I recall an experience during a workshop in Jodhpur that brought this home in a way that has stayed with me.
A student approached us to record a short testimonial after we had ended the question-answer session. There are always some genuinely interested faces in an audience that anchor you as a facilitator; he had been one of those, intently listening during the workshop earlier. He had a slight stutter, and for the first few seconds, he seemed unsure of himself. There was a visible hesitation before he began speaking.
Then he did. And what followed was unforgettable.
Once he started, he spoke with confidence, expression and an ease that quickly made his speech disfluency irrelevant. What stood out instead was his willingness to communicate and his natural ability to hold attention.
So I told him. That he sounded confident, and should explore extra curriculars like public speaking, theatre, or debates to hone his ability and perhaps pursue a related career.
His face lit up.
Before a young person can imagine a career, they need to believe that there is something about them worth building a career around, and that even if the straight path doesn’t seem accessible now, there is a detour within reach.
Not because someone had given him permission to dream, but because someone had noticed the talent before focusing on the hesitation. That distinction matters enormously in career awareness. We often underestimate the value of validation for children whose environments do not notice their natural inclination.
Sometimes, All It Takes Is Being Seen
This is something I have encountered repeatedly through my work at Unifiers across education, employability and youth development.
A young person may have an ability that they themselves have not recognised yet. They may have never been told that a particular quality could be useful beyond the classroom.
A student who loves explaining things may have the makings of a teacher, trainer or communicator. Someone who is constantly organising their peers may have an instinct for leadership or management. A young person who is curious about how things work may have the foundations of an engineering or technical career.
The role of career awareness is therefore not simply to present a catalogue of occupations. It is to help young people connect who they are with the possibilities of what they could become.
That requires adults — teachers, parents, mentors, counsellors and career practitioners — to look beyond conventional markers of achievement and notice potential in its more subtle forms.
From “Overcoming” to “Building”
There is another shift worth making.
We often celebrate people by saying they achieved something despite a particular challenge.
While well-intentioned, this framing can unintentionally reinforce the idea that the challenge is the most important thing about them. A more empowering approach is to recognise the ability itself.
Not: “You spoke so well despite your stutter.”
But: “You communicated that really well. You have something worth hearing.”
The difference may seem small, but for a young person forming their understanding of themselves, it can be profound. One reinforces a deficit. The other identifies a strength.
What Career Awareness Should Really Do
Effective career awareness should expand a young person’s understanding of both the world of work and themselves.
It should help them ask:
- What am I good at?
- What do I enjoy?
- What problems do I like solving?
- What environments bring out my best?
- Which careers could use these strengths?
- What skills do I need to build to get there?
The last question should not become the first.
Importantly, a career awareness intervention MUST expose young people to a much wider range of possibilities than the handful of careers they may encounter in their immediate surroundings.
When this happens early, career awareness becomes more than an information exercise. It becomes an opportunity for young people to develop agency, confidence and a sense of possibility.
Because sometimes, the first step towards a career is simply having someone look at you and say: “I see something valuable in you. Keep going.”
That is where meaningful career awareness can begin.
