The Mistakes Holding You Back From Making The Right Career Choices
I had no idea what I wanted to do when I finished Year 12.
I had been lucky that making decisions about subject choices and what to study at school had always been relatively straightforward for me. My best subjects had always been the ones that “opened all the doors” when it came to tertiary courses (subjects like Maths Methods that was a prerequisite for lots of courses at most of the universities) and so when it came to choosing my VCE subjects, my teachers, family and I were all on the same page about what I should choose.
Looking at options for after I finished school was a completely different story. I felt absolutely paralysed by the decision making process, afraid I would make the wrong decision and hate my course, afraid of what people would think if I chose particular courses, and overwhelmed by the sheer number of courses that were available to look at and consider.
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So, because I was scared, I went through ups and downs of avoiding thinking about it all, then panicking and rushing to make a decision, which led me to making one that wasn’t right for me. I started a double degree in Commerce and Law and stuck it out for 2 and a half years before I finally admitted to myself that I didn’t want to pursue either Commerce or Law, and that I needed to make a change if I wanted to be working towards a career that was a better fit for me.
Once I recognised that and went back to the drawing board, everything sorted itself out in a relatively short period of time. I was tutoring high school students in Maths and absolutely loving that, so I decided to quit Law and finish the Commerce degree with the subjects I needed to be able to become a Maths Teacher. It wasn’t easy to tell my family what I wanted to do and felt like a failure for a while, but the minute I walked into my first Maths lecture everything felt right again, and I knew I had made the best choice for me.
The reason I’m telling you my story is because I want you to know that if you’re not sure what you want to do when you finish school, I’ve been there, I know how it feels, and I know how to help you move forward so that you can start looking in the right places and get excited about the options and opportunities in front of you instead of feeling dread at the thought of having to make a decision.
The mistakes I made (and that so many others make too)
There are a couple of mistakes I made when I was in Year 12 that led to me making a poor decision about what course to go into, and I see so many students continually making the same mistakes. Don’t let that be you!
#1 I was looking too far into the future
So many students look ahead to what career they want to do, which in theory makes a lot of sense and it can be helpful to a degree. However, there are two main problems with this approach. Firstly, most students (and adults!) have a very limited experience and understanding about what careers are out there. Think about it this way. If you ask little kids what they want to be when they grow up, they usually pick careers that are very visible in the community. They want to be a doctor, a nurse, a fireman, a teacher, any job that they see people doing either in their own life or on tv. As we get older and our experiences widen, we get to see other careers that we might be interested in. Maybe your friend’s parents are chemical engineers or chiropractors or web developers. Maybe you do some work experience that opens your eyes to something different. So our ideas about what is possible grow, but there are still so many options out there that we don’t know about.
Similarly, the world of work is changing rapidly, and there will be careers available in three or four year’s time when you finish your course that don’t exist right now. If you’re looking too far ahead with what you know now, how can you make the choices that will get you to those amazing options in the future?
The reality is that you already know what you’re interested in and what you’re good at. If you focus on these things and choose study options that align with those things, you’re going to end up with the qualifications to do something you really want to be doing.
#2 I was focusing too much on my ATAR
I had always been a good student and was expected to do well, so I fell into the trap of thinking that if I chose to do a course that required an ATAR lower than what I ended up achieving, I was somehow wasting my efforts. And to be fair, this was reinforced by most people around me who kept telling me that I should aim high because I could do whatever I wanted.
You need to remember that your ATAR is just a means to an end. It’s sole purpose is to make it easy for tertiary institutions to fill their courses. If you focus on what you’re interested in and are good at first and foremost, then you can look into the entrance requirements and go from there. If you end up getting an ATAR much higher than what you needed, then awesome! You’ll likely get an offer for your dream course. If not, and you won’t get into your dream course, then you’ll have had a chance to look at other ways to get in or similar options that will also be fun to study.
