Choosing the career that is right for you

Choosing a career path is a very daunting prospect, as it seems like you have to pick what you want to do for the rest of your life at an early age, without any real industry knowledge or even without knowing what career you want, which is normal as it puts a lot of responsibility on your shoulders. So here are some tips you can use whilst making this decision.

Find out what your interests are

Doing something you enjoy is key in any career, so making your way into an industry you are keen on will be an essential decision to make as you are likely to work in that field for years, meaning it does have long term consequences. If you are doing something you enjoy it will mean the work you are doing on a daily basis will be more enjoyable to you, therefore making you value your career more. For example, if you enjoy working with animals you could consider being a vet. However, finding a specific role that interests you can be mentally draining, so employing a tactical, constructive mindset can make it a lot less mentally daunting for you and help you to stay focused.

Recognise your skills and experiences

Finding out what your interests is particularly important but so is recognising your skills and experiences, as this will mean you can pick a role that is suited to you and abilities. Obviously, you will learn new skills through your experiences to come, but you will also develop your current ones, which will allow you to progress your career. Picking a role that suits you will allow you to fit into the role quickly as you will have the fundamental skills to start will in the role, as oppose to if you went into a role you had no idea about. This is likely to frustrate you and make you dislike the role if the work confuses you, so it is essential that you learn what your skills are and how you can fit into different roles with them.

Try to gain work experience

Nothing will give you an insight into an industry or job role like personal experience, so when choosing a career path gaining work experience could be crucial to you. This is because work experience will give you a detailed perspective of what it is like to work in a job role you may be interested in. There are many ways of gaining experience, examples include: voluntary work, online courses and you could even try contacting workplaces directly as employers are always keen to gain new interest in their company’s roles. This will put you in a good position when it comes to recruitment as through gaining relevant work experience, employers will see that you have an active interest in the position and that you have had some experience relating to it, meaning they are more likely to employ you.