”If you’re a young person reading this, grab a chair. There’s something I’m passionate about that I’d like to share with you. It is advice I wish I could have given to my younger self if I had the chance”, Mc Dan writes in a post on FaceBook.
Everywhere I look, there’s a lot of pressure on young people to have a clear progression or career plan. My advice is: don’t let this pressure get to you. And how you can do that is by “doing something”. With 20 or 30 years of work ahead of you, there is no pressure to get into your ‘dream’ position or have a clear plan yet. If opportunities to pursue your interests or passions are not currently available, try another thing. Not all jobs are glamorous or fit in your plan, but you must be flexible and experimental. All jobs, no matter how unexciting they seem, have lessons to teach you. And those lessons will help with navigating similar situations and bigger life choices in the future. You are a generation who are projected to change careers several times across our lives, nothing is set in stone. So gain as many experiences as you can from as many different places as possible – it’ll not only help you work out what you want to do but also build your skills and knowledge in ways you wouldn’t have ever imagined.
Keep on trying. Trust me, I know it is not an easy process. But I need you to realise that failure, rejection and mistakes are integral parts of your progression process. And to make the most of them – you must be open to feedback, reflect on every situation you find yourself in, trust your process and learn from it. The process is built on trying different things, however small, whether it’s an online course, a part-time job or work experience.
”Be brave, get out there and show the world what you can do”, Dr. McKorley writes.
