By Victor Ochieng’
vochieng.90@gmail.com
A pitfall is a hidden danger or difficulty. It is a trap. A pratfall on the other hand is a fall on to one’s two round parts above the legs – the bottoms. It is an embarrassing failure or massive mistake made.
A career is a job that can help a person to make progress and access success in life. It encompasses training, patronage, tutelage, apprenticeship, mentorship, work experience and community service.
Career entails transformation of dreams into reality. Dan Pena observed, “Life without dreams is like a bird without wings. It cannot fly.” Eleanor Roosevelt also said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
High school scholars have chances to pursue careers they feel wired for. Albeit, they need knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Knowledge is acquisition of facts. Understanding is interpretation of facts. Wisdom is the right application of knowledge. Solomon sagaciously said in Proverbs 4:7: Wisdom is the principal thing. In all your dealings, seek understanding.
Ignorance is a disease. But knowledge is medicine. Ignorance impedes people’s progress and success. The good book says in Hosea 4:6 that people are destroyed because of lack of knowledge. In Isaiah 5:13 we read that people get into captivity due to lack of knowledge.
I have met students who are very ignorant about careers and the world of work. Some of them make career choices based on myths and misconceptions – beliefs which are not true. Lack of knowledge is what makes them to settle for high-sounding careers without clear conscience. No wonder, teachers, parents, and mentors – should play their part.
Schools should ensure that career programmes are extant not extinct. Forms One and Two should be guided well before they select subjects. Forms Three and Four should be guided on choices of college courses. Let there be regular career fairs. Avail good books. Invite career counsellors to disseminate accurate career information. Select Career Counsellors (CCs) in every class. Equip them. Give them the mandate to share useful career facts on weekly basis. Let there be a career of the week, where students can (re)search about specific careers. Expose learners to careers they wish to pursue after school through job shadowing and academic trips. Cordially invite professionals to give first-hand information about vocations. Give students accurate information pertaining courses, colleges, study-abroad agencies and scholarship opportunities.
By and large; parents and guardians also have a pivotal part to play. They should be akin to Jewish parents. In his tantalising treatise titled the Jewish Phenomenon, Steven Silbiger explains why the Jews in America are wise and wealthy. Jews make up only 2% of the United States population. Yet, 45% of the top 40 of the Forbes 400 opulent Americans are Jews. ⅓ of America multi-millionaires are Jews. The percentage of the Jewish household with income greater than $50,000 is double of the non-Jews. 20% of the leading professors in top-tier universities are Jews. 25% of all American Nobel Prize winners are of Jews.
Somehow, Jewish parents encourage their children to be prone to literate hobbies, habits, rituals and routines. That has a puissant impact on them. At a fledgling age, Jewish parents train their children to appreciate the wonder of the written word. They are encouraged to read heroic books and newspapers. Children are compelled to focus on useful TV programmes. Children are introduced to Torah, Talmud and Mishnah. Torah is basically the first five books of the Old Testament. Talmud enshrines wise sayings and detailed rabbinical commentary on the good book – the Bible. The Mishnah is a house of gold that shelters orison religious observance, and everyday living.
My nearest dearest, a classic case is Albert Einstein, the physicist-cum-Mathematician. At age 26, he became the creator of the Law of Relativity, which ushered in the Atomic Age. He devoured and savoured popular Science books at a very young age. His parents were keen on what went into his mortal mind from an early age, because impressions made on children’s minds are like wet cement.
Therefore, students should shun coterie of career pitfalls and pratfalls like: thinking that choosing careers is simple like a dimple. They should shun choosing careers carelessly. It is a grievous goof to choose careers without proper research. Choosing careers based on word of mouth can beckon guilt and regret. It is bad to choose careers based on whims of peer pressure. Making bad career choices has a boomerang effect on people’s lives. It comes back to haunt someone like an ugly ghost.
Also, it is utterly wrong to think that some careers make people poor, while others make people rich. For in the whole scheme of things, it all depends on how people have positioned themselves pertaining world of work. There is a career pitfall and pratfall that goes like: Some careers lack employment opportunities. Yet, career choices and job-acquisition are two different things. Getting employment that brings enjoyment requires confluence and conjunction of several skills: hard skills, soft skills, transferable skills, employability skills and life skills.
Moreover, it is bad for children to think that their parents know what they are best suited for. Or to believe that some careers just flow in the blood like witchcraft. It is misguided to believe that formal employment is a curse. For when you read the Cash-flow Quadrant by Robert T. Kiyosaki, you will ascertain that people can pick different paths in life. Like being employed, self-employed, venturing into business, or choosing to be a serious investor.
Over and above, it is a trap to think that talent is more important than formal education. Education and talents – should be seen as conjugates in marriage. It is also wrong to be money-minded while choosing careers. Careers should be approached from a service point of view, for no one has ever served both divinity and humanity and died poor. Whole-hearted service attracts moolah.
The writer rolls out career talks and training services in schools.
