Opportunities lie where you look for them

So, where we should look for opportunities?

A university student impressed me recently with his love of meeting and talking to strangers. Filled with the urge to travel, he was inspired to pursue a career as a flight attendant. He chatted with flight attendants from three airlines and sought information on their work conditions. The urge to venture outside the country derived from a talk with financiers who have a very pessimistic view on the Thai economy in light of the political conflict. He was also approached to work at a Thai restaurant in Australia, where he could save money for travelling around the country. Another choice was to open an ice-cream parlour, to sell ice-cream made by his friend. He has options to ponder, thanks to his open attitude. 

This example proves that Buffett was right to say “It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behaviour is better than yours, and you’ll drift in that direction.” 

He is unlike tens of thousand students who are fretting about the lack of opportunities as they look for salaried jobs, preferably at big companies that promise a good packages.

Unlike twenty years ago, graduates these days have more to think about. In my day, I didn’t know what I wanted to be. I didn’t know what subject I should study in university. At school, the counselling teachers didn’t know any better than us. If you were good at maths, you were advised to become an accountant. If your science scores were excellent, try medical school. If your English scores were good, apply for the faculty of arts. I learnt later that at some renowned universities, majoring in non-English languages – like French or Japanese – could easily land you a scholarship. 

Then, food science was in its infancy here, even though Thailand was a big food exporter. Engineers were just people in charge of construction. Computer science was totally new. The word “geologist” was new, while designers and makeup artists seemed too western for Thailand. Entrepreneurship was out of the question. At best, if your parents owned a business, you could study anything that would support the transfer of the business to you later. 

Conditions are not much different in schools now. But with the Internet comes the knowledge that there are many other professions out there. Thailand’s newfound connectivity to the world also opens doors to many new jobs on offer by local and foreign companies. 

Universities are offering new courses like real estate management. As factories mushroom, vocational school students learn that there will always be jobs for them. In time, they can be promoted to plant managers, earning a high enough income to support the whole family.

As Thai companies venture abroad, an overseas posting is an additional option. Though far from home, overseas workers can earn more and promotion is almost guaranteed upon their return to head offices in Thailand.

These opportunities are, however, only available to people in big cities. Young people and their parents in smaller cities do not know this, and they are happy to live the lives of their grandparents. Even with the availability of student loans – something not heard of in my time – some are reluctant to borrow.

Ahead of the annual university entrance exams, organisations launch special tutoring programmes designed for key fields like medicine and engineering. Meanwhile, not all parents support their kids studying to become a lawyer, even though that can generate as much income as being an accountant. The world has changed but some drivers here drive at the same old speed. 

Kids aged 10 have their own Facebook pages now, and they can talk about many subjects, but one – what they want be. Don’t blame them. The world of information is so vast, and without guidance you cannot take full advantage of the pool of valuable information.

As a direct message to the education minister, it’s time for Thailand to list the A-Z of occupations that Thais can aspire to, with information on what skills are needed for each occupation. There are many things that our kids want to be and can excel at. With technical skills, farmers’ kids can be inspired to come up with new tools and methods to increase yields. 

The minister, like his predecessors, is introducing a top-down approach to overhauling the education system. It may be time for our kids to tell us what they want to be taught.