Wish someone had told me when I was 18: by Alok Das

18 years is a nice age, isn’t it? This is the time when you feel you want to conquer the world, challenge the status quo and reform everything. You have many dreams; you are enthusiastic about too many things. Most importantly, you do not want to be lectured about anything at all. There are too many striking points about this age. However, we do not live in an ideal world and so we need to prepare for a whole list of paradigm shifts. A little bit of guidance may be helpful. At least I feel so, nay, I would say many people like me who have crossed their 18th years a while ago will agree with me.

When I look in retrospect let me tell you what I feel, that is, if I had the magic opportunity to go back to my 18th year, what I would love to hear. You can participate in this with me as a fellow traveller as I revisit my thoughts or may be as a listener to my soliloquy.

Q. I have finished high school? What should I do next? Go to TAFE or uni?

A. Congratulations on completing your high school. This is a very important point to decide the future course of your life. Now do these:

• Sit down in a quiet corner with a cup of coffee or tea, have a chat with yourself what you want to do in your life. Then write them on a diary or a piece of paper.
• Revisit your notes the next day. Still have the same aims / goals? If not, repeat the exercise. If the same, good. Now can you talk to anyone whose judgement you trust, can be someone in your family or teacher? You do not have to follow their advice word for word. What they will tell you is highly likely to trigger new thoughts in you.
• Irrespective of whether you go to a TAFE or a uni, the most important point is that you have to prepare yourself for the fights of life and you need to acquire new skills that will enable you to accomplish things.

Most importantly, never ever stop learning.

Q. Can you be a bit clearer? What do you mean by skills?

A. Let me explain by examples.
Example 1: If you want to be doctor, you need to have the knowledge about certain points, for example, how to identify a disease, what medicine to suggest, how to use medical apparatus, how to tell the patient on how to manage the journey to recovery. Most importantly, you need to be able to talk to a patient in way so they get the confidence that you know what you are talking about and they can trust you. You also need to have the ability to manage the stress of talking to many people in a day.

Example 2: If you want to be a chef, you need to know about different types of food, how to cook different dishes using different techniques, how to maintain the safety standards in the kitchen, how to work under pressure. If you make a difference in how you present food to your customers, you will make a huge difference and will likely achieve great levels of success.

Now can we explain the skills in this way?
• Hard skills: Ability to diagnose a disease or cook a certain meal. In other words, skills that can be defined and measured for competency.

• Soft skills: Ability to talk to different people who can be your patient (if you are a doctor) or customer (if you are a chef). In other words, skills that are hard to define and measure but can be reflected in your behaviour.

The point is whatever you decide to be in life, you need to achieve a number of hard skills and soft skills. What is the point of topping uni in medicine if you do not know how to talk to a patient properly?

Q. I see many unlawful things. What should I do?

A. It is good that you have noticed it. It proves that you have a conscience. Now how to fix it? Very difficult to answer in one sentence. Learn how to use your reasoning. If you see someone attacked by thugs, call the police but do not jump into action to protect them, because you can injure yourself. What about too many homeless people? Well, you can certainly help by working in a charity but do not necessarily think about doing a revolt to change everything. We do not live in an ideal world. Things happen in a way they should not have happened. I am not asking you to stop dreaming about a better world. Remember, it may take a long while for something to be fixed and what you are thinking may not necessarily be the best solution.

Q. Where can I research about requirements for the job I want to do?

A. Go to https://www.seek.com.au and search for jobs. Identify the skills they want and where is the gap, that is, where you need to work to uplift your skills.

Q. Is a degree enough to get a job?

A. Unfortunately no. Most employers look at experience first, then skills. Degree comes as a value- add at the very last stage.

Q. Should I start working while I am studying at uni?

A. The choice is yours but if you have any work experience (even in a retail shop like Coles, Woolies, Officeworks) it will give you a huge dividend. It is definitely a good idea to start working with whatever opportunities you have. Without any work experience it may be next to impossible to get a job after you have finished uni.

Q. Who else can I ask about career options?

A. Many people. Ask a family friend, your lecturer, the career counselling section of your uni.

Q. What do I need to know about interview skills?
A. Go to YouTube and search for S-T-A-R interview techniques by Anthony Staggs. You can search in Google too.

Q. Do I need to do any other course to uplift my skills?
A. Not necessarily. Google and YouTube are very helpful resources. You can also look at Coursera.

Q. What are some small activities that I can put my skills to a challenge?

A. Think about it. Why don’t you start by fixing your own budget or your family’s budget.

Q. How can I write a good resume and a cover letter?

A. Again use your best friends Google and YouTube. But be aware! You don’t need to pay anyone to do it for you. Do some research. You can do it well.

Q. How can I learn very good time management?

A. Watch the lecture on time management by Dr Randy Pausch on YouTube.

Q. What else I need to be aware of as a preparation for success in my career?

A. Try these:

• You need to have very good public speaking skills. You can attend a Toastmaster club in your area. If you do not want to be a fee paying member, you can attend as a guest. You can look at their website, or check in YouTube for their speeches and speech contests.
• Buy a whiteboard and some markers from Officeworks or any other shop, and put in your room or somewhere in your house. Practice explaining what you are studying to your family members using the whiteboard. Do they understand you? Can you simplify concepts? Or explain to them what you have seen in a movie.
• You also need to be aware about networking. It is very important.

Q. Which companies in Australia may offer internship / cadetship?

A. There are many who offer these. Some of the prominent ones are:

• PWC
• Ernest and Young
• Deloitte
• KPMG
• NAB
• Westpac
• ANZ
• CBA

You can later (after you have graduated) think about their graduate recruitment options too. Some government departments may offer opportunities too.

Q. What are the 5 last points that you want to tell me?

• Learn to say ‘No’: There are occasions where you need to resist peer pressure or other type of pressures and say No. If friends want to go shoplifting just for fun, will you say yes? No
• Importance of failure: Always try your best but it is ok to fail. Learn from your failures. All famous people who we know as the ultimate examples of success have many failures in life but what make them unique is that they learn from their failures and come out stronger with more success in some other point.
• Be healthy and happy: Your health and happiness are very important, and these two facilitate each other. Eat healthy, have enough rest, and do physical exercises daily. Do not always stress for success, sometimes you need to shut your mind, take deep breathes and chill.
• Value yourself: If you do not value / respect yourself, no one will. Never lose respect for your own self.
• Value money: Learn to earn and save money. Do not take the luxuries you have in your life for granted. Your parents have worked hard for it. Always save at least a little.

Q. Anything else you want to tell me?

No. I think we have discussed enough points. Now revisit these at least once a week and see how you go.