How did you choose your career?

That's a question I'm intrigued by. I think many young people don't do enough to plan their careers and I want to find out why this is. Many people just stumble along, going to University because their friends are going to University or because their parents told them to. They study Medicine because their friends are studying Medicine and it pays well. Or they study Surveying because the lecturers said on open day that 98% of Surveying grads get a job straight out of Uni.

I don't think there are enough resources available to help young people decide what they want to do in life. Sure, if young people don't take an interest in what they want to do with the rest of their lives, it's their own damn fault... but that doesn't mean we can't do more to encourage them.

To give you an example, I just snap interviewed my flatmate Paul for your reading pleasure:

J: So Paul, how did you make the choice to become an Accountant, or study Accounting?

P: Well I kinda fell into it to be honest, it wasn't a conscious decision. I wasn't any good at Sciences or English, so I decided to do a general finance entry course at University and then after 1st year a group of us decided we'd do Accounting. Didn't really know what it meant or what I'd be doing in 5 years time, but I knew it is a pretty solid job that people will always need. Had no idea about CA (Chartered Accountant qualification - 3 years study after University) or anything like that at the time.

J: So what information was available to you to make that choice?

P: We had a career counsellor available at school, but I don't think I ever went to see him. One guy came out from Victoria University to speak to us for an hour on some
courses.

J: Yeah I reckon many other people, maybe as high as 8/10, would give a very similar answer if you asked them why they chose their careers or courses of study. Crazy to think so many people just cruise through and take the first default option that makes sense huh?

P: Yeah, I suppose that's why you get people going through mid-life crisis situations and totally changing careers down the track.

Obviously it's not the end of the world for people to study the wrong course or choose the wrong career. Life is a long time and anyone can change what they're doing at any time. It does seem a little strange however, that for the majority of University students, more thought or research doesn't go into what is at least a 3 year, $20,000 investment.

What more could we be doing to help our youth make the right decision for themselves? Can we change the default option of drifting into a study course or career?