How to Find Your Niche in 20 mins or less and Make a College Application That Stands Out - Part 1

Hello, my dear Chai buddies, and welcome back to another blog!

Today, we will talk about an important topic that can help you in your college applications and your career: finding a niche for yourself to succeed. You may be thinking, "Why should I care about a niche?" If you just got into college as an undergrad student, or your are in high school or middle school, you might think that it's too early to think of a niche for yourself. You may also believe that a niche is only for content creators to stand out, and that you don't need it since you have perfect scores and are great in extracurricular activities. You may even feel that, as an elitist from a prestigious school or family background, you don't need a niche factor.

However, if you're thinking about what career is best for you and how you will succeed in your career, having a niche must be on your priority list. Trust me when I say this: the earlier it is on your priority list, the better.

Whenever college applications open up, several candidates apply for one single seat, resulting in stiff competition. Sometimes it's like 10,000 students against one seat, or even worse. Getting rejected leaves us feeling dejected, especially when you think about all those applications you have sent out. If they were paid applications, it hurts even more. It can be frustrating to know that despite all the time, effort, and perhaps money you put into something, it didn't work out.

Photo by cottonbro studio: link here

But have you ever wondered if you really needed to send out so many applications? While some people may want you to believe that getting selected for college is like getting cookies on Halloween, where you should knock on every single door on the street to get your Halloween cookie, the reality is that you do not need to.

Let's say you want to find yourself a soulmate; that is, you want to find the one. Note here: you only find one person that's the one for you. Just like that, there's just one college or position that's the one for you. But how will you know that it's the one unless you know yourself? Your peers might say that the ranking system is how to find a college, but it's quite possible that the college or research position that is totally suited for you, that gives you everything you are looking for, may not be in the top 10, 20, 30, or even 100 in the ranking list. The competition is real, and if you don't want to get lost in the crowd, you must find yourself a niche that's just nice for you. If you're going to spot a yellow circle in a monochromatic red screen, then probably you are the college authorities. And now that I have spoken so much about it, let's dive into how to find the perfect niche for yourself in 20 minutes or less.

1. Ask yourself what skills are needed in your immediate society.

Let's be clear: I could have started my list with "what am I passionate about," but I'm starting with what's needed in your immediate society. Why? Why am I not telling you to scream out loud, "It's my dear passion, so I make it my profession"? Let's say I'm passionate about sleep. While there are contests in the world that pay people to sleep, thinking about sleep all day or focusing my entire life on sleep will not get me anywhere unless I turn that into academic research about sleep. Also, someone may be passionate to watch YouTube all day. But unless you do it for someone willing to pay you to do so, how are you even going to make money? But then, is passion unimportant? Something to not care for at all? Definitely not. But we need to find ways of fusing passion with economic demand. 

(And that's what we will be doing. So, keep referring to my blog for future content. That was a bit of marketing, now back to the content.)

 For those of you who plan to get out of your local economy and study abroad, bear this in mind. It may not always be the way you expect it to be. Studying abroad is not a guarantee that you will settle abroad. It may just be the first step. You may have to return to your country. Just because Aunt Jane's daughter landed a job with L'Oréal Paris doesn't mean that you can be sure of it too, even if you are a graduate of an Ivy league. And let's say you have to return and you aren't equipped with the skills of your local economy. You will unfortunately not have a job with you even if there are plenty of job opportunities. Also, you might miss out on good business opportunities too. And we all know; kindness or sympathy isn't the currency we use anymore in this world. We need Money, honey. So, your discovery of a niche should begin with a list of all the skills that are important and necessary in your local society.

2. Important skills and skill gaps of your dream destination.

Now let’s say you are hell-bent on settling your life in Paris. Or perhaps London. Or Italy. Cities like Manhattan or Milan are what you call your home already. In that case, do list out what are the skill shortages in those places and what skills are extremely essential in their economy.

3. What is the future of these skills and what does it take to pursue them?

How many people are into being a doctor? How many people are likely to pursue this skill in the future? What is the level of gap and in which areas? Say, for example, your immediate society or dream destination needs a lot of doctors. But there are a lot of surgeons already. What they do lack are gynaecologists. Make a list of all these at the specialization level. Additionally, how long will it take for you to pursue a course to acquire a skill, costs associated with your studies, eligibility criteria in terms of age, educational background etc. are also important factors to consider at this point. Make a brief note of them or at least get a brief idea about them.

4. What are the skills that you have already?

Now that you already have a thorough investigation of the economic activities, economic skills, and means & modes to pursue them, let's do a bit of self-scanning shall we. Ask yourself what are the skills from this list you already possess? For example, you already speak fluent French or when people hear your English they think it’s better than the Brits. If you possess the two together, and you desire to go to France, consider being a language teaching assistant in France. This would perhaps be a much easier route to go to France while you also get an earning opportunity. While there, you could have first hand opportunity to explore other options.

 Or your pastries and pasta pose tough competition to the greatest chefs already. Instead of grinding yourself in a regular college course, you might as well consider joining apprentice programs where you can further extend your mastery over culinary skills while being on full scholarship and a generous stipend. 

