If you’re on the verge of going to uni and are still asking yourself what career you really want to do, don’t fear – you’re not the only one.
Some lucky sons of guns are blessed with knowing what their career choice is before they’ve even been born, but for others, it takes a little longer. Read on for the five questions you need to ask yourself when deciding what your career path will be…
1) What am I good at?
Are you an academic person, or are you more creative? What did you achieve best at during school? What are your strengths? Most importantly, what are you passionate about? If you don’t know, ask your friends and family – they’ll soon tell you which subject you can’t shut up about!
2) What do I enjoy?
In a group task, which do you naturally do: take leadership, evaluate from afar, split into smaller groups or spend the time wishing you could work on the problem alone? How you enjoy working is just as important as what you enjoy working on!
3) What don’t I want to do?
Don’t just think job titles – think day to day duties. Admin, accounting, public speaking, conferences, deadlines, commuting..
Check out job descriptions and clean out the ones you absolutely point blank refuse to do, but remember to be smart about it. If a bit of admin is what you need to do to become top editor of that magazine, or executive producer of that television show, then it’s worth dealing with stubborn photo-copiers for a while.
4) What do I need to do to get there?
What qualifications, skills and/or experience do you need to get into your dream job? This isn’t just academic – it’s personal. What type of person do you need to be? Competitive? Active? Mentally strong? Physically strong? Indentitfy what you need to work on alongisde your studies, be it hiring a personal trainer or choosing add+vantage modules that will train your brain, you need to know these things in advance.It might help to try and chat to others in the field.
5) What is my ideal career?
This might be the most obvious one, but it’s important. This time, write a list of job titles that sound attractive to you, and then research the duties involved. Find out what the work pattern is like, what the salary is etc. Ask yourself why it’s ideal for you. Is it fast-paced? Is it chilled out? Does it promise a 9-5 routine? Does it promise to not be a 9-5 routine?
You’ll soon have a list of all the components of your ideal job, research these and you could find a role you’ve never dreamt of before!
Learn more about the careers and employability services we offer.
– Karis
