How to spot your Dream Job

Here are the excerpts from the article which came on "The Hindu".

According to behavioral economists, career choices are not obvious or simple to make. Experts have found that biases that we are not aware of skew our perceptions of our options and create blind spots on your choices. Understanding these biases can help young people succeed in selecting a profession that will earn them a living and also yield fulfillment, a sense of purpose, and a chance to master a skill that fascinates them.

Status Quo Bias
People generally don't like change.

It's human to go down the path of least resistance and stick to what we know best. While the narrowest definiton of this bias is individual behaviour that involves inertia or avoidance of change, it is also a tendency that we can influence children to follow their parents into the same line of work.

Present BiasIt's important to keep long-term happiness in mind, becasuse another bias can lead to an overemphsis on the next few years rather than the next few decades.

Many of us avoid actions that are costly in the short term, evn if they present payoff in the future

Present bias could prevent someone from pursig a job that requires an initial investment in education. The bias could also encourage a person to choose a job that offers high pay initially, but has limited opportunities for advancement.

Way out of the confusion - Seek Mentors

To combat these biases, economists suggest speaking to professionals in various stages of a career. Experienced mentors can offer a longer-term prespective on what it will be like to work in that area for most of your life: younger workers can offer a view of what it's like to start in the filed now. This kind of investigation, will help job hunters avoid another serious mistake : making choices base on the most obvious factors.

Behavioral economics tell us that people often focus too much on the wrong things, and tend to focus on aspects of the  job that are salient.. so for example, the pay i s salient, especially the starting pay.

When taking decisions under this salient bias, people may place more importance on visible or quantifiable features, such as Corvette a lawyer drives, without considering the less readily visible, such as low satisfied that lawyer may be with his career.

One of the things we know from behavioral economics is that social innovations are very important. "Do people feel like they're treated fairly."
Do they get along with the people they work with?
Do they find the work intrinsically rewarding?

Richard Freeman, a professor of economics of Harward University, advises students to explore the world hands-on as much as they can through internship or a gap year. He suggests that if students do not like what they find that way, they could try a different employer or another job in the same field to see if that helps.

In the end, outwitting your biases might mean learning to follow your gut feelings to keep listening. I say to students, "just find something your really like, " Freeman said.

You've got to make enough money to live, but it's crazy to be attracted by the great rewards, money, prestige whatever it is. You want to spend your life doing this."