Maybe your art is compared to Raja Ravi Varma. Have you considered selling them online. Or perhaps, you can send them to some great artists and join them as interns in their art studios.  

Or your poems and stories remind people of Rabindranath Tagore. Or perhaps your computer skills make people comment that they see a future Jeff Bezos in you. And if you love the two together, maybe you can look out for computer science labs where in you can find this great combination of literature and computer science to cherish your interests. While there may be a lot of universities having computer science programs out there,  there will not be a lot of research labs catering to this niche.

Or maybe you love money and have quite profound knowledge of personal finance. Or corporate finance. Or you create great marketing content. It can be anything. From the above examples, I hope you can see how they can help you make a plan for your future, beat the competition and stand out. 

Now that you know your skills, find out which of these are closely related to the skills that are important in your immediate economy or your desired destination, what's the current possibilities & the future of these skills, and how to pursue them professionally or at higher levels.

Now comes the question, what if my skills do not fit with the skill requirement list. Well in that case over to step 5.

5. What are your passions?

As I said before, Passions do matter. But not as the very first step. Now, you do not want to be stuck up in something which engages you for the longest time of the day but keeps you unhappy as well, despite the pay. Also, what if your skillset needs an upgradation as none of your current skills quite fit into the skill requirement list. Now here passion will play a role. Because, it is scientifically observed that with things you enjoy doing or learning, you tend to learn faster and more effectively.

Think about how can your passions be extended and fit into any of the skills in the required skill list. Let’s say, you are an artist who loves to draw using oil painting techniques. But people around you or the current trends of purchase from artists of your genre have been alcohol painting or watercolour painting or pencil shading. So, you can extend your skill set by acquiring those techniques or other genres. You can experiment and see what works.

To give another example, let’s say you love coding. But while you are good with Java, you see that the demand in your local area is for python and data analysis. So, you can start learning python language as well.

Now, what if the thing you are passionate about and have skills for isn’t in the required skill list? For example, you love baking.  But either there’s an overload of bakeries in your town with extremely stiff competition or there’s no one who appreciates your art of baking. That is to say, there is no demand. Its also the same with your desired destination if you have one. Then ask these questions. 

"Is there demand elsewhere for my baking products or style? If yes, where? Will I be able to move there and start my work? How can I reach my customers there? Will I need to learn a new language or adapt to a new culture?"

 These are the questions you must consider. While it may sound like someone starting their own business, you will see how these would be very handy tips while crafting your college application later on.

Now, let’s say you are passionate about something. But that thing isn’t a required essential skill either in your local society or in your dream destination (just like the above case of overload of bakeries). Nor is it a skill you can confidently say I possess even at an intermediate level. Let's say you love watching videos on baking or reading about it. But you haven't tried it. However you know deep down that it's something you would definitely love doing. In that case, you can try two things. You can either try experiencing what its like to be in that passion-turned-profession. Or, it is a great idea to see if your passion can be realized through a different route. 

Let’s return to the sleep example stated before. Say, you are truly passionate about sleep. And there is a huge demand for professors, lifestyle coaches, dieticians, and doctors in your skills list. And you figure out that you do love to talk, you are caring, you love going deeper into a problem, etc. While simply sleeping all day may not turn into a productive activity, you can be a researcher on sleep, or a diet & lifestyle coach who specializes in addressing sleep disorders, and so on. Then, you make your passion an object of study and turn it into something which can add value to society depending upon the skills gaps and your own interests. And that’s how you create your niche!

6. I have no passion, no interest, and I don’t know where am I headed to.

Blame it on your hormones or whatever you may choose to call it, you may be someone who finds themselves in this zone. You may feel like you do not have any particular skill to stand out. Or perhaps you feel like you are someone who like things on and off, but passion is a strong word and that’s not what you have at least. Or simply put, you may term yourself as confused. You may feel like the very idea of specialization is quite haunting. Well, if that’s you, here’s a solution for you. 

You may not have strong passions or interests. But it is pretty possible that you like some things more than others. Pick one skill that interests you the most, or with which you already have hands-on experience from the lists you made above. Or something that you feel you would love to learn. Either because of interests or because of lower fees or because of duration or familiarity with the course. Feel free to make your choice. Now start researching more about your pick. Eventually, you will discover your passion, and niche pathways.

Have you heard of millionaire influencers as young as 16 to 19 years old? Yes, they exist. And I am not talking about cringe content creators producing duplicates. I am talking about legit influencers who share their knowledge and make a difference in this world. There are chefs, entertainers, musicians, artists, and subject matter experts among them. Also, there are business owners as young as 11 years old who have built their empires. Well, making a niche may not promise you all that money (although if you will it, you may find a way for it!). But, what's important is that early on, they walked a path that they could use to distinguish themselves from the crowd and set themselves apart. 

Also, setting a niche helped them gain mastery over their skills in the long run. It clearly gives one an advantage of experience over others who pick up a skill much later. 

Now, that you have your niche, in the following blog, we will discuss how you can use this niching strategy on your college applications and have over 89% chance of getting selected into a college or positions that you will say: You are the only one for me!. So are you interested to find out about it? Remember to check out my blog next week.