Career Awareness Enabling Persons to Unleash Potential

Managing Director of the HEART/NSTA Trust, Dr. Taneisha Ingleton, has highlighted the importance of career awareness in enabling persons to unleash their untapped potential, thrive in their chosen careers and meaningfully contribute to society.

She was speaking at the launch of National Career Awareness Week 2025 under the theme ‘Career Success through Self-Development’, at the Meadowbrook United Church in St. Andrew on Sunday (February 9).

Career awareness refers to the process of actively learning about different careers, including the various job options available, the skills required for each role, and how one’s personal interests and abilities might align with different career fields.

This is important, as it allows individuals to make informed decisions about their education and professional path based on industry trends and their own interests and strengths, ultimately leading to greater job satisfaction and career fulfilment.

Dr. Ingleton noted that career awareness is not just about finding a job.

“It is also about managing one’s learning and progress towards a personally determined and evolving future, while discovering one’s purpose and using one’s gifts to serve others,” she contended.

“It is not simply about economic growth; it is about self-development to foster human flourishing. Career awareness is the understanding of the variety of career options available and the pathways to achieve them,” she stressed.

The process, she noted, further, is about helping individuals, regardless of age or stage in life, to see the possibilities before them and to take steps towards fulfilling their potential.

It is beneficial for young students seeking to explore their passion, mid-career professionals pivoting or upskilling, or retirees seeking to share their wisdom or learn something new, she said.

“Space must be created for development and growth, and the HEART/NSTA Trust supports this by offering programmes tailored to different life stages, from institution-based training, on-the-job training, to industry placements. This is a practical way we as an organisation equip people to love and serve their neighbours by giving them a skill to contribute meaningfully to society,” Dr. Ingleton said.

National Career Awareness Week is an observance of the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information in collaboration with the HEART/NSTA Trust, Junior Achievement Jamaica and CHOICES.

The week ends on February 14.