meaningful alternative.

There is also a host of budding young entrepreneurs in every area. While the world keeps shrinking in the current age of communication, barriers to entry for many professions are also fast disappearing. The youth of India are far more aware and conversant with what is happening outside. The Internet is a vibrant medium of information and guidance. While this is good news, one has to have the courage to break way from the forces that push you into stereotyped professions. Career counselling is absent in Indian schools and the focus till today remains on the academic excellence a child achieves than the capability and interests of each student.

The economic boom of the 1990s has seen more and more young professional couples in the workforce placing enormous demands on the time one spends with their children. The potential for a child to drift away from the parents in terms of communicating his or her real interests is very high as the parents are too busy with their careers. This path is fraught with danger, as children need to be nurtured and developed from a young age. Their interests need to be identified and matched with their skills and abilities. Career counselling must begin at home with a two-way dialogue between the child and the parents.

Another dangerous pitfall is families who are involved in medium to large successful businesses. It is taken for granted that sons in the family will take on the mantle of the business. It is not a matter of choice but expected of you. This puts enormous pressure on individuals who have different interests and aspirations other than the family business. Their choices are stifled and in many cases they end becoming miserable failures in the business. Where there is a natural aptitude and interest, choosing the family business is ideal. It is given and a career choice already made. One has to tread the path carefully without imposing on the child to take on the family reins. Whatever choices one makes, be aware that you can change if you don't feel right about it. Let careers not be accidents like the way it was in the sixties, seventies and eighties.

So remember when you ask your child next what he or she wants to become when they grow up ... give them the freedom to choose ... give them the time to discuss ... give them the opportunity to explore and walk the paths even if they are less travelled ... for the road not taken may be the answer to one's happiness and dreams!

The author is a senior management consultant, Sydney, Au.

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