Your Career in Your Hands

              Something that really pisses me off is the outlook our generation are all taught to believe from school to college, through to university and beyond, that we should be grateful for any job offer we get regardless of if we want the job, will be happy in the job or if it will help us to land the career we eventually want. Also, no one really tells you that you are in any way in control of your job and career trajectory - I mean, sure, sometimes there’s career advice but it’s mainly grounded in what’s realistic, not what you really want to do. Crucially, your personality, likes and dislikes and talents are rarely taken into account. Of course you’ve got those people who know they want to be a doctor or a lawyer or whatever, and that’s great. But for most people it’s not as clear cut - those are the people I’ll be addressing in this post.

At the end of the day the only person who is in control of your day-to-day working life and has to live with the career decisions you make is yourself. Your parents, friends and tutors etc can advise you along the way but they will not be the ones who have to get up every day and go to your job. They’re not the people who will have to face the daily grind of a job they don’t like, day in and day out.

There’s also very much a sense that your fate and future is in the hands of the company you work for, but actually again you can regain control over this and speak to your boss about changing your current role to fit in with what will make you happier or to discuss a different role in the company.

My mother gave me some great advice about job interviews (no, not imagining everybody on the panel naked), which is that as much as they’re interviewing you for suitability, you’re interviewing them, too! You have a RIGHT to be happy and fulfilled at work and if you don’t think you’ll get that from a job you’re interviewing for - move onto the next one. I know it can seem like there won’t be another one but there will be. What’s the harm in waiting for another few weeks versus being miserable in a job for months or even years! Believe me it’s much easier to stay in an awful job for way longer than you meant to than you would think!


So my best advice is this: 1) take time to decide what will truly make you happy and 2) work towards that independently whilst in your current job (gotta pay them bills, yo). It may even be possible to find a way to work what you really want to do into your current job role! You never know it could be much more achievable than you would imagine! Companies are often looking to expand or recruit internally and they could be looking for someone to do exactly what you have in mind!

In summary the crucial part of this is be proactive in your career and your job, rather than remaining passive and unhappy. You’re not a bystander, it’s your life, your job and - most importantly - your happiness.