Finding the right career path for you

When faced with an unstable economic climate, choosing a career can feel challenging. How do you secure your economic prospects when the ability to experiment with different career options is limited?

Gaining additional work experience and academic qualifications can help increase your employability and give you a sense of renewed purpose.

Deciding on your future path doesn’t have to be overwhelming, by following these simple steps you can make career- oriented decisions.

Discover our online courses

What motivates you?

People thrive at work when they’re able to do something they’re passionate about.

According to Daniel Pink in his book Drive, intrinsic motivation is far more powerful than any external reward. Intrinsic motivation is based on these three factors:

• Mastery: the desire to improve your skills through continuous learning and practice to one day realise your full potential.
• Autonomy: the need to control what you do, when you do it and who you do it with, so you’re free to think creatively.
• Purpose: wanting to work towards something that’s more important than yourself – seeing ‘the bigger picture’ and wanting to change something for the better.

If you’re sat at your desk feeling like nothing ever changes, it could be time to start thinking of what you could do to change how you feel at work?

What’s the focus of your day?

When you think about ‘work’ what comes to mind?

Is it putting on a smart outfit, attending meetings, finishing your day’s work, and then switching off to enjoy your evening?

Or do you never really switch off from work because you’re always thinking about new ideas to try, reading to learn more, or finding new opportunities to delve deeper?

Is work about money? Or is it about a desire to be the best you can be?

If you’re only thinking about work during the hours of 9 to 5, with your focus on what you’ll spend that month’s pay cheque on, it could be a sign you’re on the wrong career path.

What does success look like?

Imagine your life in five years’ time. Perhaps you’ve climbed to the top of the corporate ladder or taken a side-ways step into a related field or had a pay rise. Are you happy?

Unless you can confidently say “Yes!“, it’s a good indication that you might not be on the right career path.

Re-energise your career with online study at the University of Bath

With the University of Bath, choosing a new career doesn’t have to involve handing your notice in tomorrow – you don’t even need to decide what you’re going to do next.

You will be expected to study around 12-15 hours per week, which means you can fit studying around work and family life. The ability to study from anywhere in the world, at any time enables you to continue to accommodate the needs of those around you whilst furthering your career.

Our online courses will give you the skills required for a wide range of new careers.

Go further with the University of Bath