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How do you select a career different than the traditional career path in the family?
This is part of our professionals series
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Chirayu’s Answer
It's important to remember that your career is a personal choice and you have the right to make it based on your own interests, passions, and goals. While it can be challenging to break away from traditional family expectations, it can also be an opportunity to explore new paths and to create a fulfilling and successful career for yourself. Additionally, it could be helpful to seek support from a counselor, career advisor or a mentor who can help you navigate the process and provide guidance and advice.
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Viridiana’s Answer
This is hard. The question can bring you into challenging your cultural beliefs and trying to take into consideration your family's beliefs, sometimes limiting your own. In my own experience, I come from a family that works in agriculture and construction and I want to study a career that specifically works with engineering and physics. When speaking to my family about it, it brought a few disputes and discouragement to our table but ultimately it's my life and it's the path I want to choose. I would tell you to just go with what you would like to do in life, but it's easier said than done. The best thing to do here would be to analyze where your wants and needs would be best taken into consideration and how you can go about choosing a career that will not break you mentally. You have to put yourself first and be able to recognize that this career is what you will be doing in your life, not anyone else's.
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Christina’s Answer
I took a test very similar to this test at the site below when I was in career counseling in my 30's. I wish I could have known about something like this sooner. This takes your personality traits and gives suggestions based on who you are. Keep in mind that your personality will change throughout your life, especially in your late teens and early 20's - so it's good to be flexible and know that the perfect career is not something that you will know right now. Rather, be patient with yourself. Spend some time getting to know you. I tell my kids and mentees to travel and focus on learning you in your first couple of years after high school. Take different classes, experiment.. see what really sparks your interest!
https://www.16personalities.com/
https://www.16personalities.com/
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Corwin’s Answer
-The single greatest piece of advice I received, relevant to my career path, was the day Dr. Todd Albert, of Boca Code told me, "I needed to - FIND MY WHY! "
-Now when I first heard this my initial thought was ".........................../\................/\................. um....",
"Cool! How in the world might I go about discovering such a philosophically complex question anyway?? "
- like all things in life what we find, and the depth of the answer we receive, directly correlates with the effort, and sincerity we put into ANY GIVEN TASK.
Now for my story with finding my why. I will be leaving out a lot of painful, epic, dramatic, failed attempts at countless things in life. We're skipping to 26. At this time I moved 2,000 miles away from everything I knew. My identity was closely associated with my construction trade, and my children, but for the sake of all of us I needed to set out on the journey of finding.... Queue Dr. Todd Alberts (Line 1 : 128 = myWhy()).
It was in the creation of software, that left people in awe. Or colleagues successfully using A.I. to 100x the diagnostic speed of children with rare genetic cancers. It was making my first solo app for my children to address communication issues. My why is tech....and creating solutions that make the world better. Follow steps below and please let me know your Why's!!!
Corwin recommends the following next steps:
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Rebecca’s Answer
Thank you for the question. This is a good question indeed. I believe many students may face.
The world especially technology changes rapidly in the last decade. The career and working model changes a lot. There are new careers emerges. The older generation may not understand.
Firstly, the students should choose a career they have interest,
They can do more research on the career and find out more details, eg career path, their career aspirations, etc
Then, they can articulate this to their parents to demonstrate they have thought through this prudently.
In addition, they can also seek their mentor or school career counsellor for guidance if applicable.
Hope this helps!
The world especially technology changes rapidly in the last decade. The career and working model changes a lot. There are new careers emerges. The older generation may not understand.
Firstly, the students should choose a career they have interest,
They can do more research on the career and find out more details, eg career path, their career aspirations, etc
Then, they can articulate this to their parents to demonstrate they have thought through this prudently.
In addition, they can also seek their mentor or school career counsellor for guidance if applicable.
Hope this helps!
Updated
Amanda’s Answer
Many people choose careers because they are following the footsteps of models in their family/circle of influence - but you need not be bound by this. If you seize opportunities to learn about and explore unfamiliar career paths, you can open up a world of possibilities. You might have a particular interest area or passion that can guide you as you explore -- or you might want to explore with a very open mind. Going to a career fair or listening to a panel discussion are great ways to get inspired. You can also go to your local Library and look at career-focused sections/displays or find biographies of people you admire. Think about what you love - not just who you love - as you consider the choices ahead of you.
Find your local Library: https://www.sjpl.org/locations
Amanda recommends the following next steps:
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Diane’s Answer
Hi, if your family is not pressuring you going into the traditional family career path then follow your gut/instincts and choose the road that fulfills you. If your family is pressuring you to follow the traditional family career path then having discussions with them about your goals, dreams and what makes you fulfilled is important, even if it's different from theirs. Best of luck!
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Alexa’s Answer
Well, you have to ask yourself what you want to pursue. You can bring it up to your family that you’re doing what makes you happy. A lot of families are supportive. Some are not, but they have to realize that this is your life, and they cannot live through you.
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