Youth Career Advice

It’s never too early to start thinking about your career. However as a young person you might need some youth career advice to steer you in the right direction. Those who know themselves well, what their interests and strengths are may find it easy to decide which career to pursue. For some, this process can be excruciating and take years to find their ideal career. Studies conducted have shown that a person may change their job on average 10 times between the ages 18-42!

Often, the right career for you depends on how well what you do at work and your personality fit together. Following career paths where people can link their personal identity with their job can lead to various psychological benefits: 

So how can you determine whether a job is a right fit for you? Below is some youth career advice to help you find your footing:

Identify your personal needs: you need to determine what you need as an individual and what you enjoy doing. You can determine this by:

• Looking at your past experiences

• Looking at the various roles you undertake in your daily life that you enjoy. Do you enjoy educating people? Do you enjoy taking responsibility?

• Visualising where you would want to be in the short term (1 year) and long term (5+ years) future.

  
  

Identify what you want in your workplace: the workplace can be viewed as a place where you meet and interact with others on a professional level. Therefore, your relationships with your co-workers are just as important as your relationships in your personal life. Below are a few examples of questions you can ask yourself to determine what your ideal workplace looks like: 

• What type of organisational culture would you thrive in? Would you want to be part of the decision making or would you prefer to be directed? 

• What type of leader would you be motivated by? Which leadership style are you most suited to? 

• Do the organisational goals fit with your personal goals?

• How much flexibility does the organisation offer?

  
  

Once you identify this, you can create a summary of key attributes that represent your personal needs and what your ideal workplace will look like and rank them. The next step would involve researching which career paths are able to accommodate these attributes. This could be an ongoing process for you as your needs and preferences change as you evolve with different experiences throughout your life.  If you are looking to put this youth career advice into action and find yourself an industry you connect with, start searching on YouthXP today. Our job search platform specialises in connecting youth to employers across Australia. Find a job for youth today!