Choosing a future career is a daunting and a tough decision that all of us must face some day. You may or may not have heard the saying, “Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life”?
While I love this saying, I must admit I hate the amount of pressure it subconsciously puts on young people to choose the “right” career. As teenagers or young adults, deciding on what career we have for the rest of our lives can add unnecessary stress to our daily lives and affect us in many ways. The important thing that you should always remember, is that there are plenty of people who have no idea of what career they want and plenty of working people who still have no idea what they want to do. People seem to forget that you can always switch careers later in life or move into a different field within your sector. However, being a student myself, I understand the need to figure out what exactly you want to work as when you leave high school and enter third level education/the working world. Most schools often work alongside you in your final years of schooling to prepare you for the working world, but if your school has not done this, here are some tips that I, personally, have tried and tested that will help you choose your career.
Firstly, note down any subjects in school that you are interested in, or any subjects/topics that you are interested in, in general! By doing this it can give you a feel for the type of work you would be interested in when it comes time to pick your career. If you feel like you aren’t interested in any subjects you do, take note of which subject you do the best in or get the best grades in. Even if you feel unsure about a career in an area, at least you know that there is a subject you are good at and could fall back on.
After sifting through all your subjects that you find potentially interesting, I'd recommend researching into college courses in that area. Going through college prospectuses was useful for me when thinking about what career I might like as they are separated into categories i.e., medicine, business, law, arts etc. I discovered lots of courses that I didn’t even know existed! As well as this, research the actual occupations that you are interested in or that are linked to your list of subjects. This way you can get an insight into what its typically like to work in that occupation.
Most of the time, talking to your parents about their own careers can help aid you in picking your own, maybe you’ll discover that you love the sound of what they do or maybe you’ll discover you hate it! Either way, there is no harm in trying! Similarly, talking to your career guidance teacher, teachers or principal can help you debate and brainstorm any areas of work you might like. Teachers often know more about specific college courses than you might think and can recommend what courses they think you would be good at. They might even recommend you do teaching! 😊
Research, Research, Research!!! I can’t stress it enough! Use any spare time you have, to watch videos and interviews on the day in the life of someone with a career you are interested in. Don’t get stressed if you are researching into different careers and you find yourself saying no to pretty much all options you are presented with! In fact, being picky and saying no to things you’re not interested in is a good thing! By narrowing down and cutting out careers that you don’t like you're making the list of possible things you might enjoy smaller, and sooner rather than later, you’ll find that the career you’ve always hoped for is staring at you right in the face!
Also, consider other factors like what type of working hours would you enjoy and be capable to do? How much is the average annual salary for this type of job? What other areas could I branch into if I end up not liking the job? Always have a backup plan and don’t box yourself into a corner!
Get some work experience! This is something I strongly recommend you should do if you can! Some schools offer their students to get a weeks worth of work experience in different sectors so that students can get a feel of the environment of a job etc. Emailing places of work and asking for a week of work experience (should they offer it) could aid in your search for the right career for you! Even asking your parents if you could do work experience in their place of work during summer holidays may give you an idea of what its like to work anywhere at all! It's also an eye opening and maturing experience for young people as they will have to deal with communication and learn simple skills such as IT skills and organizing skills!
Being an avid planning freak, I went as far as making a PowerPoint presentation of potential future careers that I would like to have and could see myself doing, (Highly strung I know!) I listed them in order of preference from the career I think I would most enjoy to the career I would possibly enjoy. I researched colleges that had the courses, listed all their information, listed the course requirements information and considered alternative options in colleges abroad. I also listed reasons why I might be good at a certain jobs or enjoy it. My main goal was to have a job that I would be satisfied with. Thinking about aspects of jobs that would be satisfying or not satisfying and thinking about your own personal qualities and qualities you would need for the job will also help in narrowing down the vast search.
If you have a career in mind and cant see yourself doing anything else, then aim for that career! Ive mentioned in this post a lot about having a back up plan but honestly if you cant imagine doing anything other than the occupation your thinking of, strive for it, work for it and grab it by the reigns, because usually that’s a pretty big sign that that job is what you are meant to do! I know you can do it!
Underneath I have added a template filled with questions that you can fill out if you still feel like you have no idea what you want to do! Feel free to print it off and use it or take down the questions.😉
1) What do I want in a career? eg. Good salary, short hours etc.
2) What are my personal attributes or qualities?......
3) What are my interests?
4) What do I definitely not want to do? e.g an office job...
5) How many points or grades do I need to get in order to get into the college course I want?...
6) Is there a specific college/university I want to go to?
But the main thing to remember is that, while choosing what you’ll work as for the rest of your life may seem important and necessary, not to mention stressful, now, just know that you have your whole life to figure it out. So happy choosing!!
K.xx
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