Join the Grand newsletter for more content like this!
“Find your passion and you’ll never work a day in your life” so the saying goes. But uncovering what your passion actually is and then deciding which career pathway to follow is not always an easy task 🙄
Finding what lights you up and turning your passion into a career takes effort. First is the challenge to identify what fills your cup and makes you feel excited, happy and motivated. Then comes searching for opportunities and jobs that align with what you enjoy doing.
If you’re feeling a little unsure about what field to enter or study for after high school, here are some ideas and exercises to help you find a satisfying career.
Take a moment to reflect on yourself and the things that interest you, that you invest time into and that get you hyped up 🤔
There might be a certain day of the week or time of day that you enjoy the most. Or a genre of books or podcasts you enjoy most. Things like this can start to reveal passions and interests.
This week as you go about the world, pay attention to the high points of your day. This might be at school, at home, at work or while spending time with family and friends.
Making notes about the highlights of your day-to-day life can help unearth passions that might relate to a future career.
No one is born a master. It takes time, effort and resources to develop into the legend you will become.
Some people have natural and obvious strengths and others work hard to achieve them 💪
At school you might have topped the class in English, but received super average grades in Music. Safe to say, English is a strength of yours.
You might have seen someone in your class never studied for the Maths exams but always received top marks. Meanwhile, you received a B despite studying all week. Sounds like your classmate has a natural talent for mathematics 🤓
You can also have strengths with soft skills, like the subtle art of persuasive communication. You may have spent time developing this skill, or you just might be naturally confident and tactful.
Identify your strengths with both soft and hard skills.
Finding your perfect career path doesn’t have to be a solo task. Do the work by asking yourself the questions above, and then ask your family and trusted friends for advice and ideas too 💡
Your family and friends might notice or point out talents, skills or interests that you had forgotten about or hadn’t realised yourself.
Remember that your family or friends might come to you with a strong bias though (hello pushy parents who want you to study law or go to med school, or friend that wants you to become a nurse too).
So try and have an open mind and take what they say with a grain of salt. At the end of the day, it’s your career and the next 40-50 years of your life (not theirs).
You’ve observed yourself, looked at your strengths and asked your family and friends for ideas. Now for the important part - exploring different jobs and careers.
If you’ve identified some topics or fields you’re interested in, or decided you enjoy using a particular type of skill or being in a certain environment, look for a way to transfer that to a workplace.
There are dozens of ways to get a taste of different jobs and careers. Why not try these ideas….
Browse jobs websites and read the descriptions of different roles.
Get a taster of the working world with work experience.
The best thing to do is try. As you explore different jobs and career paths you will find that some are not for you. That’s great! The more you explore, the more you learn about what you do and don’t like and uncover your career passion 🙌
Getting real world experience is easier than ever. Check out our programs page to find more than a dozen totally free Virtual Work Experience programs and micro-courses. Sign up, do the work and find your career match along with industry mentors.
Grandshake and Junior Engineers, a one-stop shop for the industry to support young talent development from school to employment.
Use your 2022 to find your feet, experience new things, uncover your passion and set goals for the future
It takes time, energy and effort to find the career for you. Here are tips on how to find a job you love.