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What should one do if uncertain of what career to pursue in?

I am uncertain of what career to pursue in and I am scared to start of #career-advice with a career that I might end up not liking. I also do not want to waste money on something that I will not need.

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Courtney’s Answer

You can start by taking some basic courses in college and audit a few major level courses to see what you like and don't like. Honestly though, until you really work in a career field, you're not going to know if you like it or not. There are so many nuances in every job, you won't know until you're there. Interning is a great way to know too if you can get in easily.
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Simeon’s Answer

I would look up videos of people in that career and see what they say the love or hate about their career. People talk about pursuing your passions, but also make sure you take a good look at the downsides of a given career to make sure you are ok with those aspects of the job as well. For instance, working in the medical field is about helping people, but you will also see a lot of heart-breaking medical situations as well. If you are drawing a blank about which careers to consider, try taking a look at the fastest growing careers on the department of labor's website to see if any pique your interest.
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Ken’s Answer

Congratulations on being interested in finding the right career to follow.. It takes a special person to enter into a specific career field and meet the demands which that career area presents. The first step is to get to know yourself to see if you share the personality traits which make one successful in that area. The next step is doing networking to meet and talk to and possibly shadow people doing what you might think that you want to do to see if this is something that you really want to do, as a career area could look much different on the inside than it looks from the outside.  When I was doing college recruiting, I encountered too many students, who skipped these important steps, and ended up in a career/job for which they were ill suited.

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. You can locate them by asking your school academic advisor, favorite teachers, and the reference librarian at your local library. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
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Camellia’s Answer

As others have already advised, write a list of your strengths and weaknesses. What subjects at school do you enjoy most/least?
What do you like doing in your spare time? Talk to a careers counsellor if you have one at school? Talk to other people, ask how they found the job they wanted. :)

I mentioned to another poster with a similar question, I believe doing work experience is very helpful in finding out whether or not a certain industry/job is the "right fit" for you. Some workplaces offer work experience to young people so they get a taste of what the job entails.
For example, I wanted to be a vet when I was little, because I love animals, but there are some aspects of this job that I could not endure...

Also, remember that some skills you learn on the job, not taught through university/college. It's not the end of the world if you try something and don't want to continue with it. You never know until you do!
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Monica O.’s Answer

Hi, My suggestion would be to truly look at your strengths, and weaknesses and determine what position would make you happy and where you would be the most successful. Please note you have to start somewhere. Look at the things you truly enjoy and how can I do this as a career and be happy.

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Margarete’s Answer

Hi Josephine hope this message find you well.
Try to match what you like to do in a daily bases and co relate it with some activities. Questions as what I do like? do i like to talk with people? do I like math? do i like to do repetitive things in a daily bases?

also there is a lot of sites that tech how to do a swot analysis that can give a direction. One that I think is good is:
https://www.mindtools.com/
https://www.myworldofwork.co.uk/what-are-my-skills-0

In career skils , a lot of content free, but I am you will find other ones look for career skills, swot analysis.

You probably will have to co relate the questions with your daily bases or studies to fit it, bt it is a good start :-)

all the best to you :-)
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