Multiple careers or the One?

Everyone at one point or the other chooses what career they want to do for the rest of their lives and for most of us, that decision is made while we are still in high school. Just like everything else in life, it's not strange that such a decision changes over time and we end up doing something else. For example, when I was in high school, my goal was to study medicine at the university and become a medical doctor but after secondary school, I switched to Medical Lab Science (MLS) because the competition in medicine was very high.

Did I even end up studying MLS? Of course not, welcome to Nigeria where the country can dictate what you study in the university. I ended up studying Aquaculture because that was what was given to me after attempting the admission entrance examination (UTME) 4 times. I later realized that most of us studying Aquaculture were all medicine or MLS rejects; the ones who didn't make it. I decided to study the course and make the best of it. I eventually graduated last year but am I practicing what I studied? Nope.

It was in my 3rd year that I realized I loved something else; computer science. I remember my mom telling me back then that I made a mistake and could have just applied for computer science rather than MLS, that would have been a lot easier to get because a lot of people don't go that area. Well, I realized it wasn't too late to pursue computer science, so I started studying to become a software engineer. I took a couple of courses online, including a computer science course with Harvard University (which I'm not actually still done with).

The point of my story is that at first it might not be clear which career path you want and it's only by trying out different things that you will know. At the same time, we have a limited time on Earth and that's one thing you should always have in mind; while exploring your options, remember that time is running out. But the way I see it, I think it's better to take the time to figure out what you really want rather than spending a lifetime doing something you don't love just to make a living.

We see this a lot in the world today; people doing jobs they don't like just to make ends meet. While it's great to explore different career paths, doing that isn't exactly easy, and that's depending on the career. For example, a lawyer trying to change career to become a doctor should know how difficult that change would be. I mean, you will have to get a degree first and be licenced to operate which will take years. That might be doable for someone in their 20s but a person who is already in their 40s might probably want to factor in the time needed to achieve that goal.

Switching between two completely different fields is a lot harder than switching between paths that share a similar field. For example, in the tech field, we have software engineers, cyber security experts and a lot of other paths. A person can be a software engineer today and decided to switch to cyber security tomorrow, it might just take them a few months. Even in the software engineering field, there are still a lot of specializations; a person can be a game developer today, and tomorrow he will be a mobile app developer. Compare that to a person trying to switch from software engineering to law.

Essentially, I would say it's better to stick to one career if you know what you really want. I didn't know what I wanted initially and that was why I thought it was medicine (now I don't even like it anymore) but if I had realized it was software engineering, I would have become a software engineer today. The main advantages of sticking to one career path are deep expertise and a stronger reputation; the longer you do something, the better you get at it and the more recognition you get. The only disadvantage I see is that it can get boring with time, especially if you're a person who loves exploring.

As for having multiple careers, the good thing with having multiple careers is that you will have a diverse skill; after all, you need different skills for different career paths, the classic jack of all trades. As for the disadvantages, well, just flip the advantages of having a single career and you will get the disadvantages of multiple careers; weak reputation and lack of specialization. Jack of all trades but master of none; today you are a doctor, tomorrow a lawyer, not exactly building up a good reputation in any of those fields. In the end, you just have to figure out what you want early enough but if you can't do that, then it's ok to explore different careers.

Thanks for reading

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