During my undergraduate years I lost interest in the field of Psychology (graduated with a degree in Psychology). Now after graduation I am now unsure what exactly I am to do in life. I’ve seen myself being a lawyer to a writer, yet nothing seems to stick. I’ll research the requirements then become interested in something else. I’ve given myself some time to detox from researching so much, until recently where I’ve found myself picking up the laptop and typing into Google various careers. What can I do to find a career that is right for me? I’m adamant to learning what career is right for me due to the fear of being stagnant and remaining stagnant!
When did you graduate?
You can’t predict what your entire career will be. The best course of action is to find a job in one of these fields and see how it goes. Researching can only tell you so much. You have to experience it. One thing leads to another. That’s how a career unfolds.
May 2018.
You just graduated! Pick one of these fields and look for a job. Try it out.
Thank you!
I pretty much agree with @brantly. When I graduated from university, I had no idea what I wanted to do for a living. I tried a job for a while, then another. At some point I figured out approximately what I wanted and went back to graduate school and got a master’s degree. Then I tried a couple of other jobs. Eventually I found exactly the right thing, but it was sort of by mistake. It was also a field that didn’t even exist when I had been in university (it sort of vaguely overlapped with math, which was what I majored in). For me this worked out very well.
I have said that psychology is only useful if you want to have a career where there is at least one person and preferably more people present at your job. This leaves open a rather wide range of options. In a sense a degree in psychology is sort of like a degree in math, in that it is potentially useful in a wide range of fields, but does not immediately tell you exactly what you will do first.
I have heard of people with degrees in psychology going into counseling, marketing, medical school, law, management, sales, personnel, and I am sure that there are multiple other options. One of the best managers that I ever had while working in high tech had originally gotten his degree in psychology.
I would say look for a job that seems interesting for now and has a vague relationship with your degree, and try it for a while. Meanwhile think about what else you could be doing. I think that this should work out over time.
Thank you for your helpful advice.
I think you should find a job that looks interesting to you. Did you have any jobs, internships, research positions etc while in undergrad? If you did… contact them… maybe somebody knows of an available position. If not… find something interesting. It will not be your final destination… it will be the beginning of what is about to unfold. Your first job will allow you to learn about your interests, meet new people, give you time to figure out if you want to go to law school, etc.
I would not view this as “what career is right for me.” I would view it as “what sounds interesting to me right now.” I sent my daughter an article awhile ago that had to do with “what problems do you want to solve.” The article suggested taking the focus off of “what should I be” and put the focus on… what do I see in the country/ world that I would like to help improve. That’s the direction I see her going in now… while still in undergrad.
“What is interesting to me right now” is exactly how you should be looking at it. If you follow that, then you’ll find a career that’s right for you. When you change your mind, you can always change what you do.