It’s Time You Look Beyond ‘Scope’ When Choosing Your Career. Here’s Why.

It's time you look beyond the scope of a career.

No, these are not just any random words and phrases. They are, in fact, some of the most popular Google search terms related to careers in India. I am sure you would have come across a few or even searched for similar terms yourself when figuring out which career to go for.

Why are we talking about search terms, you ask? Because this search behaviour is a reflection of what students look for and are concerned about. They are a befitting example of our obsession with “Scope” as a factor for career choice.

This fixation on scope sometimes goes even as far as making scope the primary factor for choosing a career. A common question like, “Which career has the most scope?” just shows how driven we are with the idea of scope that we don’t even care about if the career is good for us or not, as long as it has a good scope in the future.

But in most cases, a preoccupation with scope can prove to be detrimental to your career choice. There are many reasons why you need to look beyond the scope of a career when making your career decision:

1. The career with the most scope might not be a good fit for you

The simplest of all propositions – yes, you are searching for a career that offers an immense amount of scope, but what if it is not a career meant for you?

Your fit for a career depends on factors such as your Aptitude, Interest, Personality Traits, Motivators and even something as deep as Emotional Intelligence. If these factors do not match with the career purported to have the most scope, you would not be able to do justice to your job or feel satisfied in it. Even the field with the highest demand cannot lead you to have a successful career if you lack the skills or the talent necessary to succeed in it.

High-scope careers might get you to dream of grabbing six-figure packages and earning copious amounts of money, but believe me, no company in this world is going to just hand you money on a silver platter if you cannot prove your worth for it. In any field you may look at, you would always find top performers, the average-joes and then those standing at the bottom of the pyramid.

The irresistible six-figure salaries are generally earned not by the latter two but the former top performers. So, it is up to you to decide whether you want to stand at the bottom in the field with the highest scope or be at the top in the field you are good for.

Did You Know? The Mindler Career Assessment evaluates you on 5-dimensions to recommend you your best-fit careers.

2. Scope for many fields is created over time

“Scope” is a very fluid concept and is never static. What is in demand in the job market today might lose its sheen over the years, while a field that didn’t even exist a few years back might become the most sought-after in the present day. Fields like Data Science, UI/UX Design, Machine Learning, Social Media Marketing, Blogging, etc. came into existence only a few years ago, yet are amongst the top emerging careers of today.

Yet another example is the popularity of careers over time. While in the past, the top positions may have been grabbed by traditional careers like Engineering, Management and Law, today they have made way for an altogether different set of careers like Merchant Navy, Computer Applications and Mass Communication. And these trends change every month! You can see for yourself in our monthly round-up of top 10 popular careers in India.

With the job market being so dynamic, we cannot always make predictions about which career is going to have the most “scope” in a few years. A field that you may disregard today due to lack of scope might just witness a rise over time and become the “in thing” of tomorrow.

3. You might miss out on something perfect for you in the pursuit of scope

You may think, “This is all well, but what if the career I like doesn’t have a lot of scope? What use is there in me pursuing the career then?”

The idea that the field they wish to pursue doesn’t have a lot of scope or demand is an idea that scares many. It’s a thought that hinders them from pursuing fields they like and have the right aptitude for.

However, what you are missing out here is that people who create value create a demand for themselves and their career too. There exist numerous examples of people built excellent careers with their skills because they created their own demand.

Arunabh Kumar founded The Viral Fever (TVF) in 2012, an online entertainment source that disrupted the Indian comedy scene and changed the way we look at Youtube today.
Amit Agarwal, India’s first professional blogger, started his Tech blog The Digital Inspiration back in 2004 when blogging was an entirely alien concept, and now has 3 milion+ visitors on his blogs every month.
Suchita Salwan, founded the Little Black Book at the age of just 22, as a platform for people to discover places and events of interest in their cities. She has also featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 list.

And these are one of many.

Had any of these people stopped to worry about scope, they would surely not be where they are right now. They would probably be stuck in a field entirely unsuited to them.

Thus, scope exists in each and every field, and there are always takers of people with who can prove their worth through their work. Don’t miss out on something perfect for you in the blind chase of scope!

4. Scope is often more synonymous with popularity than actual demand

The thing with scope is, it is a somewhat abstract concept that lies more in the popular mindset than in actual numbers and figures. Oftentimes, people assume that the scope of a field is really high because everyone is doing it:

“Of course, how can so many people be wrong? If everyone is running behind the same field, it must surely be a good one to go for?”

However, the other people themselves are running behind other people. And so on. This crowd/herd mentality is more often than not the actual reason behind why some careers are professed to have a lot of scope, even when there is no actual data to support such claims.

In such cases, scope can also be illusionary. You might rely on someone else’s opinions or ideas. Your friend’s elder sister telling you to pursue a particular course because “there is a lot of scope in it”, or your cousin brother asking you to refrain from pursuing a particular field because “I have heard there is not a lot of scope for it in India.” In neither of the two cases is there any actual data to support their views. They might have just heard the same information from someone else, or may again be relying on the popular opinion like everyone else.

Thus, most claims about scope rarely ever consider on-ground realities and demand. To do such research, it is much better to talk to people who have more precise information, such as career counsellors or people who are currently working in the particular field. They would be able to give you actual insights into the job market, which would be much more reliable than any neighbour or XYZ website listing out fields with the most scope.

So what is more important than scope?

Now you know why scope is not the best factor to rely on for your career choice. Instead, you should focus more on finding your fit with a career based on your aptitudes, interests and personality. You should also look at the work people do in the field and see if it excites you.

There are also times when due to its popularity, a field may become saturated. For example, it has been claimed that Engineering has a lot of scope. However, the on-ground reality that many engineering graduates face is that due to the overabundance of engineering students and colleges in the country, the picture of job placement and opportunities is not as rosy as people had painted for them.

In such cases, while the claimed scope might not do you much benefit, knowing what kind of skills are required to stay ahead will. The Engineering students who learnt upcoming relevant skills like machine learning, artificial intelligence and the latest programming languages, etc. are doing well for themselves.

Thus, building skills and finding careers that match your existing set of skills is much more important than looking at scope.