By Surya Pillai
October 4, 2025: Going back to my adolescence, I recall the question that continued to bother me; it was the question of what I wanted to become when I grew up. It sounded like such an easy question, but it had the future of my life in its hands. I still feel the confusion on the faces of the students and young people even today. The fact is, we want teens to make life-altering career choices at an age when they are still finding themselves. I always ask myself–are we providing them with sufficient guidance, or are we merely throwing the burden of choice into their hands, with no help?
The Stress of Making Premature Decisions
When I was a teenager, I recall that my relatives would always inquire as to what I wanted to do in the future. Science, commerce, or arts? Doctor, engineer or otherwise? I hardly knew myself at 16 or 17, not to mention the professional world. However, the hope was to choose a course that would shape the rest of my life. I understand now the pressure that is put on the teens. Most of them are not prepared to make such decisions, yet society forces them to make such decisions, and in most cases, they end up getting stressed, anxious, and making mistakes.
The Limited Exposure Problem
Lack of exposure was one of the greatest problems I encountered–and I can observe it in teens nowadays. As a child, the number of professions that I was aware of was extremely small: teacher, doctor, engineer, and lawyer. No one explained to me about such disciplines as robotics, data science, media studies, design thinking, or entrepreneurship. It is saddening to think that there are still a number of students who think their only way to succeed is in the same old safe careers. The lack of awareness means that the teenagers cannot dream bigger or pursue careers that really suit them and their passions.
How Confusion Shows Up
I have talked to a number of teens who admit that they are lost. They say to me, I like art, and my parents insist I take up commerce, or I like science, and I do not feel myself passionate about being a doctor. This is a clash of personal interests and external expectations and they are usually left in the middle. In some cases, they take a path of the less risky option, simply to not disappoint parents or teachers. There are other occasions when they rebel and make a decision that is absolutely different, and they do not even know whether it suits them. In any case, insufficient career counseling leads to the cycle of doubt.
Why Guidance Matters
In hindsight, I have understood how that would have changed things, had someone sat me down and told me that career choices were not necessarily permanent. The fact that I was able to explore, test and even switch directions when necessary. Career guidance is not only about presenting the teen with a list of job titles but rather making them learn more about themselves: what they like to do, what they are good at and what values are important to them. Unless we provide them with that, we run the risk of placing them on career paths that suck them out of their potential rather than developing them.
What Teens Really Need
Based on my experience, exposure and conversation are the two things that teens need most. They require career educational programs in schools, mentorship programs, and experience in other industries through internship or projects. They require non judgmental parents and teachers. Most of all, they should be assured that there is nothing wrong in not knowing everything at 18. Life is not a linear progression and careers can be experimented with and modified and even switched.
My Teen and Parent Message
Assuming I could talk to every teenager who has career confusion, I would tell them: It is all right not to know everything at the moment. It is important to remain curious, open-mind and be able to learn. And were I to speak to all parents, I would say: Lead your children, do not make decisions on their behalf. Allow them to experiment, allow them to fail and above all to enjoy what they do.
Redefining Career Guidance
The issue of career guidance can no longer be about which course of study will pay you the highest salary. It must be one of assisting teens in finding themselves, where their interests are applicable in reality, and how they can be of service to some degree. Such a strategy does not only decrease the amount of confusion–it creates trust and strength.
As I contemplate the problem of career confusion in teens nowadays, I am both worried and optimistic. Fearful that it is still left to many of us to find our way through this maze by ourselves, but optimistic because we are starting to see the value of being guided. When we really wish to empower the next generation, we need to cease to make career choices a one-time choice and begin to view them as a journey of discovery.
Since a career is not merely about earning a living in the end, and that is what matters.
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