Your Career Pathway

Did you know that $1.3billion is lost to the economy in poor and mixed transitions of young people per year (DEEWR 2008). That is from young people starting in one area and then changing after realising it is not for them, or changing tertiary courses, or moving around to really find “what they want to do”. Part of this is inevitable as it does take some time to work it out, but perhaps with a little more self reflection and quality career advice at a younger age it would reduce this amount and have more young people “living” what they really want to do earlier in their careers.

Through our Frank Team workshops and programs we often hear the comment “I wish I had done this analysis earlier”. What is involved in this analysis?

• Explore past experiences, achievements and milestones since your were about 14 years old.

• Identify those elements that stand out because they helped you to learn something, you thoroughly enjoyed, you felt strongly about or gave you great satisfaction.

• See what actions and skills describe those moments and how important they are to you

• Combine your top ones into a perfect job description.

• Reflect and see is your tertiary studies or current work conditions in line with this job description.

• If yes, woo hoo! Keep progressing in that area. If no, then where would you like to get to and how are you going to do that. This may involve a re-think and some changes.

This basic analysis of skills, actions, values and interests is essential and really listening to what the results are saying to you.

When you are at the beginning of your career journey, what should be a part of everyone’s career program to help this analysis?

• Combine study with work experience and on the job training. This is so you can take your theory and put it into practice straight away. But also it has you experience the “real” world in that area/industry earlier so you can really work out if it fits with you.

o You can do School Based Apprenticeship and Traineeships these days that do on the job training and school study. It is a wonderful way to get this combined experience and get a foothold into the job market early.

• Don’t expect it all to be “fun and games.” Some people start in their chosen career/industry and within 2 weeks start saying “I hate it.” Now if this is truly connected to not enjoying the core work involved then fair enough perhaps you need to re-think and potentially change. But I would say 2 weeks is not enough to truly experience and see the opportunities in that career/industry. Everyone has to start somewhere, and sometimes that is at the bottom but there are always opportunities and ways of learning more and moving ahead; so perhaps you need to grit your teeth and see it out a little further before making the rash decision of doing a complete change. And remember, your progress is UP TO YOU so start finding the opportunities and doing something about it.

• Online personality and career quizzes are available to help you too. Check these out below, but remember that many of these “quizzes” are limited and need to put you into a box so use them as a guide only rather than a decision making tool! But be honest with yourself when you are filling them out. See if they indicate you are heading in the right direction.

o http://jobsearch.gov.au/careerquiz/careerquiz.aspx

o http://www.jobjuice.gov.au/jobjuice/apps/quiz/views/quiz.aspx

o http://www.princetonreview.com/cte/quiz/career_quiz1.asp

o http://www.personalitytype.com/quiz.asp

o http://www.hr.unsw.edu.au/osds/mycareer.html

• Go to networking events to meet the people who work in that area. See if they are your kind of people, what they are talking about and what different career paths are available in that area.

• Check in with your own motivations. Are you going into that industry for the right reasons? If you are doing it cos all of your friends are doing it, your parents want you to, it makes good money or cos it sounds like fun then you may not be 100% happy in the near future. Career choices need to based on your passions, interests and aspirations. Combine this with your skills you enjoy using and you should see a few options open to you.

• Encourage your school/university (or seek out for yourself) to start:

o Having guest speakers in many different areas/industries.

o Regular reflection on activities (from work experience, to sport, to musicals etc) to see what skills you have learnt but most importantly what elements of them that you enjoyed and would like to learn more about.

o Check out websites about careers and early career development.

o Encourage parents to tell their career stories to students and their kids.

o Build your career management skills eg: networking skills, presentation skills, goal setting.

o Have local employers do presentation about what day-to-day is like in their organisation and the career opportunities.

These are just some initial ideas – what do you wish you had done earlier to help to work out what you “really” want to do?

They say that you can tell you are on “purpose” when your work doesn’t feel like work; well for at least 60 – 70% of the time! That feeling of enjoying yourself, feeling happy and being positive the majority of the time in the workplace shows that you are in the right place. If there is a lack of motivation, you are disengaged or just plain unhappy then you probably want to have a re-evaluation of your career and put yourself in the driver’s seat of making some changes. Anything is possible, so see what you can create for yourself!