I believe parents should encourage and allow their kids to chase/pursue career paths that they genuinely love and have a passion for studying, but while supporting their choices, I will also help them understand the realities of those choices they choose to pursue.
If it's a career choice that doesn't have a competitive advantage, they will chase it as a hobby and not as a primary career. That's because passion doesn't guarantee financial success. Apart from chasing what they are passionate about, they should also consider the future.
No doubt chasing passion is great. I have seen passion creates opportunities, especially when it's combined with constant dedication, creativity and constant learning and I have also seen it ruin people.
For instance, I used to have this girl in my neighborhood who said she just wanted to learn ballet dance and didn't want to do any other thing. She went as far as attending the lessons. Everyone knew her for that passion, and now we are grown up, she's currently realizing that Nigeria isn't a country that places much value on ballet dance. That was just a passion, and she turned it into a career. In the real sense, she would have chased a lucrative career and considered ballet dancing as a hobby, because she even needed money to relocate to a better country, to expertise and get opportunities to explore her talents. Most of the career choices kids make are just hobbies they get from what they watch or see. It's the duty of the parents to help them understand that there's a difference between a hobby and a career.
Parents should also try to make kids understand that there are certain skills that are valuable in the job market and if their passion doesn't have any value, they have to consider it a hobby, or side hustle and chase what is valuable in the job market and be open to evolving their career. As parents, you just have to open their eyes to reality and prevent them from making mistakes. If their passion doesn't have an advantage, I'm the kind of parent that will convince them to consider that passion a hobby and focus on a career that has a competitive advantage in our society.
It's hangout time 🥳
RE: Sam’s Hangout #125 - “CAREER CHOICE: PASSION OR JOB SECURITY?"