Career advice is crucial for personal development. It helps you focus your efforts on preparing for life after school. With it, you can make decisions (choose subjects or course units) that will lead you on the right career path or aspiration you wish to follow.

This article dishes out helpful advice that will help you navigate school, university, and work with a knowledgeable outlook and surefootedness.

Identify your interests

Some students choose career paths based on the subjects or course units they perform in best. As much as this plays a big part in selecting the right subject combination or course units, it shouldn’t be the qualifier.

One of the best approaches to discovering your career path is by finding your interests. What interests you as a person? What do you find in joy when doing? Do you love sports, animals, art, repairing or building things? Answering these questions can point you to what you are meant to do.

Write down all your interests. Rank them, starting with the one that gives you the most fulfillment. Herein lies your potential career.

Choose subjects or course units you like

Subjects that interest you are most likely in line with what you like doing. A student who loves plants will do his/her best to learn about them. Likewise, a student who loves numbers will easily grasp and love math.

Passion and talent yield excellent results. Choose subjects that come easily to you and are related to what you love doing. Doing so helps you excel in your studies. It is also the first step towards choosing your career.

Get a mentor

Your mentor can be a teacher, family, friend, or person you admire. A mentor will give you guidance and emotional support.  This person should have the experience in life or career you want to join. Your mentor should be a role model who motivates you to achieve your dreams.

A good mentor can help you explore careers, evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and passion. And in the process points you to the right career. A mentor also helps you set achievable goals, develop contacts, and sometimes give you resources to achieve your dream.

If you have no mentor, seek counsel from a trusted career adviser.

Try out different things.

A young mind is not set in its ways. It is easily swayed.  Everything sounds exciting. Everything feels right. Friends, teachers, and family can easily convince you to take specific subjects or a particular course. This inexperience can lead many students down the wrong career path.

There’s a difference between being good at something and liking something. You may think that you love sciences just because you are good at them. Or you may be good at math, yet it’s not what you desire to do. Don’t panic. What you have is time. Explore all the possibilities.

Participate in sports, speech contests, dance, and drama. Try out the science or arts classes, or food and nutrition classes. Learn the guitar. Compete for leadership positions. At the end of it all, some experiences will taste sweet, sour, or even bland. You will discover what you are really good at and what you really like doing. And this will make it easier to choose what you want to do.

Pursue your dreams

Good things don’t come to those who dream. They come to those who work at it. Pursuing your dreams involves you taking the initiative to achieve your goals. Pursue that combination or course you want to do. Excel in your academics or chosen path in life. Apply for that scholarship. Take that leadership post. Volunteer. Excel in your studies. Apply for that internship.

Working towards your dreams is a step closer to that career you want.

Network; put yourself out there, make friends.

I am young. Why do I need to put myself out there? Well, you stand to gain a lot from meeting many people and making friends. God doesn’t come on two legs to help you. No. He uses the people around you to take you to the next level or to point you in the right direction.

So get out of your comfort zone. Put yourself out there. Meet people. Talk to them. Build relationships. You can do this by getting involved in community activities. For example, attend social events in schools, university parties, talk to teachers and lecturers, friends of the family, and so on.

The linkages that these people have can play a big role in your success. In how far or how easily you will go in your career. Let your circles know of your dreams, skills, talents, and aspirations. These same people may connect you to a mentor, a job, or a scholarship.

Sometimes, the difference between you and your break is the person next to you. Also, networking helps you develop interpersonal skills.

Develop a plan

It’s never too early to plan. A plan is a roadmap you follow. Developing a personal plan helps you focus your efforts towards achieving your goals. As a student, at primary, secondary, or university level, you can make a plan that you can easily follow.

Start by writing down your aspirations or goals or dreams. Then establish or allocate a timeframe for your goal realization. After that, write down the strategies you will use to achieve your goals. This plan will help you focus and concentrate your efforts towards achieving your goals.

For example, if you dream of becoming an engineer, your goal in secondary school can be to get the best points in UACE to get government sponsorship in university. You can strategize on how to obtain 20 points. Say, attend morning and night preps, consult teachers on problem areas, read more textbooks, separate from unserious friends, and so on. Following your plan will help you to achieve the success you need. On joining campus, you can make another plan. Planning is a part of life, of success.

Schedule your time

Schedules help you stay organized and keep consistent work and studying hours. Excelling in school and career requires self-discipline and self-drive. Prioritize your work or study time. Know when to read, rest, exercise, relax, and finish your assignments or projects in time

At the same time, set aside some time for socializing, exercising, resting. Doing this helps you live a balanced life.

A well-planned schedule will help you manage your time well. And in doing so, you achieve your goals and plan in a given timeframe.

Look for opportunities that push you towards your goals.

Sometimes, things don’t go as planned. And this means that you have to look for other ways of achieving your dreams.

For example, you may read and still not excel in your finals. But this doesn’t have to mean that your education journey ends here. No. It means that you are to take a different path to achieve it. Apply for financial aid or scholarships. Look for opportunities for studying abroad—approach non-government organizations or well-wishers. Don’t sit when one door closes. Knock on another and another until you get what you want.

For those in campus, it is never too early to look for an internship or a job. Try to make use of the available opportunities that come your way, however small they may be. Take up that internship, volunteer, go that extra mile to get to the end goal. Internships will help you grow professionally and gain experience.

All these little steps lead you towards your dream. And above all, never give up. Time and effort yield fruit.

Start working on your CV.

Yes. You can start working on your CV as early as high school and university. Take part in activities that will reflect positively on your CV. Do internships, volunteer, participate in leadership roles, ace your exams, and develop communication and leadership skills. Form relationships with impressive future references. Collect certificates, and so on.

All these things will help your CV shine.

Conclusion.

Careers are a lifelong garden. They need planning, hard work, the right connections, and so forth. Be intentional in everything you do in school and university, in the subjects or courses you do, the friends you make, the co-curricular activities you do, and so on. All these will lead you to your career. Remember to seek advice and save. You can never outgrow advice and emergency money. Above all, start your career journey right now. Get career guidance and counselling right now to make informed career choices.