How can I narrow down my career field?

You have many directions your could take. Lots of options! Be excited about this time - it's a time for exploration and you're going to have fun if you embrace it.

I've got two suggestions for you:

1. Discover your own role models. find a way to spend time with working professionals who share your same passions. Can you find a way to hang out with people who like to play instruments but who do it either professionally or on the side? Find out what they do Monday-Friday 9-5. Same goes for designing things. Go to a meetup where you can meet other designers and just ask them what they do, how they got into it, and how they like it. If you're really slick, you might even be able to convince one of them to become a mentor for you.


2. Start volunteering. Get a part-time job at the local radio station to see what that's like. Try working for a few months at a local business selling musical instruments. Try doing some volunteer design work. Apprenticeship is a powerful tool for helping to advance your learning and your familiarity.

At this early stage, stay humble. But whenever you feel the excitement about something (when your heart rate goes up and you feel like time is flying because you're having fun), embrace that. Don't let that moment slip away. Most importantly, keep an open mind: allow yourself to get excited. You don't need to have THE perfect job planned out -- keeping your options open can be powerful as well, if you know there are many options that will excite you.

If you have many interests you might want to see if there are fields that connect these interests. For example, there is a huge and growing filed in design - for people who are artists and like to create things or even people who like to design new products or new technologies. Google "Design" and look around!

Settling on a path is hard with so much bouncing around. Here are some tips for narrowing down your career interests and seeking out the best opportunities for your long-term career aspirations:

Explore Career Tracks: The career tracks exercise is an excellent tool for identifying career-paths best suited to your individual interests. While the exercise will take some time to complete, it is guaranteed to help you to narrow down viable career opportunities, which is the first step that you should take.

Establish Goals: The first and most important step in narrowing down your career interests is to take a moment and identify your personal and professional goals, then determine what you are willing to sacrifice in order to achieve them. Take the time to write down what is most important to you and focus your energy on seeking out opportunities that will satisfy your needs on a holistic level.

Find the Right Work Environment: Investigate companies you may be interested in so that you can determine if they will be a good fit for your personality. Web resources like Indeed.com, Glassdoor.com and Salary.com are free to use and provide users with access to information like salaries, incentive programs, reviews of the management staff and just about anything else someone would need to decide if the environment would be good fit. You can also request an exploratory interview or job shadow.

Network: Actively seek out relationships with other professionals. Not only can discussing your goals be helpful in identifying viable career opportunities, but it is also helpful to be notified when job prospects become available. While resources like CareerBuilder.com, Monster.com or Job.com can be helpful in your efforts to search for jobs, having a relationship with an internal employee who is willing to refer you for an opening is invaluable. Strive to grow your professional network, find others who share similar career aspirations and brainstorm creative solutions to achieve your goals.

Some people put two things together that no one ever thinks of.. For example: you might find it interesting if you design instruments that already exists. I hope that you make the right decision for yourself and love doing it. I also hope that you love what you like to do.