What is your next destination?

By Megan Blacker

How to explore your career options

You may have come to UCT with a very clear idea about what you would like to do upon graduation, or you may have come not having a clue what you will do beyond your studies. Either way, you should be exploring your career options – you never know what you don't know! As an added bonus, it will also tell you what skills you might need to develop to help you thrive in a certain role.

1. Create a list

Start by identifying two or three career paths that you would like to explore. You can still change this list later. You might already have these options lined up, otherwise there are many places to look for ideas: the UCT grad gallery (www.careers.uct.ac.za/uct-graduate-gallery), LinkedIn, or even job listings online (to see relevant positions, requirements and companies).

Did you know that most other universities also publish Careers Guides? Here are just a few of our favourites:

1. "Career Update" by University of the Western Cape

2. "GradMag" by Cape Peninsula University of Technology

3. "The Oxford Guide to Careers" by the University of Oxford

2. Research your options

With platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter, it's become easy to follow and read about the careers of likeminded people. Try finding UCT alumni with your degree behind their names to see the careers they have crafted for themselves. This will help you not only to see what job titles are available to graduates with your degree, but also which companies are recruiting in that field. It might also give you an idea of extra courses and certifications people often take on to get into a specific career. Most importantly, it will show you whether the job belongs on your list.

3. Put out feelers

Identify a few people in these careers to talk to – it can be a mutual friend, somebody you find on LinkedIn or a connection you've made at a recent event. Reach out and set up a virtual meeting or call with them, and be prepared with relevant questions (ones that can't be answered by a quick Google search!). You may be surprised by how many people are happy to engage with you.

4. Immerse yourself in the role

University holidays are long, so make the most of it! Ask to volunteer or job shadow at a company in the field you are exploring to get a “real feel” of the day-to-day activities at a particular company, sector, industry or field. Some companies offer internships – look at what is advertised on MyCareer and other job listing platforms.

5. Discover your network

The best opportunities are often the ones you don't know about, yet! Networking can be a really powerful tool to hear about new career options. Reach out to anyone in your personal, professional, academic or familial networks to help you gain insight into a field, sector or company. Network with people attending the same conference or event as you.

If networking fills you with dread, think of it not just about taking, but also giving. Ask yourself, “How can I be helpful to this person?” rather than just thinking, “What can I take from this person?”.

A Networking Paradigm Shift: Focus On Giving, Not Taking (fastcompany.com) may be a really helpful read to learn about networking.

6. Attend Career-focussed events

Watch out for any Careers Service events that may assist you in researching your options. We host a number of virtual events like Careers Uncovered and Career Conversations – the older ones are available on the Careers Service YouTube channel.

Watch out for our LIT Job Expo on 5 May and our EPIC Job Expo on 3 August 2022.