1. DECIDING ON A CAREER
For some, deciding what career they want is easy, for others, it takes a bit of time. If you aren't sure exactly what job you want to do in the future, here's a few tips to get you thinking!
- What kind of subjects do you enjoy - if you're good at English, perhaps a career in writing or communications might suit you? Enjoy sport? You could explore coaching or personal training. You can search for courses that match your interests here
- What kind of job do you want? Something where you can be outdoors or on your feet a lot? Maybe you want to work with lots of different people every day, or travel across the globe?
2. OUTLINE YOUR CAREER GOALS
Ask yourself, where would you like to be in a year? How about five years? What experiences will help you to achieve that? What will a successful career look like for you? Maybe you've got a certain job title in mind, or you want to reach the top of your field with your technical expertise.
Either way, setting realistic and achieveable goals can help you to figure out what steps you need to take to get there. A useful way of making your goals more achieveable is to use the SMART criteria to help you set out a clear structure of how you will reach your intended target.
3. IDENTIFY KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS GAPS
It's important to understand your range of skills and knowledge so you can see if they're a good fit for the job you want.
Many jobs have specific education requirements, whereas some will expect a certain level of experience. Being aware of the skills you have, and the specific requirements for any jobs you want will help you to highlight any gaps that may need to be filled to achieve your goals.
Once you've identified those gaps, you will be able to work out which of our study programmes, A Levels or Apprenticeships will help to fill them.
4. ASK FOR ADVICE
Career advice from professionals is a valuable tool for people with clear job aspirations as well as those who are still deciding.
The Careers Advice Team at The Sheffield College offer free and informed careers education, information, advice, and guidance to all students. They can help you create a personalised careers action plan, intended to motivate and support you in your journey to a dream career.
They will also be on hand at our upcoming Open Days in case you want to ask them any questions before making your application!
