Struggling to decide on a career? Here’s how Warwick can help you- speaking from personal experience!

We’ve all felt that dread which comes around when someone asks “what do you want to do in the future?”, and you have absolutely no clue how to respond. You may have found yourself asking “how am I supposed to decide when I have so little experience in the world of work?”- and trust me, from what I have personally heard and experienced, you are not alone in thinking this way. Many university students experience the same worries, and being one of those university students myself I can tell you this: when in doubt, turn to the support systems and services available to you!

At Warwick, there are SO many different programmes that you can get involved with to either improve your employability or discover what you would like to do in the future. Some programmes I can personally recommend through experience include SPRINT (for female empowerment and developing confidence) and Warwick Scholars (which keeps you up to date with employment related experiences, opportunities and resources). These programmes not only cater to the development of employment- related skillsets, but also give you the chance to build your network and meet others in a similar position to you. Inspiration can come from anywhere, so meeting various people who have different goals and aspirations for their futures may open your eyes to the possibility of working in places that you would never have thought about otherwise- for example, I was introduced to the very exciting idea of ethical hacking and the law (which I had previously never even considered) whilst speaking to an individual at a Warwick Scholars event! I would definitely recommend speaking to as many people as you can at these sorts of events, as you may just find your calling by exploring your options this way.

Apart from events you can attend, there are also numerous careers services and programmes available to you such as the Strengthening your Career Potential programme and the Warwick Advance programme. The Strengthening your Career Potential programme has been extremely useful for me, as I was able to talk to a career’s advisor about my future despite not having a single clue about what I want to do (except for the fact that it would probably be related to law). I went through a series of strengths profiles to determine my strengths and weaknesses, and I even had one-to-one sessions to talk through my options within the legal field. Having access to all these resources and such useful advice gave me a direction to pursue for my career- I went in only knowing that I wanted to do something related to law and I came out knowing what type of law I wanted to practice as well as the type of workplace I wanted to be at, which was very helpful in deciding which firms I would apply to when application season came around! The best part is that YOU lead the discussion in these career’s sessions- you aren’t simply told what to do, rather you get to decide what you want to focus on for each session and therefore the session is always relevant to you! Warwick Advance is another very useful programme, as you are kept alerted about internship opportunities via newsletters and there is also an excellent mentoring scheme with professionals from various industries to help you get an insight into a workplace that you are considering!

In my opinion, joining such programmes and making use of the careers services at Warwick was one of the best decisions I made, as I gained much more clarity regarding my future career. I no longer feel pressured by the questions asked about my future, and I would therefore recommend (from my personal experience) that you get involved with as many of these programmes as you can and take part proactively in order to get the maximum benefit out of them!

As always, please feel free to ask me about any of my experiences or opinions in the comments and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can with an answer!