*HOW TO MAKE A SMART CAREER:
(By Abubakar Muhammed Bashir)

Decision making could be tough for a number of people especially teenagers. Most teenagers are faced with making decisions at the secondary school level on which class to join like Science class, Art class or the Commercial class. Some have the difficulty of choice making while others have such decisions already made by their parents, yet still others naturally falls into one class or the other based on their intelligence or natural tendencies. However we have a few who have difficulty with decision making at this level.

The next phase of decision making is after secondary school, youths need to decide which tertiary institution to attend and course to choose. Many at this level are careless enough to follow the decisions of their friends, some fall into the category of not meeting the required cut-off point for their desired course and have to settle for another course, some opt for Polytechnics and colleges of Education. This post aims to give an eye opener to youths in order to make wise career decisions.

Important questions to guide teenagers while choosing course of study includes

Can I practice alone or be an entrepreneur from this course of study?
Can I get a good job easily with this course? Are they in high demand?
Is the wage structure good and attractive?
Is this field protected by a Union or board?
Presently, the salary structure for some professions is better than other professions. People fall into different categories.

High paying Jobs
Middle class jobs
Low paying jobs
One sector I know and I am sure is a high paying job all over the world is the medical career. I suggest young people delve into any of the professional courses in the health sector and partake in the high pay. Asides this, most of these health professions can be practiced alone. Many people who work in federal and state ministries who find themselves in other sectors decides to go back to school to study an health related course so as to benefit from the fat salary scale of the sector.

A class of tertiary institution seemingly underrated, with easy access of admission is the College of Health Technologies. There are a good number of colleges of health both government-owned and private owned that are dispersed all around the country. It is advisable that science students take advantage of them to study one of the health courses like Community Health Extension Worker, Health Information Management, Environmental Health Technology or Technician, Pharmacy Technician, Dental Health Technician/ Technology or Therapist, Medical Laboratory Technician.

One good thing about these courses is that all are protected by good regulation Boards and Union that protects the interest of their members. These Boards set, maintain and uphold training standards and ensure that they get the best in terms of income for their members from the government.

Take for instance: your friend decided he MUST attend the university. He went ahead to study just any course offered him all in the name of ‘I MUST GO TO THE UNIVERSITY’ and he later became a graduate. Another person decided to opt for one of the colleges of health technology, for instance Health Information Management or community health, he got a job not long after completion of his course and settled on time. Whereas, the other university graduate after completion of the mandatory national youth service returned to seek a job. Present statistics worldwide shows that there is need for more health workers in order to buffer the expertise scarcity and to reduce the rate at which some preventable/ treatable diseases cause mortality. This is the reason why it’s easier worldwide today for a trained health worker to get a job faster than people from other courses.

My advice for youths is to make informed decisions and not flow with the tide of following other people’s steps and end up in a rut. It is better to listen to the counsel of people ahead of you in order to avoid pitfalls. Above all, God’s plan and timetable for every man differs. Pray to God and seek for his counsel and guidance. He will point to you what to do and where to go. In all your ways acknowledge God and He shall direct your path.

Scientist Abubakar Muhammed Bashir*