Career Choice Isn’t Easy
Career choice is one of the most important decisions in the life of every person. With hundreds of jobs to choose from, it’s never too early to begin thinking about your future career.
Changes in the world will affect the jobs available. The idea of ‘job for life’ has already become old-fashioned. In the future most people will work for several companies instead of just for one. A lot of people already work from home, connected to the Internet, and there will be many more in the years to come.
We often speak of full-time jobs or part-time jobs, regular jobs or odd jobs. People may lose their jobs, become unemployed and have to look for new jobs. Different jobs require different things. For example, some require special training and meeting people, others require a good imagination or travelling a lot, physical strength or working late hours.
Career choice is not easy. A lot of students are encouraged by their teachers, parents and friends. Some students change their minds many times or follow in someone’s footsteps. Others are influenced by certain people or certain events. When you look for a career, you should look carefully at all aspects of the job. You must also take a good look at yourself.
Firstly, it’s important to consider your interests. You may enjoy working with people, or you may enjoy working with your hands. You may like reading, using words, and writing. Numbers and solving problems may hold a special appeal to you.
Secondly, you should find out what your aptitudes are. Your aptitudes are your natural abilities or talents. An aptitude means it is easy for you to learn certain things. One way to focus on your aptitudes is to ask yourself some questions:
- In what school subjects do I get the highest marks?
- What talents or natural abilities do I seem to have? (talking, writing, singing, painting or taking objects apart and putting them back together)
- What do I think I could learn to do well?
- What do other people think I could do?
Besides, there are special aptitude tests you can take. Careers officers can help and advise young people to get good training in order to have some skills.
Thirdly, different people are good at different skills. A skill is the learnt capacity for doing something. For example, you can possess skills in typing, drafting, cooking, sewing and auto repair. It’s useful to learn the skills like leadership skills, teamwork skills, critical thinking, writing and reading skills, etc.
Communication skills, in general, should be at the top of the list. Communicating with people, especially from other cultures, understanding their minds and culture, will be even more important in the future. English has become the international language of communication. Millions of people use it in their jobs every day. In the future most people will need English for their jobs.
We live in the computer age. You don’t need to be a computer genius to work with a computer but your computer skills need to be good and you have to work on it all the time.
Education is the ticket to success.
Jaime Escalante
Education is important in your future career prospects. A high school graduate has a better chance. Specialised training opens up even more job opportunities. You can get this training in vocational high school, in a college, in vocational-technical school or through on-the-job training.
Vocabulary
- available – наявний
- odd job – випадкова робота
- require – вимагати
- physical strength – фізична сила
- encourage – заохочувати
- in someone’s footsteps – по чиїмсь стопах
- appeal to – приваблювати
- aptitude – схильність, здібність
- careers officer – консультант по профорієнтації
- capacity – здібність
- possess – володіти
- genius – геній
- opportunity – можливість
- employed – працевлаштований
- unemployed – безробітний
Answer the questions
- What is one of the most important decisions in the life of any personality?
- Is choosing a career easy?
- What does the phrase ‘to take a good look at oneself’ mean?
- What questions can help to focus on aptitudes?
- Who can help young people to get good training?
- What are the examples of skills that can be useful?
- Why is education important?
- Where can you get specialised training?
Choosing a profession in which you’ll be interested in is really not easy. You need to find a job that will bring you not only enough money but also pleasure. Each profession is very important in its own way. Our class has recently been told about some jobs and trades. It was interesting especially for those students who decided to leave school after the 9th grade. It’s time for us to think about the profession that we would like to devote our life to.