Reaching a fork in the road is always overwhelming. On the one hand, you’re being forced to leave behind everything you’ve ever known and grown accustomed to. On the other hand, you have no idea what the future holds, and you’re unsure of which path to take. Although having to decide your career path is stressful for almost everyone, those who have a variety of interests and passions always have it the hardest. It’s much less overwhelming to follow the path that you’ve wanted ever since you’ve been in elementary school, but how can you choose the right when you like many things equally?
You don’t have to struggle for being multi-talented though; we’re here to guide you through this stressful period. Here are a few tips you can follow to find the career that’s right for you.
List Down Your Interests and Hobbies
Let’s start with a simple task. How about you list down all the interests, hobbies, and passions you have? Make the list as long as you possibly can. Once you’ve written them down, ask yourself which of these items are good enough to be pursued as a career, and which ones can only be a hobby. Just because you enjoy doing something doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll want to do it for a living. You may be good at painting, but if you can’t visualize yourself working as an artist, then an art career is certainly not for you. You can pursue your hobbies as side hustles, but your career will be your main focus.
Assess Your Skills and Preferred Work Style
After dividing the list into hobbies and potential career paths, it’s time to take a look at your skills and preferred work style. Among all the items you’ve listed as potential career paths, are you confident enough in your skill to pursue this path? You may enjoy knitting, but if you’re not good enough at it, you can’t expect to make a living out of it. Meanwhile, you should also take the work style of the career path into consideration. Do you like to enjoy the freedom of remote work? Do you prefer a job where you move your body? Do you like the stability that comes with working a routine 9-5 office job? Your preferred work style will direct you further toward the right career path.
Research Schools and Curriculums
While thinking about the workstyle is important to consider, it’s also important to take the near future into consideration. As the career counsellors at https://careerbackers.com/ suggest, you should build a good idea about the kind of education you’ll have in the curriculums of the major you’re about to enrol into. Once you compare different majors, you can have a better idea of how your school days will go and whether you’re okay with that. You should also explore the schools in your town, surrounding, or target destinations to find the best education in the major you’ve settled on.
Know Yourself Better
The truth is that the phase you’re about to enter is the one that will help you know most about yourself. However, diving into a major and waiting to know if it suits or not is not exactly smart. It’s better to build a better idea about yourself beforehand so you can consider better options. You can learn a lot about yourself by taking a personality test and seeing which career paths suit people with your personality best.
Seek Practical Experience
After you’ve done your research, it’s very common to feel even more confused than before. After all, everything you’ve found out is mere written words; you can’t fully comprehend the scope of the education and work ahead of you. The best way to settle this confusion, once and for all, is to seek practical experience. Look for work opportunities in the career you have in mind by applying to internships, looking for job shadowing opportunities, or applying to informational interviews.
Ask for Advice
Finally, don’t shy away from asking for advice. Look for the adults in your family or among your relatives, teachers, and even online role models and ask them about their advice. Ask for feedback about their own professions. You can also seek career counsellors to help you make a more informed decision.
At the end of the day, keep in mind that there’s no right or wrong when it comes to career choices. Millions of people have decided to switch their careers after spending years in the wrong major. Whatever you decide upon, it will give you significant skills you can use in different ways down the road. So take it easy, know that you have a lot of time to explore, and always be true to your heart!