Pure Potential

Choosing the Right Career

It's already become a cliché to say that you no longer have to work in the same job for 30-40 years. People move jobs far more often nowadays and few graduates stay in their first job beyond 3 years. That said, your first career move is still a hugely important and difficult decision given the number of different careers there are. This is why we offer information at our summer events and online on a wide range of competitive careers to give you a head start with your application.

People choose certain careers for all sorts of different reasons including challenges, money, location, family encouragement, a will to help others and work-life balance. For many people, though, the most important factor is that the work is intrinsically interesting and satisfying. This tends to be more the case for bright job seekers, as Pure Potential members tend to be. To hear first-hand experiences from people in a huge range of careers, go to the iCould website and watch thousands of videos of employees telling you like it is.

Whichever of these factors is the most important for you, there are certain important steps you can take to increase the chance that you make the right decision. All of these revolve around research. Firstly, do as much web- and library-based research on the sector and firm as you can - the careers service at your university will usually be able to help here. If you are interested in both sector and firm this should be interesting. If it's not, you may be applying for the wrong job. Secondly, talk to anyone you know who is involved in that sector. It sounds obvious but a huge number of candidates pass up very effective resources which are right in front of them. Finally, try to get some work experience. This is never easy and not always possible but it's still worth making a big effort with particularly while you are still at school, college or university. Take a look at the Pure Potential work experience page.

If you’re still unsure on which career might be right for you, MyCareerSpringboard has a free Career Test that makes suggestions on what might be of interest based on your personality.

For more information about careers please visit our partner firms pages:

Law
Medicine
Accountancy
Teaching
Charity
Retail

More information about other career choices:

1. Actuary
2. Advertising
3. Architecture
   
4. Clinical psychology
5. Construction
6. Dentistry
7. Engineering
8. Human resourcing
9. Journalism
10. Nursing
11. Optometry
    
12. Pharmacy
    
13. Physiotherapy
14. Public relations
15. Social care
16. Town planning
17. Veterinary Doctor