Small tools for a more informed next step.

Career exploration

Research the work, not only the title.

Choose one career area and build a clearer picture before deciding whether it fits. Use more than one current source and separate what you know from what you still need to ask.

1. Daily work: Which tasks fill a normal week, and which responsibilities matter most?
2. Environment: Where, when, and with whom does the work usually happen?
3. Pathways: Which education, training, experience, or portfolio routes can lead there?
4. Tradeoffs: What pressures, constraints, or less-visible parts of the field should you understand?
5. Test: What small project, conversation, course, or activity could help you explore further?

Professional conversation

Ask questions that reveal the real work.

A useful conversation goes beyond “How did you get your job?” Prepare questions that invite specific examples and help you understand what the field demands.

• Surprise: What did you only understand after entering this field?
• Skill: Which ability do beginners underestimate, and how can they practise it?
• Reality: What does a normal week look like when the job is busy?
• Change: How is technology or the market changing the work?
• Next step: What is one low-risk way for a young person to test their interest?

Experience reflection

Turn an activity into evidence about yourself.

After a program, project, volunteer role, course, or event, capture what the experience actually showed. A title says very little; your choices and responses reveal far more.