Before and after graduating from school, many students are faced with the question of what do I want to be. Finding the right vocation before you want to start an apprenticeship, an internship or study is very difficult for many people of my generation. In this article, I would like to give you 5 valuable tips on how to choose the right branch for your future career.
Find the Right Path After School
Whether you’re top of the class or just banging your way through the minimum requirements year after year, finding the right path in your career is hard.
For example, you are very interested in art yourself and would love to start studying in this field, but your parents are urging you to join your family business.
Another big issue for many young people is location. They live their young lives mainly in one place and for their wish, they would have to leave the city, municipality, state or even the country. Some even change continents more often in their lives.
1. Listen to the Views of Your Friends and Family
Everyone has or should have longtime friends. If you already have problems with this, there is a classic book for it. It’s called “How to Make Friends” and became an instant bestseller by Dale Carnegie when it was published in 1937.
After a few years, your friends sometimes know you better than your family. Listen to their views of you. Where are your strengths? Where are your weaknesses? Do you dare to fight your weaknesses to eliminate or reduce them?
However, one should not rely solely on the opinions of mom, dad, and friends. They are not impartial in their assessment. Sometimes you can find careers advisers and other independent people who can point you in the right direction.
2. Think Long-Term When Searching for Your Calling
The fries taste the best today. In a few years or decades, your taste preferences could change. Then, for example, you only want to eat fries if you or someone else makes them yourself and you know which ingredients are used.
As in this example, your interests and preferences can also change over time. Very often one grows up and is surprised that the views of one’s parents often coincide with one’s own. Incidentally, this is also part of growing up.
3. Money Isn’t Everything
Basically, money is just a means to an end. For many people, money is the most important goal when choosing a career. Don’t get me wrong, money is important because without money you have no roof over your head and little or nothing to eat. Try to find a balance between money, time, and health.
But there are 2 other “currencies” that are incredibly important and valuable. These are called time and health. Your time is the most valuable asset you have. You can’t fight against time and it’s limited. To what extent it is limited, no one knows.
Health, on the other hand, is the other expensive commodity. In a well-known Latin phrase, it says Mens sana in corpore sano. That means: A healthy mind is in a healthy body. In other words, with an athletic body, you can significantly increase your intellectual capacity. It’s also been shown to reduce the risk of dreadful diseases like Alzheimer’s.
4. Be Open to Relocation
We live in Europe. This is actually tiny compared to the other major continents. For many career goals, one or more semesters abroad is essential. You meet exciting new people and learn the local language at the same time.
For many employers, longer stays abroad are good evidence of your flexibility for your CV. Look for affordable living abroad for at least 6-12 months. If you even manage to move to the country of your dreams, all the better.
5. Get More Done with the Right Time Management
Time management used to be called time planning in German. But now the English term is much more common. Time management refers to all measures that can be used to make optimal and productive use of the time available.
Distractions are one of the biggest obstacles to optimal time management in our digital world. I recently had a very interesting audiobook by Marco von Münchhausen about it. It is entitled: Concentration – How we learn to be fully focused again. A good example is given there of how to be more productive by putting your phone in flight mode or turning it off. I have to write a separate article about this great and instructive book. Concentration is sometimes essential in life.
Measures for Time Management According to the ALPEN Method
The German author and advisor Lothar J. Seiwert developed the ALPEN-Method, according to which a large number of people achieve more in the same period of time. With his method, one can create a written plan for the day based on five elements in a few minutes per day.
- Write down tasks, appointments, and planned activities and thus catalog them
- Estimate length (duration).
- Plan buffer times: Reserve time for disruptions or unexpected job stoppers
- Make decisions about priorities
- Follow-up control: target/actual control
Conclusion
You can plan a successful career at an early stage and prepare yourself for certain circumstances. With our 5 tips for your career, you are guaranteed to be able to find your calling faster. After you decide on your educational path, be sure to get the best admissions package for the university, even if you buy letters of recommendation. Remember, all measures are okay when it comes to getting that spot in the university you like.
