How to Avoid Herd Mentality

Career decisions are perhaps one of the most important decisions a person makes in his or her life. They reflect the kind of life you want to lead and play a huge role in shaping your personality and behavior and ultimately, become a reflection of who you are as a person.

One of the major problems faced by people when they take this decision is not playing to their strengths. Confused? Well, too many of us sink our teeth into careers which may not be suitable for us or we may not even be good at! We take it up solely on the basis of ‘Sharmajikebete ne bhiyehi career liyahai’. Herd mentality is an issue which plagues the majority of us. Right from our school days, we are taught to be our own person and not blindly follow others but why do we then make the biggest decision of our life without a second thought?

Lack of awareness is the root issue of herd mentality. Most people are unaware of their skills and abilities and merely take up their careers because it was the obvious decision or because they know someone who took it up and could probably be of help in the future.  This reckless and careless thinking gives rise to a society where there is an alarming number of unskilled people in a single profession or shortage of people in fields which are essential for the progress of society and human beings as a whole.

An aptitude test is a test which discovers the basic aptitude of a person. Briefly, it can be described as the revealing of a person’s natural abilities and thought process. The innate inclination of the person is unveiled making it easier to decide a suitable career for the candidate. The aptitude test shows a person’s strengths and weaknesses which can then be matched with the results of a career test and ensure that the person chooses a career where he can excel and grow instead of being a blind sheep and landing up in a career which is harmful to their personal and professional growth.

Once the aptitude test results are received, a person should apply for a career test and see to it that the test results are scrutinized by experienced and qualified career guidance professionals. In recent times, it has been observed that though these tests are available online, without the right mentorship, the candidate can still end up having a career which does not satisfy their personal ambitions.

Career tests basically help in the assessment of a candidate’s suitability for a various number of fields. Their core attributes like interests, preferences, aptitude, motivation and such are made known to them and helps them understand how their attributes affect the career they apply for. People who have good oratory skills and are people friendly can apply for public relations or people who have a taste for literature can apply to be professors!

Recent studies have shown that an average person between the ages of 18-35 will change his job at least 3-4 times during his career. This proves that people in the society are not happy with the jobs they have at present. A complete ignorance of career assessment and guidance is the result of a constant change in employment.

Another good test to articulate the appropriate career is a psychometric test. A psychometric test analyses the abilities and character of the candidate and discovers whether the candidate is suitable for the job or not. It is a known fact that people who are happy with their careers are innately motivated and lead a happy and healthy life rather than being depressed and in a career slump.

These are some of the tools that are available to overcome herd mentality but the most important way to defeat is to think rationally and logically before taking any major career decisions. For example, in the recent years there has been an alarming increase in the number of people who study engineering thinking that this will be the perfect career as almost everyone is doing it. This is how herd mentality works and destroys various professions. More and more people opt for engineering and fields like writing, hotel management, doctors etc hardly experience any new blood in them.

There are a large number of career opportunities available in today’s society and yet people still choose to flock to the tried and tested fields even though they may not be suitable for them. Career guidance with the experience and qualified guidance counselors ensure that with the help of the right tools the person chooses a career which is best suited to their talent so that they may be motivated, happy and be an asset to the society.

About the Author:

Renu Kishor, works as Content Analyst @CareerGuide.com. Beside her work she also has a keen interest in counseling students to take the right stride towards achieving their career goals. She like to write, listen to music besides travelling to exotic locations.

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