A few generations ago, choosing what to study was choosing what we would dedicate our working life to. This conditioned many other aspects of adult life. But recent social changes and in the way we relate to each other condition how we work, and even how much we work.

Currently, no decision regarding our professional future should be irrevocable, which makes the choice of which path to follow in higher education (whether in the university or in a technical branch) somewhat less momentous than it was decades ago.

The covid-19 pandemic has shown how professions for which attendance was understood as essential have gone virtual for a time.

This forced transformation due to the health emergency has made the business world reflect on the flexibility of times and spaces, the influence it has on employees and the impact on productivity.

A broader and relative vision

Students who are starting their university or professional path today have grown up with the Internet as their usual means of communication, and have experienced the growth of social networks. This allows them to have a broader view of the speed at which society is moving and the need to connect with the internet.

However, it does not make it easier when choosing to continue with one type of study or another. Why is it so difficult to choose a career? What should we take into account and how can we be more likely to get it right?

Youth and family pressure

Probably the most complicated part of this decision-making is the age at which it is made and the family, social and personal pressure that conditions us.

There are also options that did not exist recently: for example, it would have been difficult for us to imagine that someone could receive financial benefit from what they share on social networks. And that this someone could become an employer and hire other people to advise them on image, marketing , engagement and a whole range of other elements to take into account.

New outlets

In addition to these new professions (or work activities with economic remuneration), new functions have also appeared and continue to appear for professions that we already knew but are now changing perspective.

Traditionally, someone who studies Art History found his way out in teaching, perhaps in a museum or cultural center. Today we can find historians on the Internet who are dedicated to advising publishers, creating virtual content, disseminating knowledge and other tasks that were probably unthinkable when they began their studies.

Try to look to the future

The choice of studies is made with the current perspective, the current knowledge and the employability that we understand for the knowledge that we are going to acquire.

But the last decades and the professional change that we have experienced allow us to affirm that, with great probability, in 10 years today’s students will be exercising professions that we cannot now imagine or in a modality for which during their time at university they did not they were formed.

The frustration of changing careers

Many students start a course and later change grades ; or they finish a degree and specialize in a field that, a priori , is not directly connected.

In most cases, this generates a significant sense of frustration , not only with oneself but with the family environment in the belief that expectations have not been met.

Choose what motivates us

Today’s students, for these reasons, should choose according to their preferences, attitudes and aptitudes, regardless of any other interests or external influences. When you study what you really like, you look for a way to put into practice the profession you are passionate about.

The question is to change the focus of attention, turn it towards how to combine what we are passionate about to turn it into our profession. The studies we take will be the basis on which to build that profession.

No jobs forever

Demystifying work for life will help us to reduce the pressure on the decisions we make, as well as to feel free to change studies and work activities when we feel we should.

We get to know each other better . We go to therapy sessions when we need it, we do introspection to be good with ourselves and relate better to others. All this leads us to seek what we call a vocation.

Exploring one’s vocation is a whole path of self-knowledge that takes many people a lifetime .

Guidance and resources

Today we have the resources to undertake this search and find what we feel called to do and that makes us feel complete as teenagers or young people.

This does not mean that at 18 we should be clear, neither at 25 nor at 30. Each person has their times and stopping comparing ourselves with what should be will allow us to find what makes us happy, instead of what others expect from me. make happy.

Vertigo or illusion

We can try to transform the vertigo of changing careers or expanding our studies in another area for the illusion of acquiring new learning in other fields.

It is impossible to know in advance how the world of business and work will continue to change, but we do know that starting to practice a profession and reaching retirement age in it is becoming less frequent .

Our society is constantly in motion and those of us who live, study and work in it must make our decisions more flexible, in order to have the ability to adapt to the changes of tomorrow, those that we can predict and those that we cannot even imagine today.

Author Bio: Rosa Dominguez Martin has a Degree in Pedagogy and Doctor in Education and is Director of Pedagogy Degree, Professor at the Faculty of Education at the International University of Valencia