Let’s take a walk down the memory lane and get into the ten-year-old version of you. What do you remember from back then? Did you have posters of your favourite action hero or a musician stuck somewhere on the wall? And, now fast forward to when you were 13! Did you want to become a journalist or maybe a reality TV star? Or did you want to become a painter after you discovered that you loved mixing those colours?

What happened to those dreams? Did they fade away as you grew up and got lost somewhere in those long lectures, the never-ending assignments and under the pressure of grades? Well, now you may dismiss those dreams thinking they were childish and stupid! But, they were a reflection of your thoughts and imagination which came down crashing as you hit the 20s. There is no more discussion about dream careers but only dream jobs. Does that mean you no longer want to pursue your dream?

Well, there is no right and wrong answer here! It’s a mix of choices, situation and priorities.  When you graduate at the age of 21, you’d no longer care about those dream careers that you’d set when you were 10. You’d instead look for a job that pays well and gives you security. 

A research was done by ONS (Office for National Statistics) for six years. They asked 16-20-year-olds about their dream careers, and the answers they got were actor, media producer, teacher, join defence services, become a vet or a doctor. But, when ONS studied the same people after six years, the results were very stunningly different. Apart from those who wanted to get into teaching, only 1 in 50 followed their dream career. The rest got into sales, marketing, financial services, IT, childcare and other administrative jobs. Most young people look for security than actually going after a dream career. You can see the massive gap between the expectations and reality when it comes to the career of the young people.  

What can be done to bridge this gap?

The answer is not very simple, but career planning can help you take control of the situation to some extent. It is the most underestimated aspect of a career. You may seek help from your mentors, friends and family or even look up on the internet for answers, but what about career counsellors? They are the experts when it comes to career.

Let’s look at the key benefits of career planning:

1.   You start early

Career planning can start the earliest in your 7th grade. You may not know where to begin at this stage, but consulting a career expert could give you a direction. You can take a set of psychometric tests, speak to the experts, talk to your relatives who have gone through this phase and start chalking out a plan. If you start early, you’d at least get some clarity by the time you appear for your 12th board exams. If you decide to think about career only after giving your final 12th-grade exams, you’d be lost, and it’d be too late for you to figure out your career. You will end up taking a subject just for the sake of it. 

2.   You will know your strengths and weaknesses

You may not be completely aware of your strengths and weaknesses at the age of 12! But, if you make a journal about your career and write each strength and weakness you discover over two to three years, it will be an excellent asset for you. For example, if you realize that you are good at drawing, you could become an architect, and maybe you discover that even graphic designing has a decent scope. The more time you give yourself to explore every career, the more closer you will get to your career goal. 

3.   Have a backup plan

In the real world, not everything can be planned! But if you start your career planning process early, there are chances that you will be less disappointed. For example, if you study hard to become a Chartered Accountant but don’t get through the exams, you can opt to do an MBA. This requires quite a lot of planning and can be done with extensive research and consulting a career expert. 

If you get the right help at the right time, you could turn your dreams into a reality and end up in your dream career. 

Sometimes, a teenager in India is thought of being incapable of making decisions when it comes to career. Have you ever faced this issue where parents decide a career for you? Parents are not aware of the skills and talents and make decisions under society’s pressure. They might even give examples of their friends and family who seem to be happy with their jobs but nobody knows the actual reality. Somebody else making a decision could crush your dream career, and you will be stuck with something that you don’t even like. For example, engineering and medical are the most favourite streams of Indian parents! While very few go against their parent’s decisions, a lot of them succumb under parental pressure. This is where career planning comes into the pictures. The career expert can sit them down and have an open discussion about the teenager’s dream career.

Sometimes, young people also need to take practical decisions like earning a living by taking an ordinary job and giving up their dream career. It is very common in India that you may study to become a TV actor but end up in a marketing job for financial security reasons. But, make sure you at least try to reach your career goal, which is only possible with proper planning.