Choosing the right career path is a choice that needs proper orientation. It is a choice that can make or break the future of an individual. It is a choice you must get right, because failure to choose the right career path can be a recipe for disaster.
There are two broad career paths. You can either be an employee or an entrepreneur. There are factors you need to consider to make the right choice.
Some are born to be entrepreneurs. You start seeing the entrepreneurial passion in them right from secondary school. Others are born to be employees. They can only give their best when they have a boss or a director that dishes out instructions and guides them daily.
Who Is an Entrepreneur?
An entrepreneur is someone who invents or build a new business having in mind that he or she suffers the risk and benefits from the rewards. Statistics shows that there are 400 million entrepreneurs worldwide amounting to 5% of the world’s population.
Who Is An Employee
An employee is someone who receives wages or salary from an employer. The salary or wages is paid based on the agreement before the job is assigned. According to statistics, 60% of the world’s population falls within the category of employee.
If you are stuck in a dilemma of Job vs entrepreneurship then you must consider a few factors.
Also, you must keep in mind that it’s never too late. Popular fast food chain KFC came into existence when the founder was into his 60s. There are numerous stories of entrepreneurs becoming employees and employees becoming entrepreneurs. So, it’s never too late.
Factors That Should Be Considered When Choosing A Career Path
Do ask yourself a few questions to decide which is a better career path for you.
- Are you a natural risk taker or do you like stability and security?
- Can you absorb financial pressure or do you like a steady stream of income?
- Are you driven by passion or by a sense of responsibility?
- Do you belong to a family of entrepreneurs or your family and friends are all in jobs?
and there are n number of similar questions that can help you introspect and decide on the right career journey.
Now over to a few factors that will certainly help you decide the same.
1. Enthusiasm and Passion
The era of doing anything available just to make money is over.
We have had in the past where people have accepted a job because that is the only option they had.
The world is now a global village.
You can do the things that you love the most and make good money from it.
The first question you have to ask yourself before choosing a career is, do I have the passion for this.
We all have heard of a lot of people who pursued their passion while neglecting all the other options. Today, they are among the most successful people in the world.
The options at that time would only have only provided temporary satisfaction. They abandoned temporary satisfaction for long-lasting satisfaction.
Let’s do a fact check here. The below video explains the pros and cons of entrepreneurship and a corporate day jobs. Have a look!
So, you must check if your enthusiasm can last long enough to sustain an extremely volatile yet exciting entrepreneurial career.
Or, would you be better off enjoying the stability and linear growth of a corporate career?
Think before you set off on a long journey of entrepreneurship or of the career as an employee.
2. Innate Talent
Talent is different from passion but they go hand in hand.
What is giving people money today is talent. Talent is natural, but it takes careful observation before a talent can be spotted.
So, look for some innate talent.
- Are you great at Sales?
- Can you create amazing software starting from a young age?
- Are you excellent with machines?
- Do you cook well?
And the list goes on. If you have some talent that can’t get a blessing ground in a corporate job, you are better off becoming an entrepreneur.
However, Talent is not enough. You have to complement your talent with hard work.
The first stage is to discover your talent. After that, you need to put in the hard work that will make your talent blossom.
Footballers, musicians, basket ballers, actors, comedians, golfers, lawn tennis players, boxers, and wrestlers are some of the professions that earn big with their talent.
3. Level of Education
People with professional education which helps solve unique problems can do very well in corporate career too. Like the Management Consultants or a Data Scientist. They can use their education to become super successful in their career.
Think of Google CEO Sundar Pichai or Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple Inc. There are numerous other examples where highly qualified people have been more successful in a corporate job than 99% of entrepreneurs.
The level and quality of education that you acquire will play a big role in your success especially if you want to work in a formal organization.
For example, someone that has a high school leaving certificate will find it difficult to land jobs with good pay. The minimum qualification for someone that wants to earn a decent pay in a formal organization is bachelor’s degree.
In formal organizations, the number of certificates you have will influence the type of salary you earn. A Phd Holder in a particular filed will earn more than a Msc holder in that field.
Some courses have high employment rate in some countries while in another country in will have low employment rate. Generally, some courses are always in demand in the labor market irrespective of country. Some of the courses that have high employment rate irrespective of country are
- Medicine and Surgery
- Law
- Engineering
- Economics
- Estate Management
- Computer Science
- Information Technology
- Business Administration
- Finance
- Architecture
- Nursing
- Psychology
It is of no surprise that some of the above mentioned fields offer some of the highest paying jobs in the world.
4. Family Background, Finances and Cultural influences
It has been observed that people who belong to a business background can thrive in a business environment.
On the other hand people who have had their upbringing tailored towards a 9-5 job would be subconsciously primed for a day job.
Also, at times the choice boils down to finances more than the passion. If you need to take care of your family and can’t risk a loss of a regular stream of income, you would naturally be inclined to the security of a day time job.
Cultural influences also have an impact on your choices. If you are in the USA, you would be primed for success as an entrepreneur right from the childhood.
However, in a lot of third world counties, the obvious career choice of majority of graduates would be to get into a corporate job.
There is a reason that most of the success entrepreneurs in the world come from the USA and a few countries of Europe. However, the rest of the world is catch up as well.
Conclusion
There is no right and wrong. Whether you want to become an employee or an entrepreneur, there is no better option. It all comes down to your choices and chances.
There are multiple factors that would help you decide the same. However, there are a lot of cultural and subtle factors that would effect the decision.
Regardless of what the chances are, be sure of your passion and happiness and then pursue the career of your choice.
