Exploring careers and knowing your strengths

You do not need to know your whole future at 16. What helps is a simple habit of noticing what you enjoy and are good at, testing ideas against real jobs and talking to people who actually do them.

Start with what you already know about yourself

• Write three lists: things you enjoy doing, things people often ask you to help with, and school subjects or tasks where time flies. Patterns across the lists are clues, not verdicts.
• Separate skills (what you can do, such as explaining maths or editing video) from interests (what you like) and values (what matters to you, such as helping people, security or creativity). A good career fit usually touches all three.
• Ask two people who know you well, such as a teacher and a relative, to name two strengths they see in you. Others often notice things you take for granted.
• Remember that strengths grow. A skill you are average at now can become a strength with practice, so do not rule out a whole field because of one bad term.

Use free career quizzes wisely

• The UK National Careers Service offers a free 'Discover your skills and careers' assessment: 40 multiple-choice questions that take about 5 to 10 minutes and suggest careers to compare.
• The O*NET Interest Profiler, sponsored by the US Department of Labor, groups interests into six areas: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional. It comes in a 30-question and a 60-question version and takes about 10 to 20 minutes.
• Treat quiz results as a list of ideas to research, not as instructions. If a suggestion surprises you, look up what the job involves day to day before deciding it is not for you.
• Save or screenshot your results so you can compare them a year later. Interests often shift between 15 and 19.

Research a job properly

• For any career on your shortlist, find out: what a typical day looks like, which qualifications or degrees are needed, where people in that job work (office, outdoors, hospital, remotely), and how people usually get started.
• Check whether the route differs by country. A career may need a specific degree in one country and an apprenticeship or professional exam in another, so look at the rules where you plan to study or work.
• Look for real voices: company career pages, university course pages, professional association websites and talks at school career fairs.
• Keep a simple career notebook or spreadsheet with one row per job idea and columns for 'what appeals', 'what worries me' and 'next step'.

Informational interviews: talking to people who do the job

• An informational interview is a short conversation where you ask someone about their career. You are asking for advice, not a job.
• The University of Kansas Career Center suggests starting with people you are comfortable with, such as family friends and relatives, who may then introduce you to others in your target field.
• Ask for about 20 minutes, which most people can spare. A simple request: 'I am a Year 12 student interested in engineering. Could you spare 20 minutes next week to tell me about your career path?'
• Useful questions include: How did you get started? What education and training did you need? What does an average day look like? What skills matter most? What advice would you give someone thinking about this field? Is there anyone else you think I should speak to?
• Send a thank-you email afterwards and keep in touch occasionally with an update. If you are under 18, tell a parent or guardian who you are meeting, and meet in a public place, at a workplace or online.

Test ideas with small experiments

• The National Careers Service lists ways to test a career, including work shadowing (watching someone do a job for a day or a few days), virtual work experience, volunteering and short insight events about a sector.
• Try a related activity at school: join the debate club if you are curious about law, help with a school event if you like events management, or enter a coding challenge if you are thinking about computing.
• After each experience, write three lines: what I enjoyed, what I did not, and what I want to try next. This record also gives you material for your CV and personal statement.