You Don’t Need to Know What you Want!

You Don’t Need to Have All the Answers

You don’t need to know what your dream career is immediately.

Choosing a job or study options is one of the most important decisions of your life. If you’re like most people, you don’t know the answer to the dreaded “What do you want to be when you grow up?” question, you’re probably quite stressed about it.

Last week we discussed how to think over your study options and choosing subjects at school. This week let’s discuss your job choices, here are some things you might be thinking about:  

Can I change my mind or will I be locked into my career choice?

• Should I follow my dreams or is it best to be practical?

• What if I know the industry I’m interested in but not the job?

• What if I don’t get the right qualifications?

  It is estimated that up to 1/3 of all students change their minds on career paths half way through their studies. So if you are having a moment of indecision, you are far from being alone. You are 100% not locked into anything, most adults have at least one change of career in their lifetimes and the age of the ‘Job for Life’ is no longer upon us.

Can your dream job be a real career?

There are so many options when you consider what you really enjoy – your dream career need not necessarily stem from the subjects you study at school.

What is your passion in life? Do you have a hobby that you really enjoy and practice daily – such as singing for example? Although becoming a famous singer is a very difficult thing to do – you could use your talents in other ways. How about becoming a music teacher for example?

Are you passionate about fitness and going to the gym perhaps? How about becoming a Fitness Instructor or PE Teacher? How about a Nutritionist?

If, however, your dream is perhaps a little more unfounded such as ‘Astronaut’ or ‘Marine Biologist’ and you don’t have any experience of this, you are going to have to do a lot more research:

·       What does the job actually entail? What is the Job Description?

·       Where is the closest place you can do this?

·       What qualifications are required?

·       How much does this job pay?

·       Will doing this job every day make me happy?

·       Does it look like it would be very stressful?

If you are unsure what suits you best why not try one of these free Career Tests.

Industry Requirements

Personally, I think one of the best ways of finding the job you really want to do is to first choose the industry you might be interested in.

What is an industry I hear you ask?

·       Financial services;

·       Oil & Gas

·       Healthcare;

·       Insurance;

·       Retail;

·       Technology;

·       Telecommunications;

·       Utilities;

·       Travel and hospitality

Quite often you can gain an apprenticeship to enter into an industry such as these and learn about the ensemble before choosing your direct career path.

What if I don’t get the Qualifications I need?

It is not the end of the world and you are not in a rush to get them, despite what you might think. There are so many pathways into a career of your choice but so many of these you are unaware of. In next week’s blog we’ll be looking at Skills and above all I would most recommend working on your skills to help you achieve the career path of your dreams.

Has this been useful to you? If you would like to discuss your career paths in more detail we run free career consultations – get in touch for more information.