8 questions for students choosing their future careers

Hello! I have been chatting with a reader of mine who is still a teenager and figuring out what he wants to do with his future career. He comes across as a very bright and ambitious young man. Whilst he is asking plenty of good questions, I can't help but feel that sometimes he is also asking the wrong questions. To be fair, it's pretty much impossible for a young person who is still in school to try to figure all this out without first having had any real work experience. I remember when I was that age and much of what I knew of the working world was gleamed from TV and movies (and that was hardly a realistic depiction of reality - it was all hyped up in the name of entertainment). But therein lies a double whammy: students at that age have to decide what they want to study at university which will either point them in a certain direction or exclude certain options for them. Talk about a confusing time to place young people under so much pressure! Here are eight questions for you to ask yourself to help you figure out all this out.

What kind of career do you want?

1. What makes you happy in life?

This seems like a pretty obvious question but one that few people actually bother to ask themselves. Particularly in the context of Singapore (where about half of my readers are from), most young people think about going into finance, law or medicine simply because these are considered prestigious career paths. Not many actually think out of the box and are willing to try something different. But if you embark on a career that is not suited to you, then you will struggle to perform well in your job because your heart would be wishing you were doing something else instead. Here's a common mistake that young people make: too often, they try to draw a correlation between what their subjects in school and their possible career options. It doesn't work like that - just because someone is good at mathematics doesn't mean that s/he will enjoy spending a lifetime being an accountant. Can we include happiness in the equation?

Instead, take a moment and think about what you would choose to do if say, it was a Saturday afternoon and you had a couple of hours free. Where would you go for a good time? Who are the friends you would like to see? What are the activities that you would prefer to do? Might you choose to go shopping for clothes? Catch up with some old friends for coffee? Would you prefer to do sports? What would make you have a most enjoyable Saturday afternoon? The answer to these questions would ultimately tell you a lot more about what you would be good at rather than your results at school for a simple reason. Choosing a career related to your hobbies and interest would mean every single working day turning out to be that free Saturday afternoon dedicated to the activity of your choice - how about that for a formula for happiness? And who said you had to be a banker, lawyer or doctor just to be rich and successful? Too many people pick those traditional paths to make their parents happy - but consider with: what makes you happy?

Let me give you an example: I have a friend from secondary who was a real movie buff. We would sit and talk about the latest movies we have seen and clearly, there was something about the magic of cinema that made him very happy. We went to different JCs and lost touch after I moved to the UK. As we got back in touch years later via Facebook, I found out that he had established a highly successful company promoting the latest movies. On a trip back to Singapore, I tagged along with him one evening after Centrepoint on Orchard Road - after the shopping mall was shut to the public, his team covered the entire central foyer with Smurfs decorations and created a little Smurfs village, ready for a few days of promotions there to promote the latest Smurfs movie. This was part of his Smurfs roadshow which would tour the malls of Singapore. I then visited his office-factory-warehouse in the east of Singapore where he had this huge room filled with paraphernalia from many different movies he had promoted over the years - this was a man living his dream, turning his passion into his career. Oh and he has a swimming pool right by his office (which he owns) as he reckoned, "if I'm gonna spend so much time in the office, I may as well have a pool there."

2. What kind of person are you? What is your personality like?

Some people crave structure in their lives. Others hate it. It all boils down to your personality. I have met people who plan every single detail of their lives with such detail - my friend Marie could even tell me what meal she would make two Fridays from now. Why? Because she could then have reminders in her diary to shop in advance, so she would have the right ingredients in the fridge to cook with the moment she got home from work and there would be no rude surprises like, "oh no, I don't have any carrots for the salad." I'm the total opposite. When it comes to meal times, I would rummage through my fridge, dig deep into my freezer and make the best of whatever I could find in there. But trust me, I still eat well enough as I would never let my fridge go empty! (And I am so greedy and I love good food.)

I'm not someone who tries to plan my meals in advance...

Marie would never go to a supermarket without first having made a shopping list and she would stick to that shopping list really strictly because according to her, "why bother making a list if you're not going to use it?" In contrast, you should see what I am like in a big supermarket. I would run around without a plan, looking for anything that is new, anything that is on offer and sometimes I would buy too much. I am at my worst at the big Asian supermarkets in Chinatown, where I would be dazzled by the range of Asian food products on sale there and thank goodness they don't offer trolleys there (only baskets), as I would have to stop myself once my basket is full. I could linger for 30, even 45 minutes in a big supermarket, whilst Marie is in and out in 10 minutes flat.

