7 Myths about Choosing a Career That Aren't True ...

Picking the right career is not easy and all those myths about choosing a career make this important decision even harder. A lot of people think that they’ve chosen the perfect career for themselves but after a while, they realize that their professional life is unsatisfying and they wonder what they did wrong. In this tough economy, a lot of occupations are disappearing and new ones are springing up, so it’s not enough anymore to just go to school, pick a major and get a job in that field. A lot of people have trouble deciding on careers and all those misconceptions about how you should pick the right occupation for you are not helping them at all. Here are 7 myths about choosing a career that aren’t true that you should consider:

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1. Choosing a Career is Simple

This is one of the most common myths about choosing a career that is absolutely false. Picking the right career for you is actually an involved process and it usually takes a lot of time. Career-planning is a multi-step process during which you should learn a lot about yourself, your needs and the occupations you are considering so you can make an informed decision.

2. There is Only One Perfect Job for You

The truth is that anyone can find quite a wide variety of fulfilling careers. There isn’t only one job that is perfect for a certain individual. Also, in time, people’s interests change, so it’s not uncommon for someone to choose to work in a one field, even though they got a degree in a different field. Just keep in mind that the perfect job today may not be the perfect job tomorrow.

Frequently asked questions

3. A Career Counselor Can Tell You What Career to Choose

Nobody can tell you what career is best for you, not even a career counselor or any other career development professional. They can provide you with guidance in choosing a career and they can also facilitate your decision but they can’t tell you what you should do in your professional life.

4. I Should Choose a Career That Earns a Lot of Money

Even if you choose a career that will allow you to earn a lot of money, this won’t guarantee your happiness. There are a lot of studies on millionaires that have shown that money does not have a direct correlation to happiness. Your personal fulfillment and satisfaction is the direct result of who you are and what are you doing to be happy, not how much money you make.

5. I Can’t Make a Living from My Hobby

Whatever career you end up choosing, you should enjoy what you are doing, so it makes perfect sense to pick something that is related to those things that you love doing in your spare time. There are a lot of people who become very skilled in their hobbies and they even manage to make a living by doing those things that they love.

6. If I Change Careers, My Skills Will Go to Waste

Your skills won’t be wasted if later in your life you decide to pick another career. Your skills are yours to keep, no matter what occupation you have. So you can take them from one job to another. You can also acquire new ones that will help you in the future and that will enrich your life experience.

7. You Can’t Learn about an Occupation Unless You Work in That Field

First-hand experience is very useful, especially if you want to find out more about a certain field but there are a lot of other great ways to explore an occupation. You can read a lot of materials (books, articles, blog posts) about a certain career or you can even interview people who already work in that field who can tell you about their work experience, about their responsibilities and also about the benefits that job actually brings them.

Choosing a career that’s right for you is not an easy thing to do but if you have patience and if you persevere, you will make the right decision. Do you know any other myths about choosing a career that aren’t true? Please tell us about them in the comments section!

Sources:
careerplanning.about.com
luc.edu
careerprofiles.info
life-experience-degree-facts.com
northjersey.com

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Where Thoughts and Opinions Converge

With point 3, it reminded me of when I had to choose what a-levels to do. I listened to the counsellor instead of my gut and regretted it after. Also point 4 reminded me of when I had to choose a job that was closer to home & more enjoyable or the one that offered more money. I chose the one with more money and found myself regretting that decision pretty quickly!

This is my 3rd year waiting for that answer to my question...now how much more do I have to?

Another biggie: you don't have much time to decide. Several friends of mine have told me that their high school counselors have told them that they need to choose something right right right now. And so they felt pressured, stressed and mislead as a result. But the reality is, it's a lifetime process. As you said, peoples' hobbies change. I tell college folks all the time that it's ok not to change your major or feel undecided. And I'm talking people in their upper teens, lower 20's. Another thing is that people think there will be a point in their lives they feel they will know everything there is ever to know about them, going back to how people change. But that is not the case. What I've learned is that it's best to be open and embrace it. I thought I had it aaaall planned out throughout grade school. Wanted to be a professor. Come senior year, I realized, this is not my thing. So I went back and forth between nursing, military, police, firefighter, and flight medic. Felt like it was the end of the world but looking back it is not. Now I know what I want to do, but even as secure as I feel about it, I still question my career choices. It's like, you have it all planned out and all, but you never know what God has in store for ya. Being open to change eases the stress behind it all.

Correction on sentence no. 6: it's ok to change your major.

It's taken me 5 years after finishing school to find that Childcare is my passion. I know it's not as much money as people think, but being surrounded by children all day and making a difference in their lives is the best gift for me, and time goes so fast on the job - it's a challenging but rewarding job, and I couldn't be any happier :)

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