How to choose your career – start with the difference you want to make in the world!
How to choose your career – where do you even start? When it comes to choosing your career, figuring out what you know about yourself and the difference you want to make in the world is a great place to begin. You’ve got to know this first to create a clear picture of what your first career might look like. From there you can start working on a plan for acquiring the different pieces to the puzzle to put it all together.
Lynley Soper is experienced in career development, particularly with students and young people just starting out. She has worked with secondary students and those in further education for over 10 years and can help you figure out which direction to take.
When is the right time to seek help choosing your career?
As a student you are already making early career decisions that will have an impact on your future working life, in the subjects you choose and extra-curricular activities you get involved in.
You may already have ideas or will be starting to imagine your career journey. Whether it’s further education, vocational training or some practical work experience to set you on the right path to what you want to do, there is no ‘too early’ or ‘too late’ to begin building a roadmap that takes you through all the understanding, knowledge and skills to help get you there.
YEAR 10-11
– Self-understanding
– Natural talents/strengths
– Opening up ideas for exploration
YEAR 12
– Refining ideas
– Further exploration
– Trying things out
– Building life skills
YEAR 13
– Clarification
– Finalising ideas
– Making decisions
– Road map to success
Ready to build your career roadmap?
How to choose your career if you don’t know what you want to do
Not everyone has a clear idea of the career path they want to take.
if you are unsure where best to take your interests further or are still figuring out what you are good at, it’s worthwhile working with a career professional early on so you don’t put your energy into something that doesn’t really interest you.
Feeling Stuck? Book a strategy session with LynleyLynley Soper Careers
TESTIMONIALS
Megan, Invercargill
Lynley has been instrumental in providing me the tools to really evaluate both my current and future career pathways, allowing me to create space in my own head to make positive decisions for the future. I am incredibly grateful to Lynley for her calm and insightful guidance during our sessions that really do focus you as an individual. I cannot recommend Lynley enough to anyone who is seeking change in their career or wishing to pursue study options.
Charlotte & Sam (Yrs 10 & 11)
We have found Lynley to be very helpful in giving us guidance and knowledge with our pathways for future careers. I would highly recommend Lynley to talk to about your future career and what subjects to take.
Shelley, North Otago
Lynley provided a one on one session tailor made for our two daughters, where they learnt things about themselves that they didn’t know and became aware of career choices that they had not thought about or had passed over. They came away feeling like they had a direction to work towards to.
We have found Lynley honest, very approachable, open, easy to relate to and knows her stuff! Most importantly our girls enjoyed working with Lynley.
We would thoroughly recommend Lynley’s services to any parent/child that is feeling overwhelmed in career planning.
SC Alexandra
I never knew what I wanted to do once I left School, and I wanted my children to have an idea of where they were heading, what subject choices to make, Our daughters friend recommended Lynley to us. Lynley has been amazing, she spent an afternoon with our daughter and she now has an idea of what she would like to do with her life, her strengths, weaknesses and passions. She is very thorough, relates well to young adults and provides a great service. Worth every cent.
Gaylene, Central Otago
“We are grateful for the time that you have spent with our daughter working through career options, identifying her strengths and helping broaden her thoughts around tertiary study. She has come home really excited about the prospects of her last year at school along with working through her options for university. It was great to see her enthusiasm and how her ideas have expanded around the career path that she is planning following the session with you.
Once again from us, a huge thank you Lynley for walking her through this journey, it exceeded our expectations.”
Hannah (Yr 13) Southland
After completing the online survey and one on one appointment with Lynley Soper I am feeling focused on my final year at high school and have ideas to point me in the right direction for my next few years of tertiary training. The session didn’t so much narrow my options and set them in concrete, but highlight my strengths and the opportunities available to me. I would definitely recommend this career planning work to anyone, any age, that is serious about heading down a pathway that is right for them.
Maree, Southland
Our children saw Lynley during their senior years at high school.
She made them aware of where their learning strengths were/are and where their passions lay – she goes through this in depth. Her knowledge in this area opens up many options which are available for students, which they not have been aware of before.
With this information, they were then able to ensure they were taking the subjects that would see them be able to apply for the courses they were interested in.
Our eldest son thought it would be a “waste of time”. After his session with Lynley said it was “great” and proceeded to amend his subjects so he could ensure that he had pathways open.
Lara, Te Anau
4 years out of high school and I was feeling a little lost. Lynley helped me to assess what was important to me in my career, what skills I already had & narrow down what I wanted to do. She then assisted me in doing research so I could get that dream career! I’m well underway with study & am a lot more confident in my future!