Perfect career paths aren’t simply conjured from nowhere. They’re a testament to the hard work, dedication, creativity, and mentality of whoever manages to achieve their potential in whichever line of work they perform. As such, it’s the purpose of this article to provide some pointer as to how to squeeze the most out of your natural abilities, your time and your energy, in order to secure a lifestyle and position that you desire. The tips provided below are open to all career paths from all walks of life – they just take guile, passion, and devotion to the cause of furthering your career.
Educate Yourself
It might sound like an echo of your parents’ and teachers’ advice when you were younger, but it’s true that the more effort you put into your education, the more likely you’ll be to secure better positions in more impressive companies as you navigate the world of work. This goes all the way from primary education to post-secondary education, and as such you’re going to want to apply yourself from the get-go in order to get ahead of your peers, securing an impressive academic record to present to employers.
Specifically, this tip concerns education in the sense of qualifications and certifications. With these, you’ll be eligible to apply for graduate or skilled-worker jobs, rather than having to start from scratch when looking for jobs. Let’s take a look at this process throughout your educational career.
Primary and High School
It’s your prerogative in school whether you apply yourself, work hard, and achieve the grades you’re capable of. It’s no secret that plenty of individuals would rather have fun and socialize than work hard at school; you need to be one of the people who manage to work hard and play hard. Doing yourself justice at school directly impacts upon which institutions will accept you – and that of course impacts upon your employability down the line.
Your other responsibility at high school is to narrow down your specialisms and to decide upon the subjects that you’re most passionate about and best at performing. As you drop subjects in favor of those that you hold most dear, you’ll be taking your first steps towards selecting your college or university course.
College and University
With the grades you achieved at high school, it’s time to get stuck into the college or university course of your choosing. It’s this stage in your educational career that’s most important in training you and giving you the qualifications to excel in the workplace a little later in life. Choose your course wisely, and remember that you’re making a significant time and monetary investment in your life – so apply yourself at all times to impress your tutors and secure a high-quality degree.
Happily, thanks to the developments of the internet over the past decade, it’s become far easier to study undergraduate or masters’ degree online. Secure your spot on a manufacturing degree online with Kettering University, or visit the Open University to find courses that are sometimes free of charge to help progress you tertiary education from the comfort of your laptop. One of the most valuable benefits of this system is that you’re able to study around your full-time job, which means you’ll be earning at the same time as getting those all-important qualifications.
Interning or Apprenticeships
Another course to take, to supplement or replace the tertiary education path, is to attain an internship or apprenticeship in a company that you’re excited to work for into the future. Instead of learning in classrooms and tutorials, you’ll be getting hands-on experience that’ll help you quickly build the in-industry knowledge to go far in your chosen career.
Apprenticeships vary across industries and sectors. On the one hand, you can gain practical experience in construction, engineering, or other vocational work alongside an experienced professional. On the other, you may choose to start from the bottom in office work, and slowly raise the rank as you prove your worth with your colleagues and bosses.
Often, internships and apprenticeships are unpaid – which can mean you’re unable to support independent living. They are also less frequently advertised than other job roles, which means you may have to ask in person at different companies in order to be extended an invite to work with them. This takes a proactive, go-getting mindset, but once in a role, you’ll find yourself gaining important skills that’ll help you rise quickly in your career.
Ongoing Courses and Tutorials
Your education should never be considered complete. As mentioned above, even if you’re comfortable in a well-paid position, you might still wish to study an online university or college course. As well as doing this, you can also find free courses online that take between three months and two years to complete – at the end of which you’ll secure a qualification that might help boost your prospects and getting a better-paid job down the line.
To find these courses has never been easier. You can either type the course title that you’re interested in straight into your search engine, or you can visit online course providers, of which there are many, to browse their offerings. You might find something that you’d never have considered studying – like photography, psychology or mechanics – but this knowledge might come in handy with your job requirements of the future.
YouTube Tutorials
If you’re not interested in signing on to a specific course, you can instead simply look to YouTube, where an educational video is uploaded every minute to help students and professionals gain new skills and techniques. From tips on how to animate and design marketing materials, to tips on how to network yourself to the top, you’ll find that YouTube is a considerable educational resource for anyone who is inspired to progress their career, gain new skills, or learn new things about the world around them.
Skills, education, and know-how will certainly help you build a career that you can be proud of – usually, it’s just a case of finding what you’re passionate about, and applying yourself in order to take on the most information, and attain the qualifications, to make you a more employable person in the eyes of hiring professionals.