7 Career Advice you will wish you got before Age 25

Chinua Achebe had written his classic novel, Things Fall Apart, by the age of 25. J.K. Rowling was 25 years old when she came up with the idea of Harry Potter, the book that had sold over 400 million copies. At the age of 25, Mark Zuckerberg’s project, Facebook, had reached over 300 million users.

By conventional wisdom, at the age of 25, you are expected to have graduated from the university or college, and just starting a career. Who said you have to wait until you are 25 before you start trying to figure out what to do with your life?

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1. Money should not be your primary motivation: Benjamin Franklin once said: “Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one.” While considering a course to study at the university, I decided to settle for Petroleum Engineering because I felt working in an oil company was the fastest way to get rich. Who wouldn’t want a slice of the oil money in an oil producing country? I graduated a petroleum engineer but 13 years later, I’m yet to collect my degree certificate from my school.

We can both agree that profitability and market demand is important in choosing a career. But that should never be the primary motivation if you truly want to be fulfilled. Instead see the next point.

2. Find and develop on what interests you: Late Professor Chinua Achebe, discovered his love for writing and storytelling while at the university. He won a scholarship to study medicine, but changed his studies to English literature at the University. He became fascinated with world religions and traditional African cultures, and began writing stories as a university student. His carefully honed craft of writing and storytelling resulted in his first published book, Things Fall Apart. Who haven’t read or at least heard about Things Fall Apart?

You don’t have to spend 4 to 5 years of your life studying a course you have no interest in, with the hope that everything will work out fine when you leave school. Most people in the corporate world hate their jobs. You are not too young to start thinking about your life. Youth is an advantage. Make the most of your time while you are young.

3. Start small: George Eliot, an English poet cum novelist once said: “Great things are not done by impulse but by a series of small things brought together.” I remember how I started my writing career with my mobile phone – Nokia 3230 to be precise. I couldn’t afford a laptop. And I wouldn’t accept that as an excuse not to start. That same business paid for my first laptop, several laptops later on, and has grown into a company with several employees.

You must understand that things will never be the same. If you start out without shoes, you will get slippers. After that comes shoes and maybe boots, if you so desire. Nothing ever is the same. Start small but dream big! You won’t be a graduate trainee all your life! So don’t be afraid to start small.

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