Introduction

There are different kinds of choices. Choosing a toothpaste is not a big deal, some stores may even allow a person to return if one is dissatisfied. Clearly, some choices are more important than others, for instance, choosing a major.Having the option of choosing from more than fifty-three majors appears good on paper, but then a decision has to be made. How will the individual make that decision? What decision will be made on what to study for the following four years? How important is a students major compared to the even bigger question of future career and calling?

Deciding on a major can be difficult. The first thing a person ought to consider when deciding on a major is why he or she is attending college in the first place. Most people attend college to get a degree to get a job. Deciding on a major, for most people, is directly correlated to the type and nature of career they want to secure once they graduate. This can place a great deal of pressure on the decision.

This paper is going to demonstrate that in choosing a future career, a young person needs to consider a myriad of factors not only a major to pursue in college but also personal passion, talents and abilities, personality traits and so many other factors besides a major. It will portray that a major in college can simply act as a stepping stone to a completely different career path as opposed to the career directly related to that major. The paper will also demonstrate that in deciding on a future career but to decide on the career path to follow a person also needs to make a conscious decision to make a decision about the career path to follow.

Choosing a Career

According toFavreau(2013), deciding on a career can be simplified into three basic problems. She adds that, through conquering these problems an individual will dramatically boost his chances of finding the right job. She highlights these three basic problems as:

Firstly, failure ofan individual to have enough information. This involves being unaware of the various career choices that are available. She adds that through being informed, a person will be in a position to know of a career that is a combination of what one is good at, what one loves and what is in demand. To address this problem, the author  recommends that a person devotes one hour every day for a week on pure research, exploring career sites, top job lists, favorite blogs with the goal of noting down any and every job that catches the eye.

Secondly, a person not knowing what he or she wants. This involves being unable to match oneself in terms of values, interest and personality with a career. However, Favreau (2013) suggests a checklist to assist an individual in assessing career ideas. This checklist the author outlines involves asking oneself questions such as: does this career sound interesting?Does this career involve work that you are good at?Does this career fulfill your essential needs? and does the world need this career? Responses to the positive indicate a plausible career option.

The last problemthe author outlines is the inability of an individual to make a decision. This involves being worried about making the right or wrong choice to the point of angst and second-guessing. The author suggeststo address this indecision; a person should not worry about choosing the best option, but rather choose any well researched and practical option. She adds that it needs bravery and the strength to take action, that way an individual will be much closer to finding a job one loves.

Klein(2013, pp. 193-214), the author of Insight presents a model or paradigm that he suggest is best placed to assist a person at a moment of indecision to help him in making a choice amongst various options. This model involves opening the mind to an insight that changes the mental model of an individual and makes him make a decision not based purely on knowledge but on an experience that helps the person to see the inconsistency in the mental model that one previously had. The author presents a decision making model where he states decision making involves; doing an evaluation. This he states involves looking at several options but never comparing them to see which is the best relative to the others, rather, he suggests conducting a mental simulation, an imaging process for each option, whereby, each option is evaluated at a time, not by comparing it to others, but by seeing if it would work in a particular context. The author breaks decision making into a two-part strategy. The first part he outlines involves a matching to get a situation framed about what to do; the second part in the mental simulation involves allowing for evaluation and monitoring of an option to confirm that it will perform a good job, and to use the gained experience.  He adds that decisions are made out of intuition, but not the usual intuition, but intuition based on expertise and tacit knowledge. This involves having knowledge of where to look and being aware of the probable trouble spots. Tacit knowledge involves being able to make perceptual discriminations, pattern recognition and finally sense typicality.

According to Lore(2012, p. 24), the author suggest a number of steps that can help a person in deciding a future career. These steps involve making a series of decisions and commitments that will direct a person to the correct career path. These steps he outlines as:

First, make a commitment to decide on a future career. This step involves a person deciding to decide and not wanting to decide. A person needs to get clear enough about his or her commitment to the quality of life that he can take potent and resourceful action to make the commitments become reality. This involves stepping out and making definite promises that he is willing to keep, even when it seems scary.Secondly, make designing a future career the number one priority. Deciding a career path should be of primacy and should take precedence over other things, it should not just be fitted into the cracks of a person life.Thirdly, begin by looking in. the author suggests that in choosing a career, the idea is to model a career or profession that fits the person, as opposed to trying to squeeze into something that is of the wrong shape or too small. To achieve this, a person must turn his attention inwards. A person needs to get to know himself fully. Probe into every characteristic and attribute of your personality and nature.Identify ways to examine the past and present from varying viewpoints, in particular those viewpoints that present practical clues, tangible, and realistic with regards to the best fit between the individual and the working world.Fourthly, theauthor suggests seeking of full self-expression.This the author states involves being wise in honoring every aspect and each domain of ones life. The author adds that “Many poor-fitting careers result from considering only external rewards like money and status”. He suggests that each aspect should be considered thoroughly if a chosen career is to be balanced and harmonious. A career that fits perfectly demands that a person be who he is fully and does what he does naturally.Lastly, Lore(2012, p. 26) suggests breaking down the big question- “what am I going to do with my life?” This encompasses breaking down the big questions into smaller manageable chunks.These steps in choosing a career, the authors says will result to a more fulfilled life and career contentment.

Lore(2008)in his book “Now What?: The Young Person’s Guide to Choosing the Perfect Career”suggests that in choosing a future career a person needs to take into consideration a number of factors. These factors he states involve considering factors such as: natural talents and innate abilities; personality traits and temperaments; passion, meaning, mission and purpose; and the willingness to stretch ones boundaries. The author adds that a good career choice should be one that fulfills a person’s goal, has rewards that fit the person’s values, and has a compatible work environment.

Conclusion

In conclusion, choosing a major goes hand in hand with choosing a career. Although some student may come to a decision with regards to what to major on without anin-depth understanding and knowledge of the career paths available, other students will make up their minds on what careers they want to pursue and settle on what degree is demanded to get there. Some careers can be realized with a range of degrees, others require very specific degrees and training, while others simply provide stepping stones to other careers. Not every studentenrolling for a university degree knows precisely what career path he or she wants topursue, however, students can analyze and evaluate their talents, and passion as well as interests, to decide on a career path to follow.

References

Favreau, A. (2013, February 20). How to Decide on a Career (Even If You Don’t Know What You Want). Retrieved October 13, 2014, from Chicago Tribune: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-02-20/business/sns-201302201830–tms–brazenctnbc-b20130220-20130220_1_career-counselor-career-options-career-ideas

Klein, G. (2013). Insight. In J. Brockman, Thinking: The New Science of Decision-Making, Problem-Solving, and Prediction (pp. 193-214). New York: HarperCollins Publisher Inc.

Lore, N. (2008). Now What?: The Young Person’s Guide to Choosing the Perfect Career. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Lore, N. (2012). The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Do you need an Original High Quality Academic Custom Essay?