Exploring your career options
Before choosing your course or apprenticeship, it is useful to know and understand the jobs and careers they can lead to in the future. Doing your research is an important part of the decision making process and additionally, gaining work and volunteering experience can be a valuable way to find out more about a particular job or area of work.
Many higher education courses will offer the opportunity of work placements and study abroad programmes to support you with further developing your qualifications and experience and can often be an important factor to consider when making your choices.
You may have a dream job in mind or still be exploring your options, either way, it is important that you think about what you enjoy, what your strengths are, what experience you have or will need to gain and the qualifications and results you will need.
There are many websites dedicated to career options and choice - here are a few to get you started:
Career videos
- Explore your future career options, including further study and apprenticeships at icould.com with videos, articles and quizzes.
- Careersbox offers online videos about different careers, going to university and apprenticeships. It also provides the opportunity to find out more about different areas of work such as Creative and Media, Engineering, Office, IT and Telecoms and many more.
Career advice and information
- The National Careers Service (NCS) - Access information, advice and guidance for all ages and education levels to help you make decisions on learning, training and work opportunities.
- Prospects provides careers advice, job and course opportunities to students and graduates. They offer a useful guide to different job sectors and where degrees subjects can lead to, gap year ideas and opportunities and a career planning tool.
School and college students
- Youth Connexions Hertfordshire supports young people aged 13 to 19 (up to 25 for young people with learning disabilities) with information, advice, guidance and support. It also provides support for young people leaving care, up to the age of 21, through the Youth Connexions One Stop Shops.
- Read the Careers and Choices for young people guide from Youth Connexions
- Plotr is an interactive online game which allows you to explore your career ideas and options to find the best match for your skills and interests. It also includes Careers Worlds with information about different occupational sectors and links to employers and apprenticeship/volunteering vacancies.
Specialist careers information
Even if you have a good idea of what you want to do, it is important to do your research to make sure that you are making the right choice for you. Here are some sites for helping you find out more about some common career paths:
| Subject | Website |
|---|---|
Care and Social Work | |
Creative Careers | |
Finance | |
IT and Digital Careers | |
Law | |
Marketing, Sales and Advertising | |
Medical Careers | |
Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) | |
Sports Careers | |
Teaching |