How to find your perfect future career

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If you’re still in school and don’t have much (or any) experience of being in the workplace, it might feel impossible to pick a job because the world of work offers so much choice. 

While you’re obviously free to change your mind in future, it’s good to have an idea of what you might want to do so you can pick the right A-level or degree subjects to get you where you want to go easily.

We've got some great advice on figuring out what you might want to do and what you'd need to study for it below. Plus, if you’ve got no clue what you want to do when you leave education, try our Career Matcher and have a look at our career profiles. You’re sure to find something that grabs your interest.

Think about your passions

If you’re going to do something full-time, you’ll be working around 40 hours a week. That’s a long time to do something you don’t enjoy.

If you do a job you love, then you won’t be dragging yourself out of bed every morning and you’ll find a sense of fulfilment in your work much easier. Plus, everyone’s happier when they’re doing something they enjoy, so it’s also good for your mental health.

It makes sense that a good place to start when thinking about your career is your passions. This could be a school subject, a hobby or even a social cause.

Talk to your family about their jobs

You might know what your parents or carers do for a living, but do you know what they actually do at work? If your idea of your family at work is just them staring at a computer screen replying to emails with mysterious content, perhaps it’s a good idea to ask what they do in their jobs.

Learning about their typical day on the job might pique your interest… or do the opposite. While your dad’s day at work might sound like your worst nightmare, that’s actually good news because you can cross his job off your list of potential careers!

Get some careers advice

You’ve come up with a list of your passions and chatted to your family about their jobs, but unless you’ve got the biggest family ever you won’t have really touched on the range of different careers available.

Our careers section has loads of different career profiles so you can look for something that aligns with your passions, and now you’ve chatted to your family you should have a bit of an idea of what kind of things people get up to during their workday. Hopefully, now you’ve come up with a list of your passions, you can pick an industry that fits your interests and then narrow it down to specific roles.

Your school or college might also have a careers advisor or counsellor. If you can set up an appointment with them and tell them that you’re really interested in X and want a job related to it, they’ll be able to give you some advice and ideas. It’s literally their job to help you figure this out, so make the most of their support.

What are your next steps?

Congrats, you’ve figured out a potential career path (or maybe you’ve found a couple). While now might not be the time to go out and start applying for jobs right away, it’ll help you pick your path through education.

If you’re yet to pick your A-levels, then use our course search tool to look for uni courses that’ll get you into your dream career. Check the entry requirements for a few different unis and see if there are any A-level subjects that come up as required.

Use your common sense if there aren’t any required subjects. You want to work on the set of blockbuster movies, so you’re looking at a degree in film? Then an A-level in media will be handy. You want to become a mechanical engineer? You’ll want A-levels in subjects like maths and physics. You can also email unis to ask if you’re not sure about entry requirements.

If you’ve already picked your A-levels and they match up perfectly to the uni course you want to study to get into your dream career, then congrats! It’s time to get thinking about what unis you might apply to.

Picked the wrong A-levels? Don’t panic! You could speak to your college about swapping A-levels if it’s early in your course, or you could consider a foundation year at uni, which will give you the extra knowledge you need, or you could look for a course that doesn’t have specific subject entry requirements.

If you pick the last option, it’d be a good idea to speak to teachers at your college who teach the relevant subjects. You might be able to sit in some of their lessons if you have free periods, or they might be able to recommend useful textbooks that can keep your knowledge of the subject fresh and will get you a step ahead when you start your course.

Now you’ve followed all these steps, you’ll be right on track for your dream career. You might be thinking you can sit back and relax, but don’t fall into that trap. You might know what you want but you’ve got to put in the work to get there. Having something to work towards also acts as a great motivation.

So, what are you waiting for? Go and get revising, and ace all your qualifications so employers are falling at their feet to hire you when you leave education!

Wondering what to do next? Check out our guide to choosing the right university!