Why Choosing a Career, Not a Course, is More Important

In a few short weeks, thousands of graduating high school students will make one of their biggest decisions – choosing a college degree. However, most students pick a course based on their chances of landing a job quickly after graduation rather than building toward a long-term career.

Mapúa’s Director for the Center for Guidance and Counseling (CGC), Arlene Macatuggal, said students should think of the professional and personal journey they want to pursue before they even zero in on a specific course.

“Choosing a personally and professionally fulfilling career is important because it gives a person guidance in life. Students should, early on, set their sights on a career path to quickly sift and assess if a specific course can pave the way to their target profession and eventually help them experience not just long-term financial and professional growth, but also personal fulfillment”, said Macatuggal.

Graduating students (and their parents) should also be aware of the possible jobs each course can offer to align the degree program they enroll in and their career pathway. This strategy can help students (and their parents) determine if their chosen course covers the required units and learning outcomes for their professional journey and if they need additional exposure or postgraduate or supplementary studies.

To take the guesswork out of it, graduating students should also consult a guidance counselor for career counseling, or better yet, take the MPASS (Mapúa Program Placement Assessment), a tool that measures the student’s cognitive and academic development, and comprehensively recommends which senior high school strand or college program a student should take in Mapúa.

“At the same time, prospective college applicants should also proactively self-assess their abilities, talents, and potential. They can reflect on the things or work they enjoy, activities they find rewarding, their skillsets, values, likes and dislikes, and their long-term vision and goals,” added Macatuggal.

In the case of Mapúa, a significant number of students enrolled in their top courses like

BS Civil Engineering, BS Architecture, BS Computer Engineering, BS Mechanical Engineering, and BS Computer Science cited their interests and skills in math, computers, building, and sciences as one of the main drivers for their career choice. The influence of their parents, teachers, peers, and previous positive experiences in high school helped some Mapúans arrive at their career choice.

Of course, enrolling in an internationally recognized higher education institution like Mapúa University, which has a diverse range of future-ready degree programs, is a huge advantage that many college students also consider. Mapúa’s undergraduate programs, which include double degrees, joint program offerings, and fully-online programs, enable students to have a wide range of options and possibilities in pursuing their chosen career path.

For more information on how Mapúa’s varied degree programs can help you achieve your career goals, visit www.mapua.edu.ph. College and SHS applications for A.Y. 2023 to 2024 are still open. Interested applicants can go to https://www.mapua.edu.ph/ApplyNow to apply!