I can't choose a career??

[tashhhaaa]

(didn't know where to put this mods feel free to move it)

I'll be going into second year of uni this year and it's just hit me that I have no idea what I'm going to do afterward, and I don't know what to do about it :s

I've decided to spend 4 years doing my undergrad by reducing my study load (3 subjects every semester, might do less) to buy myself some more time, but I'm unsure if that will even help. I'm trying to do a lot of different breadth units to see if I have a 'passion' but I do have some careers in mind that I could see myself doing (nursing, teaching, medicine, vet med, law, architecture)

I hope to do the GAMSAT and LSAT just to keep my options open, but I understand that med & law aren't easy to get into. I know the options I listed are all fairly different but I don't like or hate one more than the others... the problem is that I'm interested in a lot of things and I can't seem to narrow it down

has anyone else here had this problem? help? :S

edit: typo

[peterpiper]

It really comes down to the individual. If you're worried about career mobility and how it might align to your preference/skill, the best advice I can give you is perhaps for you to look at where you are from a "cluster" perspective. You may want to read this: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-24/entering-the-job-market-think-skills-not-just-careers/8050706

It helped me figure out where I wanted to be.
Best of luck!

[wyzard]

Ah choosing a career... A problem that everyone have to face when we step into the working world.

Firstly, picking the ideal career for the rest of your life is not an immediate process. Nobody just selects, or discover, the career that they are deeply passionate about and fixed for life. Realistically speaking, very likely you'll undergo a few career changes in your working life. So don't stress out with needing to tie yourself down with a fixed career.

With that said, instead of thinking in terms of what jobs to get into, it's easier to find a career you'd like by thinking about your skills and interest. For example, I'm an introvert who loves to read, analyze ideas, solve problems and write, plus I'm interested in sciences; hence I picked physics and decided to build up a career being a physicist in the future, while working as a tutor and writer along way. However with my skills and interest. I can do many other things; such as writing, engineering, programming, teaching, analyst, statistician etc. and I can thrive there too if I focus my efforts there.

Besides, knowing your skills and interest also gives you an idea on what kind of career not to get into; as I mentioned I'm an introvert so probably no way I'm getting into sales or HR, the constant social contact will drive me crazy. Also as a nerd, I'm not really a person with great physique, so physical labour once again is a big no for me

It's a good thing you're thinking about this now while you're studying, and as I said don't get stressed into needing to pick the perfect career. Think in terms of your skills and interest, and experiment around with different careers; that's how you discover your passion and purpose

PS. There's actually a really good book if still don't really know what you'd like to do that I'd highly recommend called Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth. There is a great chapter on how to find your interest and create passion.

[heids]

I think this is such a crazily common issue... there's just so many more choices than there ever used to be and we're always told to "follow our passion" when possibly we'd love ten different careers and we can't even tell what one is like until we've tried it anyway.  Too much choice can be crippling.  You don't have to feel like you're a weird idiot coz you're confused and unsure!

Hence, as with all decision-making, I like to option of narrowing it down until you have a shortlist and then just picking one and going with it.

http://collegetopia.co/how-to-find-your-passion/ is a great article I'd recommend reading as food for thought, though it's very long (I reckon it's worth reading the whole way through personally).

[peterpiper]

I think this is such a crazily common issue... there's just so many more choices than there ever used to be and we're always told to "follow our passion" when possibly we'd love ten different careers and we can't even tell what one is like until we've tried it anyway.  Too much choice can be crippling.  You don't have to feel like you're a weird idiot coz you're confused and unsure!

Hence, as with all decision-making, I like to option of narrowing it down until you have a shortlist and then just picking one and going with it.

http://collegetopia.co/how-to-find-your-passion/ is a great article I'd recommend reading as food for thought, though it's very long (I reckon it's worth reading the whole way through personally).

Oh no. I probably shouldn't have opened that article, because now it's way waayy past my bedtime _{and I'm still halfway} 

Great article though! Thanks for sharing.

[tashhhaaa]

I forgot that I made this thread, thank you so much to everyone for your thoughtful responses they have been very helpful

[Alter]

I forgot that I made this thread, thank you so much to everyone for your thoughtful responses they have been very helpful

At the risk of asking you a question that has no answer, what kind of career or educational pathway do you think would be the best for you now, having had time to reflect and consider your options more?

[tashhhaaa]

At the risk of asking you a question that has no answer, what kind of career or educational pathway do you think would be the best for you now, having had time to reflect and consider your options more?

that's a good question, although as you predicted one I can't answer definitively... yet.

following what has been said here, I've decided to try and focus on skills that come 'naturally' to me eg. I'm better at writing essays than doing maths, analysing rather than memorising etc so I've chosen uni subjects that will hopefully cater to my strengths

I also confirmed that although having a decent amount of money matters to me, I don't want to be greedy or unscrupulous. One of my lecturers mentioned to us (hopefully in jest, but I think it was serious) not to ask our tutor (a lawyer) for legal advice or they will charge you for it, and for some reason that really put me off lol. I'd rather not charge people, especially my students, for the knowledge I can share. Idk what to do with this information but I think that cancels out most branches of law for me o.O

I'm also not naturally good at designing buildings and cities etc and I'm just not motivated to cultivate the skill set, so I changed to a geography major

if I'm honest, despite almost all odds against me, the little voice in my head says "medicine"