How has my career path changed by the end of the year?

Looking back at the start of second year at university, I was expecting my interests to lie in the mental health modules, considering I had pictured in my head a career for myself involving clinical healthcare. To be specific, I had envisaged myself as a private therapist working in the luxury of my own living room — with big leather sofas, surrounded by loaded bookshelves and funky pictures on the walls— like you see in the films. However, over time this vision began to slowly fade away as I began to realise that there is more to clinical psychology than just sitting in a cool apartment, talking about people’s worries. I also began to realise that I wasn’t enjoying the mental health modules as much as some of my other units, and so I began to question my career ideologies.

My past vision. Image from Wheeler Kearns Architects.

To become a professional clinical psychologist I would have had to gain a vast quantity of experience working in the healthcare systems — including hospitals, which to me now is not a place where I can see myself thriving. When I started to apply for placements for my year in industry, I began to realise that I would prefer to work in an industry more creative and more digitally diverse. I therefore started to look for more business-related placements, such as marketing assistance and advertising intern roles.

Working in a hospital might be a bit too stressful for me. Image from iStockPhoto.

So much choice…

Over the course of the Christmas holidays, the university careers page had became my top google search, closely followed by LinkedIn and Student Ladder. Each time I applied for something new, my career ideologies changed — after applying for a communications role for a well-known Cornish pasty making business, I wanted to immerse myself into the food industry. After applying for a merchandising role for a sustainable fashion brand, I wanted to throw myself into the world of fashion and beauty. Although I am inconsistent in my career ideologies and interests, I think being open-minded and being able to adapt to new opportunities as they come along is a very beneficial skill to have.

So, what do I see myself doing now?

After exploring many areas of business, food, fashion (and many more!), I have decided that digital and social media marketing is perhaps where my future career interests lie (although no doubt they will probably change!). For now, I am continuing my placement search by contacting local digital marketing agencies and explaining to them why taking on an intern will benefit them. Over the course of this year, I have definitely realised that future work experience needs to compliment my creative eye for detail and so, I am also making an effort to regularly apply for any social media content creator internships. I will continue my search and even if I am not successful, I will have been successful in finding out what career paths attract me.

Creative social media. Image from Become.