Source: abssvss
You’re 18 years old, finished school and most probably, experiencing the ‘end of childhood’ as you knew it. You are faced with a life time decision, or so you feel, about your career path.
Many have been in a similar situation..’the road not taken’…’jobs of the future’… ‘choose wisely’…. So much pressure for relatively young souls that have being part of the schooling system for more than a decade. A system where almost everything is dictated, including the dress code, the time to wake up and the curriculum.
Now, you have to choose the path to take. What to learn, where and when. You have to dictate your own path. Seeking guidance through assessments, professionals, teachers or parents can be useful but doesn’t always bear the answers you are looking for.
The following four principles can help you through this period;
- Take the risk. The biggest fear is selecting a path for which you are not sure of. It’s Ok if you decide to change your route! See each experience as an opportunity to learn and grow.
- Embrace lifelong learning. No matter what you have chosen, continue learning. In today’s changing environment it is no longer the case that we learn for a profession it is learning while you are in the job.
- Travel, get out of your comfort zone. Traveling experiences can provide ample learning and strengthen your character.
- Gap Year; If you’re not sure what to do after school, take a gap year, but enrich this year with studies, reading and travel experiences. The decision will come sooner or later. Even if later, you’d have a wider foundation to stand on to ensure you are equipped to deal with changes and new unexpected career pathways.
Source: Crunchy Friday
* This post is first in a series of articles to tackle issue of career guidance. Please comment and share your thoughts and own experiences
Filed under: Career Guidance | Tagged: advice, after school, career, careerchoice, careerguidance, Gap Year, gapyear, Life Skills, school, schoolchoice |
Ariellah's Technoblog 
Relate to this alot, hard to see the bigger picture when making your first big decision after high school.
I have read your post on Career Guidance and this is a topic very close to my heart having recently been through having a post matric who was unsure of the direction to take. I also had a friend of mine who recently went to see Professor at Wits for Career Guidance and she paid almost R1500.00 for a consultation which was inaccurate and had no relevance to what her daughter was thinking of applying for.
Career Counselling has always been important but only recently, got the recognition it deserves. Career counseling in schools ensures the right kind of help to overcome such thinking and stop students from making such mistakes. In my opinion career counselling in school is designed to assist students in subject selection and not long term career decision. Students take a psychometric test in order to avoid making mistakes and their efforts are commendable, although the results of the test might leave them more confused than before.
This is because the psychometric test basically outlines the strengths and weaknesses of students and highlights their aptitudes and interests. The catch is, their aptitudes and interests don’t necessary have to match. Meaning, they can be good at Math but have an interest in Arts. So which career option do they pick? I would fully support this initiative as I believe that proper career guidance is vital during school and even for adults floundering in making career changes but not knowing how to get assistance.
Regards,
Tracey Catania
Training and Event Coordinator
[…] response to my first post in the series of career selections SEE LINK , I received interesting feedback via comments , emails and discussions I had with people. It […]