Why You Shouldn't Just Follow Your Passion When It Comes To Your Career

If you've ever complained about your job, or questioned your career choice, chances are your friends or colleagues will come up with this advice: “Just follow your passion!” 

Passion is the driving spirit that compels you to do something you love or have naturally excelled at doing. It can be hobbies, favourite activities or unique skill sets you may have. 

We are frequently advised to "do what you love,” but is the reality of the professional world really so simple? 

What Comes First, Passion or Money?

There are two kinds of people in this world: 

Those who think, “I’ll work on my passions from scratch until I succeed; the money will come later.” 

And those who think, “What’s important is that I have a job that pays well; passion can come later on.” 

Both have different ways of thinking. The first is prioritising doing something they are passionate about. The second group is concerned with making money first, with their passions serving as side activities along the way. 

But, what's interesting is that these two types of people actually want to get both in the end! Surely they want to earn money or income and want to have a passion or do something they love! 

Of course, you don't want to have a high paying job that you actually don't like doing, do you? And you also don't want to do something you like, but with a salary that doesn't meet your needs, right? 

Since we would ideally want the best of both worlds, let’s see how we can achieve this in the long run realistically! Jobstreet will try to ease your consideration by guiding you to find your true passion. 

• Ask yourself, do you have a passion? 

Maybe, you do have a certain passion that you’re pursuing as a career. Passion, which eventually becomes a profession, can start in various ways. For example, from a hobby that you have had for a long time and want to develop into a profession, or if there is a company/business that you really want to work for. If you feel you have this, you can start researching job vacancies related to this passion of yours. 

• But, what if you don't feel like you have a passion? 

Maybe, you don't feel that calling within you for a specific hobby or interest, let alone turn it into a career. Maybe you also feel that in your career, the most important thing is that you can only get a job that pays a lot, because that’s where your priorities lie.  

As long as you want to have a steady income that continues to grow, you will naturally grow to love your job and harness your skill sets. You will end up becoming passionate about your job. 

And this is where the next line after comes in: 

“Love whatever you do.” 

So, there are two sides you should consider. You still need to act with a strong will and ambition in order to turn your passions into a successful job if you want to start by following them. Additionally, if you want your career to continue to advance, you must learn to love and be enthusiastic about your profession, in addition to putting your financial goals first. 

Yep. Both paths can make you successful, IF you do it right! 

Reaching Your Dream Job

Speaking of being successful as a professional, of course, it cannot be separated from what is called a “dream job.” Maybe you don't have to worry about deciding whether to pursue your passion or make money first. Because ideal jobs should have both! A job that you love doing and pays you well. 

However, everyone's dream job may look different. Is that a job that pays you SG$8,000, which equals US$6,000 a month? Or a job that allows you to travel the world? Or maybe a job where you can turn your imagination into reality? 

Because of these many scattered definitions, scientists have tried to make an explanation of what the criterias for a dream job are. There are six, namely: 

1. An interesting job 

It's like playing a game. If the game isn't fun from the start, you’d get bored easily. The same goes for the work you do every day! 

2. A job that suits your capabilities 

This is like playing a game, too! If you've tried playing it over and over again, but you always lose, meaning you're not really good at it, you’d be frustrated after a while, don’t you think? 

3. A job with purpose 

If your work can make an impact on society, support positive things, or build a better future, you will undoubtedly be happier! 

4. A job with supportive people 

Many jobs that are considered “dreams” are broken in practice because of toxic and unsupportive co-workers. So you’d better be careful… 

5. A job with minimal negativity 

What is meant by negativity in this sense can range from salaries that are not worth your workload, to tiring day-to-day commutes to and from work, or company benefits that don’t benefit you. The list can go on, but you need to figure out what works best for you! 

6. A job that fits your personal life 

Apart from people who are fueled with career ambitions, we also need to understand that there are also those who need simple jobs to maintain a good work life balance. 

From the six criteria above, you can consider them one by one and give each a value. Which criteria are you leaning towards? Does your current job have many, few, or none of these criteria? Either way, understanding what criteria matter to you will ultimately help you land your dream job! If you need help, visit JobStreet's Explore Careers to learn about your dream job.

What College Degrees Can Get High Paying Jobs?

This is a question often asked by job seekers and even more so by those about to go to college. But it’s important to note that everyone’s path from college to work is different and unique. 

With that being said, there are bachelors with specific sets of skills that have clear career paths, for example law and medicine. There are also bachelors with generic modules that can go into various types of industries, like communications and management. 

In the professional world, there are two types of professionals: specialists and generalists, who each have their own paths of success! What do those paths look like? 

• Specialists — Individuals with specific hard skills and in-depth knowledge in one specialty who typically begin their careers as juniors. They will later be able to become seniors, who will slowly learn other hard skills outside of their original specializations and learn many soft skills, to be able to become leaders in a team. 

• Generalists — People who have strong soft skills and general, surface-level knowledge of a number of hard skills. They typically begin their careers in project or team management at the lowest level, gradually honing their soft skills and broadening their knowledge in other specialisations to advance throughout their careers. 

Interestingly, in today's era where the world is becoming increasingly complex, this collaboration between specialists and generalists is also growing in demand. Specialists are needed to be able to find ideas and new discoveries in their specific fields. Meanwhile, generalists are expected to be able to analyse the world from across industries more thoroughly, in order to find the best potential to develop in each industry. 

So, for those of you who are just starting out, consider all the points above! Starting from your passion to your degree and dream job, so that you can choose the best possible path to your career success!