Sometimes careers present themselves to you while you’re still in school. You know exactly what you want to be when you grow up and that sticks with you for life. For others, the journey toward the correct career path can take you off-route time and again. It’s not always easy to know what you should be doing or what you’re suited to. But should you let fate steer you over time, or should you strive to carve the career path you want right now?
Lifelong Learning?
Carving a path for yourself can seem quite daunting at first. It can actually prove to be one of the most satisfying approaches. Instead of taking your grades and qualifications and assuming that adds up to a defined career, consider your personality and lifestyle choices instead. Lifelong learning will help you achieve the qualifications you need for the career you choose for yourself.
Continuing professional development doesn’t have to be like this! Image source
Pick By Personality
If you’re a people person and you seem keen to help others, you might be suited to teaching or nursing. Once you’ve achieved your nursing degree, you might then feel that your skills are best suited to private practices rather than the hospital environment. From there you might navigate on toward care homes and emergency care by undertaking your ACLS certification. Your qualifications and experience soon add up, and you’ve got an interesting career story to tell your kids and grandkids.
Of course, if you’re creative, you might not feel that qualifications or certification are that important. You might be right. Your portfolio of work might be all you need to land big clients or that job with that dream employer. Your path to this type of career might be one that demands a lot of experience before you can demand better pay and perks. Working hard to build that portfolio is your path to carve. Of course, a lot of networking to find the most interesting projects can help here too!
Keep in touch and forge new relationships to develop your career. Image source
Leading The Way From The Start
Taking the reins is important, especially during those early days of just starting out. But you don’t have to follow anyone else’s path or follow traditional routes. In fact, a career for you might not mean a job at all. You might become an entrepreneur. A self-starter can turn a great idea into a profitable business. Overnight, you’ve become the Director of your own company. There was no waiting for promotions and no academic route required.
Does that mean you should ignore opportunities to study? Even if you’ve made it where you want to be you should endeavor to continue learning and to find out more every day. Bettering yourself means you are bettering the service you can provide. You can stay connected with the latest thinking in your industry. And you might find a formal academic qualification gives you the deeper knowledge you always wanted. It’s a great way to give your confidence a boost too!
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