I think many parents are challenged with this question.  As parents we love and care for our children and wish the best for their future, but we can’t always determine their future for them (some try to their detriment unfortunately).  My oldest son was very clear from primary school what he wanted to do and has successfully pursued that career, however my son who has just finished high school this year is unsure.  And it is this group of teenagers I’m often asked to speak to or give advice on.

If you don’t know what to do; then just do something.   That’s what I tell leavers or their parents. We instil into the heads of our teenagers that this period of learning sets and determines the rest of their lives, and this is true to a certain extent in terms of their knowledge and understanding, social skills etc., but not necessarily in terms of their careers.  What is a statistical fact is that people who attend university, on average, earn a greater income than those who do not attend.  But not all kids are cut out to go to university, and their careers do not need to be determined at the end of year 12.  We all mature at different rates and circumstances and situations change over time, but whatever they may be in the future is undeterminable so why overly focus with urgency things that aren’t that urgent.

I’ve seen friends rush to University straight from school and drop out in the first year, only to return some time later to do a degree and go on to pursue that career or even move into something completely different.  We forget that university only gives us the entry level of a career, but what it does give graduates is a broader education, worldly skills and the ability to critically think.  Reality is that the career begins after you start to apply what you learned in university in context of a real job.

I’ve seen friends go straight into roles from school including apprenticeships and build very successful careers in those fields or just use it to earn some money while they look around at what they really want to do, either choice is valid.  I know people who at 40 still don’t know what they want to be when they grow up.

So my advise is; do something, don’t agonise over it or dwell too long, it doesn’t lock in your future career to eternity, pick a university course that develops a broad range of transferable skills if you’re unsure.  Try a few different jobs if you’re not heading off to university and see what you enjoy the most but be comfortable that whatever you decide doesn’t lock you into anything till retirement.  Don’t forget that “65 percent of today’s schoolchildren will eventually be employed in jobs that have yet to be created”.  The important thing is that you get moving, and when you’re moving all kinds of good things, knowledge and information comes your way.