Everyone has one of those friends. You know the type: you
suspect they could debate the finer points of the law before they could walk,
or their first words were ‘business and management internship’, or they
probably used to sing ‘Your metatarsus is connected to your navicular bone’ as
a child. They’ve known they wanted to be a doctor since they were 5 and ¾ and they’ve never looked back. They’re
right on track for getting the exact career they want.
And then there’s you and me. We’re reaching the critical
moment of ‘Hang on a second – was I meant to have figured out a career path by
now?’
The truth is, I think the ones who definitely and
passionately know what career they want are the statistical anomaly; those of
us who haven’t got a great master plan yet are probably the majority, so you’re
not alone. Some of us have gathered together some sort of idea and direction,
and some of us still haven’t got a clue. So what should we do when we don’t
know what to do?
Step one: don’t
panic. You’ve got (or are getting) a degree and you can get a job if you
try hard enough. You are not going to starve/be forever unemployed/have to live
in a ditch. If you end up in a job you don’t like, so what? It’s not the end of
the world – you could (and should) try something different after a year or so.
Step two: think about
what you might like to do. It sounds obvious but list all the careers you
could potentially enjoy and consider what industries you’re interested in.
Weigh up your strengths and weaknesses and what sort of job marries well with
them. Ask your friends and family to tell you, with brutal honesty, what they
think you’d be good at. Use our career planner tool. Think about
whether there is any flexibility in the career you might be interested in. For
example, if you reckon you might like retail management, you could always use
it as a base for going into other retail careers, such as buying or
merchandising, or other management careers if it turns out it’s not right for
you. You don’t have to pigeonhole yourself just yet. Then, you need to actually
write the whole lot down – it will make you realise you have a better idea than
you thought you had.
Step three: do your
research. There are more jobs out there than you might think. Browse our
list of job descriptions to see if there’s anything you haven’t
considered yet. Do you really know about all the options that are open to you
with your degree and experience? Do you know about all the job adverts out
there that don’t specify a degree subject, such as jobs in management, sales,
finance, admin or recruitment?
Step four: just try
something. Once you’ve figured out what careers might interest you, if you
can get some work experience, do it. You might find out it’s not for you but
that’s part of the learning curve (and then you return to step two).
Step five: keep your
chin up. Scrolling through listings of jobs you’re not interested in and
feeling stranded in the career desert can be a real knock to your confidence.
Don’t let it get the better of you. Look at your list of strengths again. Stop
comparing yourself to your friend with the freakishly shiny CV and golden
career path. You are worthy of a good job – you just have to find the right job
that’s worthy of you.
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