Hi, KK |
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Copyright © 2009 Soy-n-Joy®
"Hi, KK"™ is our latest vehicle of interaction with you, our readers. Typically, you send us challenging life questions by e-mail to kk@soynjoy.net, and we shall try to respond with our best strategic advice. Both your question and our response may be published to share insights with other readers who may have similar questions or concerns themselves, but out of respect for your privacy, our policy is to keep your name anonymous and your contact information private.
Please keep in mind that whatever strategic advice dispensed here is an advice only, based on the limited information supplied by you. By nature, an advice is one of the many inputs for your consideration, but the ultimate decision is yours, and you own both the decision and the consequences of that decision. So make the best decision for yourself and may the best luck be with you!
Here are some exchanges we had with our readers. The sender's input has been edited slightly to enhance readability and to protect privacy and anonymity. Hope you will find the contents useful too.
If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail to kk@soynjoy.net.
Question: Hi I've read your article online and it's helped me a lot with my problems [I am] facing right now. I'm a sophomore studying in a university in XXX. I was in Environmental Studies in the first year, and now I've transferred to Business Management. I'm kind of confused now about whether I've made the proper decision. I've always been interested in natural science and media and communication [and] something like that. And I want to get a job in National Geographic magazine or channel. But still, I just have a general preference and I don't know which field I'm really good at or have a strong interest in. Can you give me some advice on choosing majors? What will the future job market be like? Thank you so much.
Sincerely,
XXXX
KK's Response:
Hi,
Thank you for your trust by writing to us on such a crucial decision in your life.
You should ask yourself why you've chosen environmental studies in your first year and why you have decided to give it up and opted for business management in your second year. Then you will get to understand yourself better. Your choices reflected on your values, beliefs and assumptions, and/or those of people important in your life, in other words, your influencers. But you are the one ultimately responsible for your own decisions and actions, whatever other people's advices and influences may be.
You already know what you want (your goal) and you have already defined your interest (which will keep you going). Just follow your passion. Technical skill comes first (you can find a job of your interest right after graduation with the first degree, if you so choose, or you can go on to pursue higher degrees of your interest or in complementary fields); business skill development can come later (either on-the-job or getting an MBA). If you have set your sight on a career in the media, and if you are comfortably confident of your language proficiency, one suggestion is to go for Journalism and Communication. Your background training in environmental studies and business management will still be relevant. What you need is solid training in a technical field relevant to your career goal, so that you may land a job that not only pays your bills, but one that keeps you interested and provides you with career development opportunity. Then you may also open up other options as time goes on.
If you are not comfortable going into Journalism and Communication, and if your goal is still focused on a media career, or the media as a side career, then make yourself an expert in some field that you are interested in and that the media will find you relevant and differentiated. But then you must become a true expert in that field, both in expertise and experience. That will take many years of focused and dedicated commitment. The key question you must ask yourself is, "What is my career goal?" Then you can research about your options, get yourself informed, and figure out what your next step should be.
Don't worry about what the future job market will be like, what is hot and what is not, because nothing stays constant. But unless you are pursuing an obsolete field, you may have read in my SKY COLUMN article that "today's world offers enough opportunities for different talents to work together as a team," and that "society always needs a variety of talents to keep it functioning and prosperous. Our born talents will be put to profitable use, as the Chinese saying goes. We shall drive our personal strategic plan not based on what is popular at the time, but based on what we are good at."
In 2006, there was a survey among 960 employers in Hong Kong as to which local university's graduates, first employed 2003, filled their needs best. Graduates of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) came up on top in 7 of 9 criteria: English proficiency, Chinese proficiency, numbers proficiency, people skills, analytical skills, problem-solving skills, and management skills. The other two were information technology skills and professional skills in which CUHK graduates ranked second. If you look at this set of 9 skills valued by employers, you will have an idea as to what to make up to make you employment-relevant, and differentiated in what you do particularly well.
To make yourself differentiated in what you do particularly well, and pursue something of your interest (to make life interesting), while staying on course your personal strategic plan, you may consider doing something on the side (as minors or electives) that will help your employability in the target field. For example, if you are interested in nature, science and human behavior (all of which will be relevant if you ultimately pursue a career in Journalism and Communication), you may pick courses in biological evolution, basic statistics, geography, basic economics, human psychology, and even consumer studies. At the same time, broaden yourself and keep yourself up-to-date by reading about the world. Some good choices available online include nytimes.com and mingpaotor.com.
Then, after graduation with a first degree in a technical discipline, say Journalism and Communication, you may go on to pursue a full-time or part-time MBA program, to help you develop even better skills in decision-making, management, analysis, and problem-solving. You will also be opening yourself up to many opportunities in the business world. Your Journalism and Communication skills, besides helping you to land your first job, will still be relevant in whatever you choose to do later in life.
You are now a sophomore, and will soon be a junior, the critical year for laying a path for your future. So make your best choice, while the luxury lasts, to make your studies, career, and life enjoyable down the road.
Hope you find the above helpful.
With best wishes,
KK
Soy-n-Joy
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