Top Five Career Mistakes

By Trina Mukherjee in rediff.com

Illustrations By Dominic Xavier

http://specials.rediff.com/getahead/2004/nov/29sld.htm

Here are the mistakes one can make while deciding about a suitable career.

1. Going by scores

This is the most common and biggest mistake one can make. "Many factors determine one's choice of career -- aptitude, personality, interests and skills -- apart from scoring high marks in one subject or the other. You cannot let your one-time marks decide your whole future.

2. Succumbing to parental/ peer pressure

Your best friend has decided to study engineering and you blindly follow suit without taking into account your interest or aptitude for such a technical stream. A wrong career move based on parental/ peer pressure may lead to disastrous results.

3. Lack of focus or back-up plans

You must have clarity of vision or a fixed goal when it comes to pursuing career plans.

"Planning -- be it for the future or a viable back-up plan -- is the key factor in planning your career in today's job market".

4. Resistance to change/ non-flexibility

Change is a constant factor in your career; you must be prepared for it. If you can sniff out the right opportunities and incentives within the prevailing conditions, you need not look beyond your immediate sector of specialization. Change need not be only lateral or only vertical. It can combine both, and more!

5. You need not work before you specialize

Gaining some work experience before enrolling in a specialized course might not be extremely popular in India, what with the current scramble to enroll in management, computer and other institutes catering to specialized streams. Mere theorizing does not really help you get there.