How Do You Know What You Want to Do After High School?
Article by Akashni Weimers
So. I have a question to all Matrics out there. Where are you headed after you complete high school? Scary question? For me it definitely was. Some of my peers had it mapped out quite methodically, starting at university and ending all the way up the ladder of career success until they’d pretty much be rolling in it someday. Others fell into the bucket of people that were terrified of what this coming chapter would hold.
The pressures around this decision are definitely challenging, but there’s no getting away from this age- old question after school: Where to next.
Read on: After completing high school, I had no idea what on earth I wanted to do with my life, but one thing resonated with me: I wanted to help people.
The problem was, that’s kind of a broad thing and I honestly had no clue what I’d even be doing on this quest to “help people”.I thought about it. I knew that I liked listening to people.
So… let’s become a psychologist I thought. Hmm. Plus, people always come to me for good advice (something I learnt later in life that psychologists are not actually meant to do).
But before taking the plunge into becoming a Psych major in a university, I decided to do what all sturdy students with a good set of marks would do:
(1) Go see a guidance counselor.
Seeing a guidance counselor seemed like the smart thing to do. I remember waking up early, getting dressed and marching into a university for the first time to see one. There and then, I knew that this person would answer all of my questions and unlock everything about my personality that would help me make the life altering decision of what career was right for me (no pressure counselor LOL!).
A guidance counselor can place your mind at ease by asking the right questions and informing you about different types of careers to spark your interest.
You can generally find a guidance counselor in both schools and universities and it is generally free of charge.
If after a couple sessions, you still feel as confused as ever about your future plans, you can delve deeper into understanding your personality type with a unique Myers- Briggs based questionnaire like the one below (also… see! how Psychologists develop such awesome things? Knew it!):
(2) The 16 Personalities https://www.16personalities.com/This test is an extremely fun, free and engaging personality questionnaire that has been the focal point of conversation within jobs, and amongst friends/ family in my life!
It aims to find out which of the 16 personality types you fall into and what job, relationship characteristics and approaches you can take when interacting with the other personality types.
Not only will you discover what jobs and environments are more tuned to who you are; it also tells you which popular TV show/ book characters & celebs scored the same (I got Littlefinger from GoT and Michelle Obama… love it!)
There are so many credible (and not so credible) tests on the internet just like this these days that are helpful to finding the correct path (not to mention all those self- help e- books), but don’t get side- tracked. A combination of the following sources is still a great way of coming to the best conclusions about your life!
(3) As much as we sometimes hate to, another great way of deciding where this car of life is journeying out to, is to ask your parents for advice.
Or the parents of friends whose career or entrepreneurial paths excite you. Asking for advice is always a good idea, especially if you attain it from multiple types of people from diverse backgrounds and industries. Doing this was incredibly enlightening. I got both good and bad responses.
Some told me that doing what I loved was a sure-fire way to make money. It didn’t matter what degree you studied (or even if you never studied at all). You could make it despite this.Others were extremely critical of my psych ambitions. “You need a job that makes you money!”, they said (not realising that many psychologists make a ton).
The conversation was evidently always forceful. All sides had good points, nonetheless.The important thing to remember is that you are simply collecting info from them, even if you don’t end up taking any of their advice. And whilst you’re on that roll:
(4) Why not ask your parents (or parents of friends) to take you to their place of work. Yes, the “take a girl/boy child to work” movement is still a very relevant and empowering thing that can give you a snapshot into what your future office and desk will look like.
How do you grow your cactus plant on a desk that is not window facing? It might not seem important now, but trust me…Scratch that.
Getting to see what a person’s work environment “looks” like not only provides you with an idea of what said professional will be doing day- to- day, it will also give you an indication of work culture.
Suppose you want to be a lawyer but working in a law firm is as cutthroat as they show ‘em on Suits (or not!). Or suppose you want to be an actress, but your director is a… drama queen.
You’ll get to see this first-hand and personally; I believe that work culture could be the make- or break of your entire road ahead. Consider this when choosing a lifelong career.If you get bored during the day, make some coffee… and whilst you’re at it:
(5) Ask people for informational interviewsBe bold. This is a very important decision after all. Now I’m not saying I did all of these things in deciding what was right for me, but this one was uber helpful!
What is an informational interview you might ask? Well, it’s an interview with a professional, whose career interests you. Here you get to ask all of the right questions about this person’s career, their daily tasks, meetings, goals and achievements first-hand.
Doing this could also be helpful long – term as you’re now starting to build long term contacts that can assist/ mentor you along the way.
Should you just randomly ask someone to have an informational interview with you. Simply, yes. Be honest about your intentions and tell them that you’re doing this to gather info about their career in the hopes that it will guide you in whether or not to study toward it.
Why would they help you? You’ll be surprised at how many good people with a knack for mentorship enjoy helping young people with a genuine proactiveness and drive for success. Just go for it! And have fun.
(6) Lastly, and my favourite! Get a part- time job/ internship (even one for free if you must).This one is particularly great because you’re starting to get your first lesson on being employed with a growing CV of useful, practical and current skillsets. You don’t have to shoot to management level in this job.
All you have to do is pick up basic administrative skills that teach you the groundwork of what being apart of an organisation is all about.Anything from basic admin, secretarial, office assistant, intern, product promoter/ sales, teach English, merchandise, farm or other types of shift work will suffice, whilst you’re figuring it all out.
Employers find this experience highly attractive when recruiting entry level employees. And whether you intend to go in this direction or not, this experience never hurt anyone.
Better yet, take a gap year if you’re really undecided and gain credible skills before you take the leap into making this critical decision as to where you find yourself next…
