The SOVA Project is happy to feature this blog post written by one in our team of fantastic SOVA Ambassadors—these are young people who help create meaningful blog posts from adolescents’ perspectives. We hope you can use their post to start a conversation with your adolescent.
Anyone else out there indecisive about their future? I know I am. I picked to go to college for business school because I could go into any industry easily without needing additional education. Basically I was indecisive. I am now graduating in the spring and have gathered two majors that are fairly different. And I can’t choose which field to go into!
One of my industries hires full-time workers very early, like now, and the other won’t have job opportunities up until February or March. So I am now, finally, faced with a choice. A choice that I have procrastinated for years, which just places more pressure on me.
In my search of a dozen or so online job boards, I have found some jobs that would have been totally satisfying for me that don’t even require a college degree, so I am even doubting my choice to go to college while conversely beating myself up for not having enough ambition. Or at least, not the right kind of ambition.
So what do I do?
First, I asked myself how long I could take the job search before I just couldn’t take any more. After some introspection, I set a goal. I want to accept a job offer by the end of the calendar year (December 31). So that means I will likely go into the industry that hires early. Okay, well no one’s career goes in a straight line their whole life. Making this decision now certainly doesn’t discount my skills or opportunities in the other industry. It just means I have to work a little harder to keep my finger on the pulse (ie. being active in professional associations, reading the right news, making professional connections, etc).
So as of drafting this blog, I do have one job offer on the table, and I’m hoping for another in a couple weeks before I have to make my decision. While neither is perfect, I have realized that perfection just doesn’t exist. There is no one gig that will fit all my checkmarks. And even if there was I certainly wouldn’t find it fresh out of college in a pandemic.
Cheers to good enough!
Is your child currently going through an important decision-making process? Are they in the process of applying to colleges? How would you talk to them if they are worried about making the “right” choice?
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