10 Tips for Picking a Career Path in College – Huffington Post (blog)

In the sage words of Yogi Berra, “if you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll be lost when you get there.” Picking a career path boils down to a cost benefit analysis and a gut check. It is a game of reality versus passion, and you can start blazing a meaningful path in college. Don’t let anyone crush your dreams. However, the riskier your dream, the better your backup plan must be.There is a huge difference between a childhood dream and a dream job. If you dreamed of being a lawyer since the age of twelve, you better make sure you know exactly what attorneys do on a given twelve hour work day. Did You Know: In a survey of 800 attorneys, only 55 percent reported being satisfied with their career. Make sure your dream job is not an avocation (a hobby). An avocation is a vacation from a vocation, because the pay ranges from little to nothing.Rather than casually asking career advice from parents or other relatives, set up a time to interview them, with prepared general and specific questions. This approach will make them think more thoughtfully about their responses, and may reveal their personal career challenges and triumphs. Don’t rely on luck or fate in your career. Professional success is about putting yourself in a position to create numerous opportunities.Over the course of your lifetime, there may only be a handful of impactful career opportunities. Assemble an inner circle team of advisors now, so you’ll be able to act quickly to objectively assess the pluses and minuses of future opportunities.

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10 Tips for Picking a Career Path in College – Huffington Post (blog)