How to Find Your Career Path

For many new graduates, the prospect of determining what comes next can be daunting. Some may have already decided which career path to pursue but for many, there are a myriad of possibilities available and it is hard to know if you are making the right choice. Making any sort of career change can be difficult, whether you are looking to enter a new field or industry sector or if you are just graduating and making the decision for the first time. The best way to overcome this nervousness is to break down the decision into a series of easy to follow steps to make it more manageable.

Find out your Passion

The first step is to assess yourself in order to determine what industry interests you and which positions excite you. Take time to learn about yourself, your values, skills, and aptitudes as well as identifying your own personality type. Think about where your passion lies and consider how you can turn that into a career. Your interests and curiosities will create unique motivations that separate you from others. Choosing a career about which you are passionate will keep you invested in the long run and make your job not feel like work at all.

Explore your options

Make a list of occupations that you want to explore and narrow down your options. Make time to research the job descriptions, education and training requirements, advancement opportunities, and average annual salaries. This will help in the decision making process. Evaluate what you are good at and what values and skills you want to use in your career. If something is not working, explore when to stop. One of the main reasons for people staying in their current positions is that they have not figured out what they want to do next. Spending time creating a plan with firm deadlines of how you will achieve your next career move can help you stay on track and create urgency.

Set Goals for Yourself

Setting goals creates benchmarks and provide you with focus and motivation to push yourself to achieve set goals. Identify your goals; both short term and long term, as well as what you need to do in order to achieve them.  This can include gaining real-world experience through multiple internships to try different industries and positions in order to evaluate what you like and dislike. Additionally, use your resources effectively; most universities have career centres that offer events, references and mentorship programmes.

At FDM Group, we encourage you to further develop your skillsets and explore all of the possibilities for your future. FDM’s academies can help you to expand your career possibilities, along with other resources such as peer mentorship to support you in finding your passion.

Interested in building a meaningful and rewarding career with FDM? Apply here!