Are you the kind of person who works well in an office? Enjoys interacting with other people? Finding out how you work best will help you get you the most out of your high school work experience and set your career in motion towards a job you’ll love.
While you might think it’s just an easy break from the classroom, high school work experience is a great opportunity to gain new experiences and skills, while deciding if you’d like to pursue that field of work as a career.
Whether you love it or loathe it, you should be mindful of what you learn about yourself and the working world as it will all be useful in determining your career path. During your work experience, there are a few things you should consider:
1. Can you work in an office?
Finding yourself in an office might feel like unfamiliar territory at first trying to learn an overwhelming amount of colleague’s names while trying to understand the layout of the building. If you persevere past the initial speed bumps and find yourself enjoying the collaborative working environment then you might be suited to an office workspace. While there are many career paths which will see you working in an office, you might want to look into the areas of business, law, criminology, communication, information technology, physical sciences and mathematics, or engineering.
Otherwise, if you’re feeling the urge to have the sun on your face, fresh air in your lungs or embracing a hands-on approach to your life, working outdoors, or a mix of outdoors and in a lab, could be an ideal fit for you. This might mean you’ll always be exploring the outside world but it can also open you up to a hybrid of internal and external work. For careers which will see you working away from the desk check out areas like agricultural science, allied health, education, environmental and conservation sciences, nursing, creative media, humanities, arts and social sciences, medical, molecular and forensic sciences, psychology, or veterinary science.
2. Do you enjoy team work?
Team work is built around communication and requires people who aren’t afraid to voice their opinions in order to get the most out of the team. If you are an extroverted person who enjoys engaging with people and being constantly challenged by others, then look for a career embracing this.
If you value the ability to concentrate on your tasks and work at your own pace without being disturbed, self-motivated and individual work might be suited to you. In this type of work you can follow your vision and take complete control from the initial idea to fruition. Commonly seen in the entrepreneurial line of work, where you can singlehandedly grow an empire by following your passions and turning them into ideas that can change the world.
3. Is this the right field for you?
If you find your week of work experience passing by so fast you wish it could never end, you might have found a field of work worth pursuing. School work experience is just a small taste of what is to come in your career, so don’t be put off if your placement area doesn’t exactly match up with your passion – this is the first of many opportunities you will have to define and pursue your dreams.
The goal of work placements is gaining experience and new skills, as well as discovering whether or not a field is right for you. So use this time to step outside your comfort zone and begin thinking about your future place in the world.