‘My parents keep telling me I should do the job they think I’ll be good at. How do I know if what’s best?’
How do I make the right job choice?
When it comes to jobs, the chances are you’re going to have quite a few of them in your lifetime. That’s cool. Each one will help you build on your skills and develop experience that can be put to work as your career evolves.
Here’s another thing. You might have to try out a few jobs to find a good fit, but at the same time, don’t forget that a solid grounding in science and maths is likely to play an important role. As a person, you’re changing all the time. The world is an evolving place, and so are jobs. The job you end up doing might not even exist yet!
So the good news is that there isn’t one ‘right’ study, job or career choice that you need to make right now that you’ll be stuck with forever, just lots of good options. And to keep you options open today you need a great mix of subjects that can lead you anywhere you may want to go.
Your choices will be influenced by what you study at school now and in the future, what interests you and what’s important to you, as well as input from your friends, parents and teachers.
As you can imagine, there’s lots to think about, so let’s help narrow it down a bit.
What jobs are out there?
Look at any industry and you’ll see there’s a mixture of generalist and specialist jobs. Some are technical, some are creative, and some are about getting your hands dirty.
So start to investigate what’s out there and keep asking…
What’s likely to be involved in particular jobs?
- What skills do I presently have?
- What skills would I need to obtain?
- Would I need to get some special qualification?
- If I did this job, where could it take me as I get older?
- Does this job offer the lifestyle that I want to lead?
As you gather the information and look at the possibilities, consider more than one industry. Often you’ll find that the same job exists in different industries, but the tasks you do could be very different. You need to keep digging to uncover the likely responsibilities you’d have, and the rewards you can expect. The more you know, the easier it will be to choose subjects you’ll enjoy and get the most from.
So let’s look at some of the industries in SA.
Search some examples of future job opportunities and read their description using the search tool below from myfuture: