A Lot of Millennials Chose The Wrong Education and Career Path

Are you one of them?

There are times when you notice your mistake when it is already too late, especially when this mistake costs you your time and/or money. Picking the wrong major is one of them, and quite a lot of people (mostly millennials) are having this problem. It is a global phenomenon, you can find plenty of articles and discussion forums on the Internet regarding this topic.

Let’s take Indonesia for example, based on research conducted by the Indonesia Career Center Network (ICCN), it is revealed that 87% of Indonesian young graduates admit that they selected the wrong major for their degree. While almost 72% of the respondents said that they are working in an industry or a job that does not match their educational background.

I have been working in several different industries in the last few years since I got my bachelor’s degree in Business Management. I can say for sure that my current and former colleagues came from a wide variety of academic majors, working at a job that does not match their background.

What happens?

It is fair to say that the workforce supply can sometimes outrun demand in certain sectors, with more people getting higher education, the more competition each individual has to face in order to land a job. For example; I applied for a prestigious job in one of my country’s leading Telecommunication companies, and I had to compete with 8000+ other applicants, just to fill less than 100 positions. I made it to the final 300 but does not get it in the end, after days of tests, interviews, teambuilding games, and focus group discussion. Because in the end, it is not about what job do you want to have, it is what job wants to have you.

Most people just want to have a job no matter what it is, being unemployed as an adult comes with immense social and financial pressure. Several companies' HR department is also taking what they can get, as long as a job does not require special skills or knowledge, they can train new employee rather quickly and for cheap. These factors are creating a mismatching between one’s educational background and one’s job.

Something's wrong, I can feel it

As a teenager with minimal knowledge of how adulthood and future career would be, it is fair to say that some people chose their major based on some unrealistic expectation of what it offers. Another common reason is some people did not know what they want, they were not sure of what they like, which made it difficult to decide on a major. Some people know what they like, they went for it but ended up rejected. The rests are probably worried if they can turn their interest or passion into a financially stable career and ended up in a major that they found most relevant to the current workforce demand.

My friends and I were faced with these problems shortly after graduating from high school. Sure, there are some lucky ones that know what they want, study it, and make a living out of it. Some of us are not that lucky in that particular sense. There are also people who were forced or directed by their parents to take a certain major or career path, which often forced them to part ways with their dream or passion.

Are there some ways to prevent this?

You might ask, there are many things that can prevent this from happening. There are several things that can be done to the education system (at least according to my personal analysis) :

From the formal education side, by the time a student is in high school, they should have known what their personalities are like, what they like, and what are their strengths. It will make them easier to choose the most suitable education and career path. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a rather nice tool to assess what kind of personality someone has, which in turn will help decide what kind of career suits them, and what kind of education to take.

Parents or future parents should also able to identify their children’s strengths and weaknesses, give them time and resources to discover what they are good at, what they like, and don’t force them to do what they don’t like. Putting more effort into enhancing children’s strengths instead of fixing their weaknesses is a great way to go. When a child discovers their passion or interest that can turn into a career, support them and educate them about what they can do with it in the future. If a child is good in certain subjects, other subjects’ grade does not matter as long as the passing grade is reached.

What about a solution?

What if you are stuck studying in a wrong major, or working on a job that does not suit your education or passion? If you are nearing the end of your study, I recommend that you finish it first. Unless you are only a few months into your study and willing to sacrifice the money you already spent on it, it is better that you continue. Attending university or college (regardless of your major) will prepare you with the basic skills, knowledge, maturity, and sets of behavior you will need in the real working environment.

But if you are already graduated, take a personality test, take a career test, and listen to your heart. These tests are merely a Google search away, and they will determine the jobs that suit you well, and what kind of jobs you can do well. Think about the options, and take the one that your heart feel is the one.

A career change is not easy, and some jobs require you to have a certain set of skills. Taking online courses or informal education courses will surely help you back on track to land your dream job (Purwadhika Startup and Coding School is a great example if you want a career in IT). If you don’t have the time or money to do so, take it easy and don’t pressure yourself. There is a plethora of information and skills you can gain from the internet for free, at your own comfortable pace. Given enough patience and persistence, you will eventually be able to have enough skills and knowledge to land your dream job, maybe even sooner than you think.

Conclusion

Having a degree in a wrong major is not the end, you can still learn something you like and eventually change your career path. Take some courses, or take some time to learn something new by yourself. Don’t be afraid to do something new. It’s never too late to change, and you can always keep learning no matter what age you are on.

Keep your spirits up and happy learning!