5 reasons why you should start a job right after completing +2

Attitude towards Jobs in Nepal

In Nepal, we do not have a culture of working and self-dependence. Our parents and teachers rarely advise us to start a job early. Meanwhile, we study all the way through Masters degree and start looking for job and to our disappointment, we are in vain. We lack work experience to find a good starting position. Likewise, starting a business without any professional experience is a shot in the dark. The advice I am giving in this article might not be applicable for students preparing for professional jobs such as doctors, engineers, lawyers or technicians. Therefore, I would like to limit the scope of this article to those students who are in the field of "Commerce" or "Management" like me.

Young guy at Work.  Photo by Valeria Boltneva

Management education is a mix of art and science which is why we need education as well as experience. The science part comes from formal education and art comes from practice or work experience. Therefore, a balance of education and experience is crucial for students of this field. The undergraduate students of management are ready to take managerial roles, if they have work experience. However, we rarely get managerial roles in Nepal after our bachelor's degree because we do not have work experience.

Job Market Challenges

However, students aren't solely responsible for not having work experience early in Nepal. The job market is not very well developed and there are no provision of shift work or part-time jobs. The businesses rarely hire staffs on part-time or hourly basis in Nepal which is a challenge that government and business organisations should address. While the business communities lament on the lack of availability of skilled workforce, they never take a proactive instance to hire interns, volunteers, and part time workers. Therefore, business houses should approach students in different universities and colleges and invite them for internship and part time jobs.

However, from the side of the student, if you want to develop a very good professional career, you need to think early and in a different way. The purpose of this article is the very same. As a first job hunter right after completing your high school (+2 level), you can take any type of job, be it an internship, low-paid job or an odd job as you are very young. You can experiment and take more risk as your opportunity cost is next to nothing. That's the first advantage, however, let's outline some of the benefits of starting a career early more thoroughly.

1. You learn soft-skills

As soon as you start your first job, you become oriented with the work culture. You start learning soft skills like time management, communication, team work, and so on. Even though your job might not directly support your desired career, it will teach you basics of job, and that is exactly why it is super important to appreciate whatever opportunity you get. It will teach you punctuality, introduce how work is done inside an organisation (business, not for profit, or government), teach you professionalism and how to organise work, how to prioritise, how to formally communicate and the like. These soft skills are the basics of any job you take up later on.

2. You earn Money

When you start earning money, you start learning the money management skills. Handling bank account, buying stuffs you always wanted to, going on tour with friends, etc all of a sudden become something that you can do on your own. Money is power in the modern world and it empowers you to achieve whatever you want. You might want  to invest in stocks, mutual funds, etc to grow your money. More than ever you appreciate money because you worked really hard to earn it and you stop taking it for granted.

3. You learn new skills or enhance skills you learnt at school

Needless to explain, whatever you learn at school is not a complete skill. You know in theory or in imagination but not how that is done in real life. Work will provide you with knowledge about how things are done. Simple skills like writing a letter, resume, using basic softwares like MS Word, and so on are much more vast than you think. Depending upon the type of job, you either learn new skills or upgrade the skills you already have. I learnt organization skills when I worked in a kitchen. 

4. Networking

Bonding with colleagues is very important as they can shape your career. They can refer you to better job, can become your business partner, or your personal adviser. Your boss and senior colleagues might help you to reach a career height you had never known through their experienced career counselling.

5. Experience based career and increased employability

Let's say after working for three months you are bored, you have more freedom to say goodbye and find another job until you find the one you like. By the time you graduate from your bachelor degree you become sure what job you like. Moreover, you have higher chances of getting that desired job because of your work experience.

Downside of starting a job early

In summary, the aforementioned points are just teasers. If we really want to rationalise the benefits of starting a job early in life, the benefits are numerous. However, there are also some drawbacks, among which the most pronounced one is the impact upon one's study. If you are self-disciplined you can easily balance your work and study. Work and study doesn't have to be contradictory. They can actually complement each other. You are preparing yourself for a profession when you study for a degree and you are learning what a profession has to offer when you are working.

Summary

All in all the point I am trying to make in this article is that you should start your work life early. That has several advantages and even when you go abroad for further education, your experience will give you upper hand over your counterparts. However, in order to start a job you need to realise that you need to do a job in the first place which is the aim of this article. After that you need to proactively approach local businesses and pitch yourself to obtain a job. If you explain how you can help them in their business on a part time basis or as per your availability, they might hire you.

Additional reading:

5 Benefits of early career planning
Benefits of starting your career early