Experts believe that making choices for your career is something that you will need to do throughout your life. This is a journey that is influenced by a number of factors that you will have to consider before making the first step.
While some individuals will have a natural flair and thrive in the career path that they have chosen, there are individuals that will take their first step by choosing to obtain a qualification at an institution of higher learning.
It is said that this decision mostly falls squarely on the individuals hoping that their qualifications will help them prepare for their future career and study opportunities.
Experts are of the opinion that whatever the influences are, it is always good to have clear career goals that you would like to achieve over a set period of time and to evaluate progress towards achieving these goals.
Top five factors that you should consider when choosing a career path:
- Self-awareness: Noting all of the aspects that stand out about you, your skills, values, and also understanding yourself, will help you know which careers are better aligned with the person that you are.
- Interests: Think and understand the different ways that you can choose a career that is aligned with your interests. For instance, if you are interested in working with people, how would you want to work with people? Would it be from a social work or legal perspective (or others)?
- Opportunities: Try as best as you can to obtain skills that will also be relevant and adaptable in the future as the world constantly changes. Examples of such skills include oral and written communication skills, computer skills, the ability to work in a team, self-management, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills.
- Values and Abilities: This is what you value in life (loyalty, spirituality, humility, compassion, kindness, etc), on the other hand, abilities will mainly be centered around your potential to do something and proficiency in a particular area.
- Experiences: This is a collective of skills that you were able to obtain in a particular area, this applies to both life and work-related experience. For instance, working as a Teacher Assistant helps you obtain people skills, effective communication, and how to lead, this will expose you to a variety of career paths that will require you to have this set of skills.
Universities and TVET colleges offer services and resources that help both prospective and existing students in their journey of discovering their career paths.
Choosing a career is not always easy and some people might even say that it is not set in stone. In some instances, not being able to decide on a career path has led to some students either dropping out of a university or college. In some cases, students have explored an alternative career path.
According to Wits University Career Development Educator & Career Development Services Team Leader, Raj Naran it is safe to say that there is a significant number of students who do choose to switch to alternative programmes.
Naran reiterated that some students switch to other programmes as they feel the need to switch to something that aligns more closely with their interests or with their capacity to cope with the current programme.
At Wits University, students can access one of several helpful resources, including the Counselling & Careers Development Unit, The Student Enrolment Centre, or the Academic Departments.
This is where students who are unsure of where and what to study are able to receive career guidance and help in other areas of their lives by professionals, such as career counselors.