Majority of young people getting into the job market have a hard time knowing exactly what they want to do. Choosing a career path that is fulfilling is one of the most important decisions that a person has to make. However, sometimes it is not easy knowing which direction to take. Over the last couple of years, the career path for most young people has gradually changed. The job market requirements are constantly changing in the age of technology and innovation.The best way is to be incredibly awesome at whatever you do. But how do you do that? I found an insightful podcast from Keith Rabois, a technology titan in Silicon Valley who has worked in many companies such as PayPal, LinkedIn, Square and Slide. He is also a venture capitalist with many years of management experience.
From the podcast, Keith mentions that one of the key things to develop over time is to find out what you can be really good at. This may not manifest early in your career but progressively. Ultimately the aim is not only to become good at what you do but “the only one who does what you do“. In other words, leveraging on your strengths and passions and defining yourself depending on what you think you are awesome at. At first the focus is not on the title because it might not even exist but the work that inspires you. Over time, know how to define what you do and become incredibly awesome at it. I found this quite awesome way of looking at it. To become such a person may mean working in different settings or even within one organisation depending on circumstances. It also means constantly repackaging yourself to reflect the type of work you would like to be involved in. Keith also talks about other things such as risks, challenges in the workplace, stress and hiring people. You can listen to the podcast here. I can relate Keith’s views with this post by Harvard business review which talks about focusing on getting work to do rather than a job.This is because a job maybe scarce but there is plentiful of work to do. Working on areas that interest will ultimately make you incredible at what you do. Personally, this was illuminating and will work on that in the months to come.
P.S:It is always good to hear and learn from other peers in your industry. The Arena Kenya has organised a #Matchmentor event whereby a mentee gets a one-0n-one engagement with thriving professionals in the media and journalism industry. The concept is called speedmentoring, like speed dating but now for mentorship. The focus on this event is on media and journalism industry. Within the session, a young professional will get a chance to get career tips, know what is going on in the industry, areas that you should be focusing on and and possibly establish long term relationship for career growth. This is an awesome platform for those studying or recent graduates in the media and journalism industry. The event is on November 26 2016 and you can get more information on Twitter or instagram You also can get all the details about the event on The Arena blog. I hope to see you there.
christhecurator 