Marie and I both enjoy traveling - but we approach our travel completely differently. She has already booked her summer holidays for August 2015 - she knows when her kids will be on summer holidays and she knows the window period where they can travel. She has done her research and has settled for a five-star family friend resort in the south of Spain. Thus she has the peace of mind that it has all been booked, the dates are clearly in her diary and her whole family can relax and look forward to that lovely holiday this August. I am a total opposite. I cannot plan to travel in advance like that because I am self-employed and I never really know I am free to travel until the very last minute. Then I would jump onto websites like Skyscanner and Lastminute.com to try to book a last minute deal, often within just a few days of my departure. Thank goodness the last minute travel market does offer some really good deals.

Marie's background is in accountancy - her job is run audits of companies. When a company is subject to an audit, Marie's team would swoop in and go through the books with a fine comb and make sure that everything is in order. That is why structure is so important for her - she explained that during an audit, she cannot possible go through each and every single figure presented to her (it would take way too long), so instead she looks for patterns and she spots deviations from the patterns. Anyone trying to sneak something past the auditor would usually try to cover his/her tracks, so Marie's attention to detail is put to the test every day during these audits. It is hardly surprising that this trait which enables her to do her job well is reflected in her personality. I could never do what Marie does - it is so totally at odds with the kind of person I am! Often, our personalities determine the kind of lifestyle that we lead and if you are forced into a career that doesn't match your character, then it would be like squeezing a round peg into a square hole - it just wouldn't work out and it will make you miserable. Life is too short to be miserable!

To be fair, Marie isn't just some kinda control freak. She is a mother with two lovely children and for her, it is very important to have that level of structure and predictability in her routine, so that she can dedicate herself to being there for her children whilst holding down a full time job. Time management is so important to her when she is trying to balance motherhood and a very senior position at her company. Some people at this point may suggest the Meyers-Briggs test: but I say, a lot of this is so obvious and down to common sense. You don't need to be some kind of psychology expert to figure out Marie's character and how she is different from me - you should know yourself pretty well. Just follow your instincts and do not force yourself to do something you are clearly not comfortable with.

Time management is so important for working mums.

3. What are you good at? And what do you suck at?

Sorry to state the obvious, but this is a question that you need to ask yourself. What are you good at? Where do your talents lie? I am aghast at the number of young people who pick certain careers because they are either prestigious or lucrative - but hold on a second,. Let's say you want to become a lawyer because it is both prestigious and lucrative, right: are you going to be any good as a lawyer though? Because if you are not, you could struggle through law school with below average grades, fail to find a job as a lawyer then your law degree becomes a white elephant as you end up doing something else totally unrelated to law. This is actually a very difficult question to answer as students as so much of a student's life revolves around studying for exams and that couldn't be further removed from the real world.

This is why it is extremely important for students to try to get as much work experience as possible to try to get a taste of the working world: internships are particularly useful in this aspect but don't forget that any kind of part time work during your time as a student will also help you discover what you are good at and more importantly, what you are really bad at. For example, I have come across three people over the years who are absolutely terrified of any kind of public speaking. They are the kinds of people who would prefer to work alone and if possible, communicate with others only via email rather than have to speak to another human being. It's not like they're stupid. Maybe they are shy, maybe they lack the communication skills, maybe they just don't like talking to people - but in any case, forcing them into a role which will involve public speaking would simply make them extremely uncomfortable and unhappy.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

4. Do you wish to move to another country? 

This comes up time and again on my blog. If you wish to move to another country, the simplest way to do so is to get a visa as a skilled migrant. One of my readers Choaniki has decided to give up a lucrative and successful career in IT in order to retrain as a healthcare professional because he wants to move to the west. It is not easy to get a visa as a skilled migrant via the IT route but it is extremely easy to get it via the medical professional route. It seems a bit of a shame for him to give up IT after having climbed that career ladder for so many years, but then again, I am sure he will be just as successful in his new career and I wish him all the best. So if moving abroad is on the agenda for you, then it is necessary to think two steps ahead and select a degree programme that will put you squarely on the highly skilled migrant's list for the country of your choice. Even if you are not entirely sure where you wish to spend your adult life, it is good to at least hedge your bets by knowing that you are working towards a profession that will allow you to waltz into most Western countries who crave such highly skilled professionals.

