Help – what should I do with my life?

There are very few people who know what they want to do from an early age and have a particular career-path mapped out. Many people find the course that they have enrolled on is not right for them. It’s important you evaluate your options at this time.

It can be very difficult to make decisions about courses and careers, especially as there are so many options and factors to consider. Nowadays, there are plenty of opportunities for young people to explore different avenues of learning and earning money at the same time such as Apprenticeships.

Try to find out what motivates you and what makes you tick. Do you want to make a lot of money from your career? Do you want to create things for a living? Do you want to work with people face-to-face? If the course or career you choose matches your passion, the chances are it could be the right choice you.

So if you decide that you want to do something different there is a useful Work and Study section on The Mix which you may find beneficial to look at. It may also be worth looking at the “What’s your perfect job?” section of this site. There is a lot of information about ways of researching different careers which may be of interest to you.

Initially, it might help to talk to someone about how scary everything seems right now. Do you have a close friend or family member you could talk this over with? Feeling unhappy can be a very isolating experience, even if close friends and family are around. Talking to someone you know may help them understand you better, enabling them to support you more effectively.

Whilst everything might seem really overwhelming at the moment, small steps may help you to focus more on what you want. You could speak to a student counsellor at your University for both emotional support and you may find that they are able to refer on to someone for academic support to see what your options are within the University you are currently studying at.

You may contact the National Careers Service and speak the Careers Advice service who can talk through what options are available to you in regards to courses and funding if needed. You can contact them directly on 0800 100 900.

Hopefully you will find this information helpful but please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further queries.