Which one to pursue, and how

While growing up, almost all of us have written an ‘aim in my life’ essay. If not that, then the burning question of ‘what do you want to become in future?’ could not be escaped at all. Till we have learnt our primary education, or even before that– this question constantly revolved around us and we evolved around it. Our desires changed, the concept of our own reality transformed and after growing up we often find ourselves not grabbing that one thing as a career that we wrote in that essay, cherished in our hearts.
According to the definition given by Oxford Dictionary, a career is an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person’s life and with opportunities for progress. That refers to a person’s holistic growth, not being stuck to a cubicle and going home unsatisfied. Career should be something that gives a person to look forward with their capabilities unfold, possibilities uphold.
Turn skills into tools: A job can be anything that pays you but for a career curve, you need to link up the experience and skill for your future reference, just as Meer Raihan Masud did. He worked as a journalist for years, and then shifted to a social media monitoring job. He is also a food and travel vlogger in social media and takes this as a passion. The skills he earned while being in journalism such as good rapport, bonding with people in a brief time and so on– “The vlogging I do in ‘Raihanism Travel & Food’ is mostly mobile journalism for which I was properly trained in BBC, my previous workplace. Rather than this, basic skills as video production and editing are not very alien to people but what I needed to learn is social media demography such as the audience psychology, their demand and how their purpose is served etc. I did not expect this much in the beginning of my page but it is doing quite well now and I am very hopeful about its future potential.”
Any skill learnt and practised from a previous job can help grow your career. It can be the most irrelevant task and yet there would be something to learn. Jakir Hossain Raju is an assistant teacher at NESCO (Northern Electricity Supply Company). Throughout his university life, he took private tutoring as a regular income source. He believes that the skills he earned throughout the tuitions are the most powerful tools he can utilise every day. Through this, he is more able to understand the psyche of teenagers better as he has dealt with them before. Another skill that he mentioned is rather a hobby for him but also emphasises the communication with his students is reading story books. Because of this, he can always make the classes enjoyable for his students and monotony does not take over. He also enjoys the job because of the scopes to apply his skills like communication and reading.
Chasing your calling: All of us are good at something or love a work that might be our best characteristic. That calling in our life is what drives us to live and march forward. The pursuit of a calling, that sweet spot where passion meets purpose, can be incredibly fulfilling. But it is not always possible to attend that calling and meet our income targets, or even a career goal.
Meer Raihan Masud thinks that it is not always necessary to see one’s passion as a profession but it is indeed a privilege to seek for. Rather he focuses on the demands of one’s life and to work accordingly. If it is a calling that can be turned into a professional step, then we should always welcome it but only after analysing the pros and cons.
“I want to take up vlogging as a fulltime job after a while. But I think before that, I need to grow some more skills that are sources of income. I want to utilise my vlogging skill in multidimensional ways so that the risk factors are lessened with time. I want to secure a sustainable livelihood so that I can provide for my family. With the rest of it, I would just love to enjoy my life in my own way as you know even enjoying your life might seem a very costly desire in our country,” Masud added.
What is what: It is important to differentiate between the classic trio of job, career and calling. We should take every job as a stepping stone in our career graph as a career refers to a rather well-paved road. It allows us to travel further in life, develop our skills more and more. Career gives stability in life, but that might not provide us with the excitement or thrill we thrive for. And that is where the call of a calling comes in. It is like a windy journey, when you enjoy every moment but are not totally sure of the destination. It will keep the spark in you alive so that you can also maintain the needed jobs or even a stable and secure career graph.
All of these are important in human life as we cannot just remove one of them and live peacefully. To maintain harmony among these three can bring one the most successful balance that we all crave for.

[email protected]