5. Are you keeping an open mind for new opportunities?

I think it is extremely vital to be flexible because there are a lot of new opportunities that may pop up along the way and could be missing out on some golden opportunities if you are simply too rigid to change your plans at the last minute! My friends who work with technology are very familiar with this. My friend Chris who works in IT offered me his opinion on this, "How many of us had smart phones 10 years ago?  Never mind having tablet devices, the functions our mobile phones offered back then were so limited compared to the current generation of smart phones. Who knows what our mobile devices would be like in 2020 or 2025? You never know what new device may hit the market this year or next and whilst it is a very exciting industry to be in, you can't really plan too far in advance for anything because something that is cutting age today may become obsolete by the end of the year when the next big thing comes along and takes the market by storm. Hence we must be very flexible in such an exciting and unpredictable environment."

It is hard to plan for the future when technology advances so quickly.

6. What kind of working environment would suit you?

Not everyone likes the idea of working in an office. Some people prefer to be outdoors, some people cannot sit still for more than 10 minutes, others prefer having a more disciplined work environment where they can truly feel like they are in 'work mode'. I have done it all - I have worked in an office where I would be stuck in that chair from 9 am to at least 6 pm everyday. I have also worked in environments where I am on my feet all the time and I do not even have a chair and I am currently self-employed, that means I am either working from home or I am on the client's site. My friend Matt is a teacher (you can read my interview with him here) and he enjoys the classroom environment very much - however, some people may be rather put off my that same environment, especially if they have not had a good experience as students. As for myself, I know that there are certain kinds of people and environments that I especially detest and can't stand, so I would go out of my way to avoid them.

7. Do you prefer working in a team or as an individual?

This is actually such a basic, fundamental trait - it is not about being sociable or popular, but some people just have better skills to handle the dynamics of a group whilst others get annoyed when they are unable to control the actions of others. Are you a team player? Do you have leadership skills? Or you more of a follower or a leader? Or are you a lone wolf who just wants to be left alone to get on with your work without anyone bothering you? Now it is not impossible to go against your character and do the complete opposite if your job demands it, but let me tell you a little bit about my experience in NS. Now I am a lone wolf - oh no doubt about that. I like to be able to change my plans, alter the design on my project on a whim without consulting anyone and work when I feel like working. But in my unit during NS, almost everything I did dependent on the corporation of others. I managed to cope, I bit my tongue when I got annoyed, I felt irritated but said nothing when others did not pull their weight in a team - in short, I couldn't wait to finish my NS because I hated being forced to work with others like that. No, that environment did not suit me at all.

Are you a team player or a lone wolf?

I spent most of my life training gymnastics - now this is such a lone wolf sport where there is virtually no element of team work. Having spent thousands of hours training pretty much on my own in the gym over the years, I am very used to shutting out the rest of the world, eliminating any kind of distractions when I need to focus at the task at hand. That's just the way I have been conditioned to work by gymnastics. So don't feel bad if you're not great at this whole team work thing - yeah people wax lyrical all the time about soft skills and team work but if you are essentially a lone wolf at the end of the day (like me), then I assure you that there are plenty of roles out there which do suit lone wolves. Yes I have worked in situations where I have had to participate in team work before, but there's really nothing wrong with expressing a preference to work on one's own if given a choice.

8. Are there successful working adults whom you can talk to?

Lastly, for you students reading this, it is vital that you get the chance to speak to someone about the career you have in mind. For example, if you wish to become a doctor, then how about trying to find a doctor who will gladly talk to you about what it is like to work in a hospital? If you wish to become a pilot, then where are you getting your information from in order to make an informed decision about your choice? You see, many people don't like to divulge too much information about their working lives - they may gladly share their achievements and talk about the nicer aspect of their jobs that they enjoy if it makes them look good. But will they ever be brutally honest about the aspects of their jobs that they hate? I see a lot of teenagers simply gleam information from films, TV programmes and the internet about their dream career but they rarely ever speak to a real human being about it. Even if you don't quite know what you want to do, there's no harm in speaking to a working adult who may be able to help point you in the right direction.

It is always good to talk to people and get some pearls of wisdom.

So that's eight important questions that should help point you in the right direction once you have taken the time to answer them all. Even if you already do have a very good idea of what career you desire, it doesn't hurt to go through these eight questions just to confirm to yourself that you have made the right choice. As always, I am always keen to hear from you on this issue - if you are a working adult, how did you decide what kind of profession you wanted? Are there any mistakes that you wish you could have avoided? If you are a student, what are some of your most pressing concerns in this process? I'm sure there is plenty we can all talk about. Leave a comment below, thanks for reading.