Career guidance comes in many ways but mainly by either Coaching, or Mentoring.
Coaches tend only to ask questions the answers to which they think will help you solve your problem e.g. “What are you good at?”. Mentors are more likely to give you advice on what to do, but the decision of what you do is always your own.
If you have no idea what you would like to “do” then a good place to start is finding out what your strengths are and what you enjoy doing. You need to know both, because you might have a certain strength but be unable to use it for financial or other reasons – many young artists have found themselves in that position.
If you do something that you find easy and does not require you to really think, then you know where at least one of your strengths may lie. If you want to know what your other strengths might be you can go on the web and complete several of the “strength” tests that are freely available and see if you agree with their results. You should see certain trends evolving, even though the order in which the strengths are shown may vary.
Your strengths can be used in many contexts; e.g. if you are an outgoing person, you might be ideal for customer care, marketing and sales or a team leader and manager. That is why careers are personal! A well-chosen career will reflect the unique combination of what you are good at and who you are.
For example, you may like marketing and agriculture but have no wish to become a farmer, however with a degree in agriculture you could become an excellent sales person of benefit to a company that sells agricultural products and services, and so be of great help to farmers. So, it is a question of finding the combinations that are right for you.
Be imaginative. For example, you like teaching and want to be a teacher; one immediately thinks of schools but teaching can be to any age and background – to athletes, to elderly, to musicians, managers – the list is endless, and for many professionals “teaching” those beneath them is part of their professional life.
If you would like to know for yourself what you like and don’t like, keep a diary in which you record what you liked and disliked doing through the day. After about a month, enrol the help of either a friend family member, and review your entries to see if a pattern emerges.
