If you are a teenager who is looking at a couple more years of formal education before university, this article is aimed at you. The next few years are critical, as this is the time to think about a career, which is obviously a major aspect of life and the last thing you want is to work in a field that doesn’t hold any interest for you.
Here are a few tips for choosing the right career.
✓ Explore with an open mind – Start with your interests at the present time, let’s say you want to be a pro MMA fighter; you can study physical ed and biology and if you don’t make it as a combat fighter, you could be a personal trainer or fitness instructor. If a topic interests you, investigate further and look at potential career opportunities and base your interests at the top of the list.
✓ Career counselling – Students at Brighton College Bangkok would spend time with qualified career counsellors who guide the students to the right choices when it comes to a career. If, for any reason, you don’t have a career counsellor at your school, there are online platforms where you can receive great career advice. It isn’t possible to go back in time and mistakes with career choice are expensive and time-consuming; sit down with a qualified person who can help you identify your interests and talents, which is the first step to choosing a suitable career.
✓ Make best use of the web – Whether you fancy being an electrical engineer, an anthropologist or even a journalist, there is a lot of information online and most of it is totally free! You can probably find ‘day in the life’ videos of a profession that holds your interest. It is good to see a profession or trade from every aspect, after all, it isn’t all glamour out there. If you are into geology, for example, you can quickly find out all about the various types of geologists and the subjects you would need to learn in order to make a start in that field.
✓ Don’t be money focused – There are a lot of people out there who wish they hadn’t made their career choice; they were tempted by the promise of high salaries, which isn’t a bad thing, however, you can soon become unhappy if you don’t enjoy your work. If you apply yourself to anything, the money will come, as part of the success; don’t be swayed too much by peer pressure, it is critical that you are passionate about your career, you are, after all, going to spend 4 decades in the industry. Some say that perhaps following your passion is not such a good idea.
Aiming high is better than not aiming at all; these are critical years for a teenager who should be spending time considering the many options. There are online resources from the Thai Ministry of Education and other platforms to help you make the right career choice.
