Studying for a vocation or for a job?

In an increasingly competitive job market, choosing a career path becomes more complicated.

There was a simpler time when it wasn't so difficult to choose a career path.. If your father had a workshop, you learned the trade and ended up inheriting it, if you were lucky enough to be able to access higher education, you joined a market that was not collapsed, and if all else failed, there was always the possibility of accessing certain public or private positions, perhaps less glamorous but just as worthy.

However, at a time when there are so many obstacles to perform the dreaded role of self-employed and with fierce competition in the labor market, there are more and more prepared graduates who often have to seek their luck beyond the Pyrenees. Choosing a career path is an increasingly dramatic decision. And when it's time to decide... ¿is it better to choose to study what we like, or what is more likely to give us a well-paid job? well paid job? It is not a simple question to answer, but a good part of our life depends on it.

Choosing studies for vocation or for a job opportunity?

Nowadays, aptitude tests are given, academic performance is evaluated according to success in different subjects, sports and artistic abilities... to, in general, end up giving the accurate and generic advice: do what you like.

Yes, it is important to work on what we like, not only because we will be happier and spend more time happily (which is no small feat) but also because a high motivation for the task to be performed predicts a higher probability of success, as it predisposes us to learn about it, overcome failures, etc. In other words, we are good at what we like. But beyond the child who asks the kings for a stethoscope when he is 5 years old? do our students know what they like?

The question is not trivial, since, if I like, let's say, psychology, I will need to have the baccalaureate in health sciences, and to access it it will be convenient to have taken the electives related to it in 4th ESO, when I fill out the registration at the end of 3rd grade... So, if I want to be a psychologist, I better discover it before the age of 15 or be lucky enough to have done science because, as my counselor said, "it opens more doors".

Uncertainty when deciding on a profession

Now, how is such an inexperienced personhow is such an inexperienced person going to choose a profession out of all those available?How is such an inexperienced person going to choose a profession from among all the others, with the information available to him or her? Normally, we tend to look at the subjects in which the kids excel. If we are lucky enough to have them evenly distributed corresponding to one of the three or four baccalaureates, we take our first clue.

Here we run into a certain problem of logic. On the one hand, it is a simplistic view to associate jobs with their corresponding baccalaureates. In the case of psychology, a science degree, what is more important to like: mitosis and integrals, or contact with people? Which competence is more important, mental calculation or empathy? What does a future journalist, a humanities degree, have to like more: Kant and etymology, or current affairs and storytelling?

Don't misunderstand us: any competence is welcome and knowledge always adds up (although it does take up space, according to the psychology of memory), but we may fall into a fallacy if we try to restrict the outlets of our knowledge. if we try to restrict professional opportunities to primary school subjects..

Perhaps the most advisable thing to do would be to create an environment that facilitates more than academic competencies. It should not be all about "behaving well" and passing exams (which, I insist, is just as important). (which, I insist, is just as important). It would be better to focus on motivations for those competencies such as creativity, social skills, humor, initiative, effort... not to enter into the eternal debate of those subjects so undeservedly undervalued in the curriculum, such as art education, music, physical education...

The key is to detect sources of motivation

Each career path usually has very specific skills and abilities, so it can be a mistake to neglect the student's motivation for certain elements that can later prove to be surprisingly crucial. It is vital for a student to be able to to detect those competencies that motivate him/herThe motivation for the task to be performed is a predictor of success and wellbeing.

Therefore, it is the responsibility of educators to establish an environment that facilitates the deployment of the different competencies that the student can develop, and while schools and other formal learning environments adapt to these new times, parents, monitors and psychologists have the honor of complementing the work. An environment based on passive education will hardly be adequate for students to develop areas of interest, and therefore much of their potential will be lost.

Although at an early age we do not necessarily know how to choose effectively how we want to direct our lives, it is a key vital stage to develop areas of experimentation, curiosity and personal interests autonomously. that will later become talents.