How to choose a profession?

Hi Friends,

Choosing a career is not a rocket science but the decision should be yours & unaffected by all other forces.

I don’t know about rest of the world but here in India almost every other student chooses a career without even knowing what is actually expected out of them in the given profession and what kind of life they’ll be living.

One chooses a course\technology mainly based on three reasons and unfortunately all these reasons are affected by others and they jump into conclusion and decide the career on vague parameters.

1. The career counselor is suggesting to Opt Technology X so go for it.
2. Family friend or elder cousin is already working on Technology Y from last n number of years, he is well settled and earn a lot , So decision taken I (or sometimes family decides that my son or daughter) will choose this as a career.
3. I did a course in Technology Z but currently there is no opening for the same or I was unable to crack an interview and landed to a job which needs technology A so from now onwards Technology A becomes focus.

Now if you analyze the reasons carefully none of them was decided properly by the candidate and this is what leads to unsatisfied professionals.

Deciding a career is very crucial, it’s not just about the monetary factor, but it’s about:

• Satisfaction
• Desire to excel at something
• Suitability
• Life you want
• And Much MORE.

So, How to choose a right career? Let’s say you are a young aspirant who knows SQL basics and want to Opt it as your career, now the question arises whether I should go for SQL Server or not, is it good for me?

Choose a Field

Knowing the basics doesn’t qualifies for opting it as your profession, you might not have seen the other side of the coin (so called Big Picture), you should look for more useful and meaningful info about the same. SQL Server is a Technology which is very vast and there are multiple tracks to choose from, like: (Not in any specific order)

1.  DBA
2.  Developer
3.  BI Expert
4.  Consultant
5.  Trainer
6.  Etc

Strength – Interest Now, you should first identify your strengths and interest, they go hand in hand.For Example: If you are good in creating logics and love to code, Development is the best match for you.

There could be a possibility that you are good at creating Excel dashboard reports and PowerPoint presentations but you don’t like doing it, you do it just to get good marks and since you know it more than anyone in the classroom that doesn’t mean you should opt it as your profession.

Then comes Desire\wish What are your desires to achieve in life, what type of life\work you wish to do – and this all should be realistic.

If you are good in SQL and you like to troubleshoot things but you don’t see yourself extending your shifts almost every other day & you hate 24*7 shifts then DBA as a career is a BIG NO-NO for you.

Other things: You may also want to know pros and cons of these tracks, Pressure involved, criticality, 24*7 Shifts (generally a must for DBA) or General Shift(9-6 Job).

Ask yourself, what kind of profession you are looking.

You might not take it seriously right now, but trust me it’s not that easy to change your profession or track. So decide very carefully and stick to it.

Thanks,
Sarabpreet Singh
@Sarab_SQLGeek