Deciding on a Career Path

How do you decide and what should you consider?

It’s not always easy to decide on a career that will suit you for the rest of your life. In fact, most Australian Generation Z’s will have 17 different employers and up to 5 separate careers in their working lifetime based on social research by McCrindle. The average time people will stay in a job is only 3 years 4 months and for people under 25 years old it’s only 1 year 8 months. But where do you start and how do you choose a career? Deciding what to study and what type of career you want can be a daunting thought and a hard decision for a lot of young people.

Pressures from a young age
Right from an early age we are asked what we want to be when we grow up. The innocence of children is brilliant and usually our responses when we were little, were based on what we thought looked fun and exciting or what our parents did. Some of us follow through with those initial thoughts while others just don’t settle on anything. It is ok not to know what you want to study. Just because your best mate knows what they want to do when they finish school doesn’t mean you have to know. Take your time, and think about where you see yourself after school. Although you may be asked by teachers, parents and friends what you want to do after school, just remember they are asking you to think about it as they have your best interests at heart. Their desire is to see you succeed and make the most of the opportunities you have.

Trial and Error/ Trial and Success, it’s all a learning experience
Leaving school and going onto further study at whatever level is an exciting thing. Just remember that you don’t fail, you simply learn. We usually find what we love pretty quickly but sometimes we find out what we dislike too. This is still a learning experience and an important stage of career growth. No success was ever achieved without failure. Learn from your failure and move on. You spend a lot of your life working so make sure whatever you do fulfils your life and gives you purpose.

What makes you tick
What do you enjoy? What are you good at? What makes you happy and content? These are some key questions to consider when choosing a career. Your career and work makes up a large part of your life and it is important to do something that you are good at, enjoy and makes you happy at the end of the day. In fact, if you find something you love it can greatly impact your life positively at work and at home. At Avondale we offer a holistic learning environment. We focus on practical learning, spirituality, health, fitness and service to others throughout your Avondale experience. Avondale prepares you to live your one life doing what makes you happy and fulfilled.

MyCareer Match
For those of you who do know what you want to do, good job. For those of you who have no idea or are confused with conflicting ideas don’t worry, just take one step at a time and the first step can always be taking a career personality test. Visit our website to sit the MyCareer Match test to see where your personality fits into the scheme of things and to find out some career options for your personality type. You can then check out the Avondale degrees that align to your personality.

Work Experience
I’ve been at school. I know how many holidays you get between terms. Use these to your advantage and try to gain more experience in your holidays. It will help you work out what you want to do. Work experience is a great way to understand a company and a particular job and what is involved. It can give you much needed insight when you are still deciding what career path you want to take. It can be hard to gain valuable experience but the more you gain the better your employment opportunities are when you graduate, so why not start your experience while you are still at school and contribute to your career before you even start. 

Generation Z – that’s you!
McCrindle has conducted a lot of research on generations and the upcoming Gen Z in the workforce needs to be all about “fun, social connection, training, personal development, greater fulfilment and even environmental sustainability”. Don’t be afraid to find a career that aligns with your values and allows you to take ownership of your future. You are Gen Z so make the most of it. You may not be in the same job or career for the rest of your life but study something that is going to open doors for you.

Avondale offers a range of degrees that are flexible in their learning environments but also in the careers you can have upon graduation. Remember your learning styles, lifestyle, education and career opportunities are different to your parents. Studying a degree at Avondale can lead you on many different directions and at Avondale we offer all types pf undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.

Consider what makes you happy and what you want to achieve. Talk to Avondale today to find out about the holistic education experience you can have.