I have been unemployed for approximately three months. Prior to becoming unemployed, I worked in customer service for over five years but no longer enjoyed working in that area. I really need to figure out my career path, as I am 25 years old and need to find my niche.

I am currently pursuing a degree in human resource management; I have a marketing diploma, three module one Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination subjects and nine subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate level. Since I am undecided about my career, I am just doing various courses so that I will have more options in my job search. I want to enjoy my work and pursue a career which is financially rewarding. Please help me to develop a direction and plan a career path in keeping with my expectations. Thanks in advance.

A career is defined by the Collins English Dictionary as ‘the series of jobs in a profession or occupation that a person has through his or her life’. One may, therefore, pursue a career in child psychology or in education. The positions one occupies through his or her career would be within the profession and would follow a progression along a charted path – if properly planned and monitored.

A job on the other hand is “a group of homogenous tasks related by similarity of functions”, according to Business Dictionary.com. A job, therefore, requires certain skills, but there is no long-term commitment to the task.

Many people, on leaving an educational institution and particularly a secondary-level institution, tend to accept a job which will help them to be financially independent and give them some work experience. Not much thought is given to a career. This situation, at times, helps individuals to discover the career they wish to pursue.

People also enter tertiary-level institutions and pursue programmes of study without thinking of the careers related to these programmes of studies. These individuals tend to choose based on their abilities to do the various subject areas or based on recommendations from their peers, teachers or some significant others.

Planning a career

It is important that a career be chosen before pursuing a programme of study. When this is done, individuals will be able to choose subject areas as well as co-curricular activities in keeping with their interests, abilities and career objectives. The co-curricular activities will help to build the skills and competencies related to their career objective and which are needed for success personally and professionally.

There must be some reason why you have chosen to study human resource management and marketing. You are becoming familiar with the academics. In addition, I am suggesting that you try to research all the career areas that could emerge from Human Resource Management and marketing. Find out the scope for employment, the nature of the jobs to be pursued, as well as the financial and other rewards. Afterwards, try to find out if any of these fit your interest, abilities and values and, therefore, would be of interest for you to pursue as a career.

Areas related to human resources management and marketing include training, recruiting and selecting of staff, career development, talent management and change management and student affairs/services. Some careers in marketing include events management, brand assistant/management, market research, logistics, planning and product management, product promotion, and sales support. Entrepreneurial opportunities are always an option to be considered and there are many opportunities to be explored as they relate to human resource management and marketing.

In researching these careers, the marketability of these areas must also be considered. What will be the demand for such an area when you graduate and for the next five years? You may very well enjoy the subjects, like the nature of the job, but there is not a demand for this area when you graduate. A combination of all the variables mentioned (interest, abilities, values and marketability) is therefore important for job satisfaction.

In trying to find out about these career areas, you should try to gain practical experience in the area. Some of these ways include internships organised by your place of study, mentoring and job-shadowing experiences which can also be organised by your place of study. You could try to volunteer your service to an organisation to work in an entry-level position related to your career objective.

Self-assessment

A self-assessment is always useful and the career centre at your college or university may be able to guide you to the assessment instrument that is best suited for you and give you some assistance on how to complete the assessment exercise. Career self-assessment will help you to correlate your interest, abilities and values and align them to your career objectives. They will confirm your aptitude for areas of interest or point you towards them.

Once you are clear about the area(s) of interest, you can begin to choose subject areas more in keeping with your career object. If you are not in your last year of study, then you need to look at what your next set of subjects to be pursued will be at the next level. Try to make choices that are career focused.

Making career choices can be very challenging, but it is important that the choice be made prior to starting an area of study. Making the choice before clearly has many advantages which include helping individuals to be more focused and selective about their areas of study and therefore more satisfied with their career choice.