Whenever you ask someone for career advice, there are always these motivating advices like ‘follow your passion’ or ‘hard work makes things possible’. Advices like these sounds motivating, but economically it makes no sense. Why? Because it ignores how markets, incentives, risk, and timing actually work. But don’t worry I am here to give you a quick reality check hiding behind that motivation.
Table of Contents
“Follow Your Passion”
It ignores market demand. Economics 101: Income depends on demand, not emotions.
- If many people love doing the same thing, it creates oversupply.
- Oversupply causes low wages.
- Low wages = frustration and disappointment.
Example: Thousands want to be content creators, photographers, musicians. But very few earn consistently and not because they lack talent but because supply > demand.
Better advice:
You should focus on building valuable skills first. Instead of seeing “what’s trending”, search “what’s lacking” and then add passion on top
“Work Hard and You’ll Succeed”
It ignores marginal returns. Hard work matters, but returns are not linear.
Economically: First few hours of effort = high returns but after a point it implies diminishing marginal returns. Example: if you study 6 hours v/s 12 hours. The extra 6 hours often adds very little value.
This Career advice ignores:
- Where you work
- What you work on
- How scalable your work is
Better advice: Working hard is not a shortcut or solution. Smart work is choosing high-impact areas, not just more effort.
“Choose a Safe Career”
It ignores opportunity cost. Safety has a cost.
Economics concept: Opportunity Cost i.e. what you give up by choosing one option. Example: if you chose a “safe” job with low growth,
You sacrifice:
Skill development
Network
Long-term earning potential
Better advice; Many people realize this after 5–10 years, when switching becomes harder. Safety today can mean risk tomorrow. Instead focus on reading market, demand and supply.
“Do What Everyone Is Doing”
It ignores competition. Popular advice creates crowded markets.
Everyone told you to do: Engineering, MBA, Government exams just because this is what everyone is doing. Result? = Cut-throat competition, Lower average outcomes.
Economics calls this the fallacy of composition i.e. what works for a few won’t work for everyone.
Better advice: Explore. There are jobs you have not even heard of. Unpopular but valuable skills often pay more.
“Degree = Success”
It ignores signalling vs skills. Degrees are signals, not guarantees.
A degree shows: you can follow rules and Complete tasks. It does NOT guarantee: Problem-solving and, real-world skills. In labour markets, employers pay for output, not certificates.
Better advice: Value and seek ‘skills’ as proof and not just degree alone.
My POV
Career advice ignores timing & technology. Advice that worked 20 years ago may be economically obsolete. Things have changed – technology, market structure, incentives, needs, demands etc. For Example: “Lifetime job stability” “One skill for life”, these formulas are not relevant anymore. Today: Tech changes fast, Jobs evolve or disappear, Skills depreciate like assets. Modern careers require continuous reskilling, not fixed paths. Survivorship bias makes advice misleading, we only hear from successful people where, 1 successful founder gives advice and 99 failed ones are invisible. This creates false belief: “If I do what they did, I’ll succeed.” But Economically, success = Skill + timing + luck + market conditions.
Advice without data is storytelling, not strategy.
The Real Economic Career Framework
Instead of generic and hollow motivation advices, ask:
- What skills are in rising demand?
- How rare is this skill?
- Can it scale (impact more people)?
- What’s the future demand?
- Can I build optionality from it?
