Making a career choice can be challenging when you’re still in school and feel like you haven’t got nearly enough information to make this kind of decision… We get you and have some awesome practical steps that may help.
The pressure can be a nightmare when choosing your career path, but it is time to find a career!
It’s a good idea to recognise that it takes some thought and exploring to decide on what would be a well-suited career choice for you.
The reality of a career choice
A lot of people go through one or two career changes in their lifetime, and it might be helpful to remember that it happens and that’s okay. What is important is to dig deep and look for a career that brings out the best in you. Let’s face it, you’ll spend a lot of your life at work.
Browse through a range of career profiles to find the career path for you. You can filter your search according to the career field or your interests. Alternatively, you will be able to search for a particular profession 🙂
We also want to remind you that it’s alright if you have no idea where to begin. That’s normal, and this might sound cliché, but sometimes the journey is more important than the destination. If you take things one step at a time, you’ll find that it’s not as overwhelming as it seems. Having said that, there are a variety of factors to consider when deciding on a career path.
My career choice: Factors to consider
Your personality type, as well as the things you enjoy and don’t enjoy, will be helpful indicators of the kind of career that would suit you. Choosing a career is about way more than just finding out what you will be good at. Although skill is highly valuable, it can also be learned. Learning a set of hard skills becomes a lot easier when you have a natural interest in a topic. This is where learning new skills become accessible and valuable as you choose your career.
The journey of finding your perfect career is also about exploring your passions and ambitions. You see, when the going gets tough you want to know that you’ll stick it out because you’ve found something that you love.
Explore your interests and discover which study/career path is for you. You are just three steps away from choosing a way forward.
How you define success is also an important consideration. How far do you expect to go in your chosen career? Maybe you are someone who would thrive in a 9-5 office work environment. Or perhaps, you have a desire to become an entrepreneur or a CEO. Maybe you’re more artistic and you will be an author or an artist, or even an interior designer. There are so many options, resources, and opportunities available.
Step One: Discovering your interests
The first step is the fun part. Get to know yourself, explore, create and try new things. Your natural interests might be exactly the type of career you need to aim for. If you love food, maybe cheffing is your thing. Or if you love to dance, maybe you will become a professional dancer or a high-level dance instructor. A good way to figure out who you are is to do a personality test. Once you know what you’re interested in, and who you are, you’ll be able to refine your options.
Step Two: Recognising your abilities
We would also recommend doing an aptitude test, which tests what some of your natural abilities and interests are as well as what types of careers would be a good match. When doing an aptitude test, remember that they are great tools to use, but you don’t need to plan your existence around them. An aptitude test is just one factor to consider out of the few that we have mentioned whether you’re in grade 9 choosing your subjects, or in matric debating your career path.
Use an aptitude test as an indicator, but don’t stop at that. Continue to explore and make your notes about some of the things you’ve been involved in, and enjoyed. This could be the key to unlocking a study option you should take. Maybe you found joy being in a school play as a kid, or you believe you’re meant to become a math teacher.
Ultimately, the decisions you make will be yours to own. You will be the person going to work, and excelling in your career. Make it fun for yourself, and be honest.
Step Three: Making a decision
Your potential is endless and at the end of the day, it becomes about discipline and making good decisions that you will stick to in the long run.
In the third step, we advise that you collect your notes and write a list of all the careers you would be interested in. This is where you can plan out your unique career strategy. Fact: a strategy for anything is based on the resources available to you and how you can implement and use them within a structure.
It is also important to consider the careers of the future since technology is constantly advancing. It is said that there will be careers in the future that have not yet been designed, keep your options open.
Decisions about choosing a career or school subjects have you confused? Here we give you the careers of the future and what you can study to get involved with these careers.
Ultimately it is important to remember how unique you are. Whatever you are naturally interested in might be a key element in choosing your school subjects and your career path. If you need extra help, we recommend contacting someone in career guidance. We want to encourage you to step into the process, explore a bit and really find what makes you tick. All the best, and enjoy the journey!
EduConnect 2Cents
It might be fun to ask family and friends to tell you what they see you doing as a career. You can take what they say with a pinch of salt, of course, but it might be helpful as you explore your options in step two.
