At high school and college, it is typical to hear teachers encourage students to pursue their interests. The idea behind all of this is that if you strive to have a career you like, you will put in more effort, and success and wealth will come as a result.
Unfortunately, in real life, things don't always turn out the way we want them to. It might take several years of difficulty merely to obtain and maintain employment if the area in which you are most interested in is in decline, such as journalism. Furthermore, if the job you can get does not offer a decent salary, you may have difficulty making your ends meet even when you are working hard.
Career experts in two big magazines such as Forbes to The New York Times are suggesting a different approach: instead of chasing your passion, try to follow a passion for a future job that you are capable of doing well. If feasible, find a job that pays well and is in an industry that will have lots of openings in the foreseeable future. By doing so, instead of always chasing down employability, you may put yourself in an advantageous position of having employers chasing after your resume.
My advice is that before you apply for your position in a senior high school, make sure that you have thought carefully about what you can do well and what you want to do most in the future. Then pursue your own possible passions, do not follow other people’s dreams.
How many things does the author advise us to think about when applying for a senior high school?