Planning out a career path and strategy to meet your future goals is extremely important, and it can be exciting too. Whether you are a student with years to go before entering the workforce, or a fresh graduate about to enter into your first job, taking that first step may seem like a challenging task. But with some support and helpful insights from places such as the Lifelong Learning Exploration Centre (LLEC), you can put yourself at an advantage.
The LLEC at LLI is an interactive gallery geared towards helping individuals discover their career inclinations and education pathways to achieve their career goals. Read on to find out how a visit to LLEC can guide you on your education development and career planning to set you on the right path.
Discover yourself
Most people wish to enter a career that they truly love and are passionate about. Whether your interests lie in technology, arts, sciences or the social services, it is important to evaluate your personal goals, skills, strengths, weaknesses, and passion to keep your career development in line with your personality and interests.
Visiting the LLEC can help you gain better insights into your interests and aptitudes, helping you discover suitable career pathways through assessment tools like the RIASEC test. This journey of self-discovery begins by allowing yourself some time to think about the things that bring you fulfilment, joy, and satisfaction when you are deciding on a job.
Explore careers
The LLEC exhibits allow you to explore various careers and industries, illuminating key trends and growth sectors. But more importantly, it can also recommend potential careers that suit your interests and skills required to achieve your goal.
Recommendations for next steps
Individuals who make education and career planning and development a priority are likely to seek appropriate opportunities to gain experience in the field that they want to work towards. Students can take up internships, while fresh graduates can look for traineeship opportunities. These are opportunities to hone and learn skills, receive mentorship, and assess your suitability for the career path.
Your visit to LLEC can also provide you with suggestions on the steps you can take to get closer to your chosen career path. This will give you a better direction when deciding on your next course of action, be it in applying for internships, jobs, or skills development courses.
Gain career-ready skills
Besides knowing the direction you want to head towards, proper career development planning should also include preparation of career-ready skills. Besides building up industry-specific knowledge and developing one’s soft skills, gaining confidence in communicating this to prospective employers is also crucial.
Individuals can brush up their job interview skills , or learn how to prepare their interview outfits through LLEC’s interactive exhibits.
Get a head start
Once you have a clearer idea of what you can and want to do, the only thing left to do is to take action. LLEC encourages visitors to pledge to learn a skill of their choice. For you, that might mean signing up for a course or two to equip yourself with industry-ready skills, or even sourcing for suitable traineeships.
Showing interest in a particular field and gaining experiences will also provide valuable networking opportunities. Not only will you pick up work ethics and work skills, you can also gain valuable business contacts, industry guidance, and potential job opportunities.
Conclusion
The earlier you start planning for your career, the better chance you have of succeeding. Although age should not be a barrier for you to work towards your ideal career, it is always better to begin today rather than tomorrow.
LLEC empowers individuals to take charge of their career planning and development – and in a fun and interactive way! Everybody is welcome to walk in to the centre, and students can benefit from the Education & Career Guidance (ECG) workshops and short campus tour to introduce the range of resources available to them. Admission is free, so make time to visit and put your career on the right track! If you are an educator, reach out to the LLEC team to organise a learning journey for your students! Visit Lifelong Learning Exploration Centre page to find out more details.
Credit Sources: Resume.com, Chron, University of York
Posted on 17/03/21