Every young man has to face this question, ‘What profession shall I choose?ts and on the correct solution of this question depends his success and prosperity in life. Few young men are in a position to determine this for themselves. They must be guided in this matter by those superior to them in wisdom and experience, their parents and teachers. They know their powers, and have studied their natural inclinations. They are interested in their welfare, and they are, therefore better able to tell them what to do A grown up young man, of course, can study his own inclinations and aptitudes, and explain his own views to others. This would help them decide the question to his benefit.
Different professions require different qualities, and unless a man possesses the requisite qualifications for a professions it would be worse than useless for him to enter it. The sight in these days is not uncommon of round balls in square holes. Educated young men find it hard to choose a suitable profession by which to earn a decent living. They are attracted by lucrative professions, and join one or the other without thinking whether it would suit them or not, and the result is failure.
A lawyer must be astute, must have great argumentative powers, courage, self-command, and industry. A shopkeeper must be active, tactful, wide awake, have strong commonsense, be a bit be-lihaz and calculating. A doctor should possess presence of mind, and practical skill and sympathy. A teacher, of course, must have brains and patience, but should on no account show any weakness for money, for filthy lucre. A Government servant must be obedient and regular like a machine. A man of shy and retiring disposition can never succeed in a business in which energy is required, and a man of restless disposition will have no chance in an occupation in which patient application and close study are needed. A man of easy-going temper should not enter a profession, in which there is competition and struggle.[the_ad id=”17141″]
Choice of a profession has become a very difficult matter for young men in Pakistan. The choice is very much limited, and the Pakistanis attach imaginary dignity to certain professions. They forget that all professions are noble. They dislike manual labour and mechanical pursuits. Government service has great attractions of them, as they think it carries a certain dignity and prestige along with it. Young men with bright University careers, who could become great scholars and scientists, have been known, partly through circumstances, and partly through wrong choice, to enter Government service as mere clerks. The struggle is so great that graduates are forced to undertake any work, which comes handy, without have any time to consider whether they are fit for it or not. The result is that there is chaos everywhere. There are teachers who ought to be contractors, there are lawyers who ought to be traders, and there are doctors who ought to be grocers.
In Pakistan, great care is needed to train young men from the very beginning for the professions they are fit for. Different men possess different faculties, and none of these faculties is without use. Every one in society can be useful, and his energies should be early, directed to the work suited to him. The great fault of Pakistani parents is that, unless a boy qualifies for a clerkship, or for an overseer ship, or becomes a doctor, he is considered worthless. If he can become a musician, a mechanic, a gymnast, a sailor, or a soldier, why not train him for one of these professions for which he is fit? But, perhaps, the parents and boys are not entirely to blame in this matter. There are no openings in these lines.