After graduation, graduates are left alone with the question, “What’s next?” Should they continue their studies, go to work, change their field of activity, or find a job at the intersection of their major and hobby? Making a final decision can be difficult. Let’s take a look at a few tips for those who are just about to make their choice.
Do not be afraid to ask for advice
Do not forget that everyone looks at life through the prism of their experiences, so it is better to consult with those whose opinion you value and whom you trust. Talk to people whose careers and lifestyles are close to you. If it is difficult to make a choice, ask an expert, who will not give you a ready-made answer but will teach you how to make a choice yourself.
For those who are looking for a job in their major, it is useful to examine the resumes of those who graduated at the same time as you, and those who graduated a couple of years before you in the same major. What positions did they hold? What companies did they work for? What do they write about themselves and their performance?
Don’t be afraid to change direction
If you are not interested in working in your field of study and you want to turn your hobby into a professional activity, put together a resume emphasising your own skills rather than your education. Don’t forget to include everything relevant to your desired field.
Perhaps your dream job is just around the corner, but you don’t see it. For example, if you realised after graduating from math school that you want a job related to writing, you don’t have to graduate immediately with a degree in journalism. First of all, you could improve your writing skills and try yourself as a copywriter or try to provide research papers help for your friends who are still studying. Even if it ends up not being your thing, you will at least have a clearer understanding of the job you want.
Allow yourself to make mistakes.
Do not forget that a degree is not a choice for life. The pace of economic development, the transformation of professions, changes in the world does not allow us to be static in this matter. The profession you get is knowledge in your piggy bank, it is normal and, in fact, necessary to look for yourself!
You can learn anywhere
If you want to get additional skills and abilities after graduation, do not forget that you can learn in different ways. Work is a great opportunity to analyse what knowledge you lack and to learn from your colleagues.
At the same time, you can draw up a development plan, prescribe the desired goal (for example, a position in a company) and the real one, and the steps to achieve it. The main thing is that getting an education is conscious, precisely understanding why you need it. Those who want to start their own business can start by getting a job in a similar company to learn how to build processes from the inside. It’s also a good idea to find entrepreneurs who have started their own businesses and ask them about the difficulties and risks.
Don’t forget your strengths.
Don’t be afraid to stand out. Whatever decision you make, it’s important to be able to emphasise your strengths. If you have no work experience, you can add to your resume information about your degree, activities in high school, because these achievements – that’s you.
Don’t be afraid to try new things.
For those who are still studying at university, good advice is not only to study well but also to participate in extracurricular activities, practices, clubs, to get an idea of the subject in practice and understand what you like and what you are good at.
Get your doubts down on paper.
Make a list of goals and steps to achieve them and analyse which area each item belongs to (e.g. science, work, hobbies, business). Count the number of goals in different areas. This method will help to clearly see the area in which most of the desired results are located and will simplify the choice. Remember, you’re doing it for yourself – no need for complicated citation or calligraphic handwriting. The main thing is to be honest with yourself, to have something to base an informed decision on.
Another well-known method is a list of the pros and cons of the options. Try to analyse what is written and conclude what is important to you, understand your own selection criteria and goal. Evaluate which factors are most important to you. Then go back to the list of pros and cons and analyse it in terms of the ranking you made. This method will help you not make a decision just by the number of pros and cons, but by their importance to you personally. It is also a good decision to make a list of the advantages of each option. Which results will lead to a decision in favour of the hobby and which will lead to a decision in favour of the job?
