Choosing the right university degree is one of the most important decisions in any young person’s life. Studies show that two out of three students do not know what career they should choose; and one in three young people make the wrong career choice.

The career you choose at university is likely to be your career for several years, so if you make the wrong choice, you may experience frustration, anxiety and unstable moods.

On the other hand, choosing a career with certainty is one more ingredient for your long-term happiness. It even ties in with your sense of self-fulfilment and life purpose.

If you’re about to make a career choice, these tips will help guide you in making the right decision:

6 tips for choosing a career

Choosing a career should not be a rushed or ill-considered process. On the contrary, it is a choice that should be made with as much information as possible. In addition, you should be patient in your search and constant in your self-discovery of your skills and interests.

1. Identify your strengths

You must know yourself and ask yourself what comes easily to me? When you reach the age of 16-17, you already have defined preferences and skills. Precisely these aspects can guide you towards which university career you could choose.

You can be guided by the subjects you liked most in secondary school. This could be a good indication of where you should go. We also recommend that you pay attention to qualities such as:

• Expressing yourself with ease
• Caring and kindness towards others
• Drawing skills
• Ability to debate ideas
• Group leadership
• Agility in manual work

These are some of the skills that may help you choose your career. If you can express yourself well, you could study communications and media. If debating is your thing, you could study law. If you have a penchant for caring for others and their health, consider medicine, nursing or veterinary medicine.

2. Envision yourself

Another option is to think about where you would like to be every day. Envisioning yourself in a work environment or doing certain tasks on a daily basis will help you decide what career path you should choose.

Some people see themselves in the future working in large companies and having an office all to themselves. If you’re one of them, consider management, human resources, or economics and finance. In these fields, it is common to have such a working lifestyle.

There are also people who can’t imagine being in an office every day, so other professions such as Interior Design, Graphic Design or Photography may be more suitable.

There are even young people who can only imagine working from the comfort of their homes. For them, more versatile university degrees such as Graphic Design, Computer Engineering or those related to digital marketing might be more appealing.

3. Balance between what you like and what you’re good at

A simple trick to figuring out which degree programme you should study is to think about what you like and what you are good at. It is important that both aspects meet, as it is no good if you like something but don’t have the skills to do it well.

There is always the possibility that you can take on the challenge of developing new skills, but let’s just say that this is usually the more complex path. If you think about what you already do well and like, you won’t have to work so hard during your career preparation.

4. Research the career

It is one thing to imagine what a university degree is all about, but it is quite another to imagine what it really means. Some young people make the wrong career choice because they don’t take the time to research what the career is about. Much less do they think about the content of the subjects they will be studying in those years.

So that this does not happen to you, take the time to research and evaluate various careers. This step is key to making the right career choice.

5. Talk to people in the profession

Don’t be swayed by third-party comments or other people’s assumptions about a career. Go directly to a person who is in the profession on a daily basis.

Talking to someone who already works in what you want to do is a great help in deciding whether a career is right for you. This conversation will help you get a clearer picture of the career and job opportunities.

6. Analyse the cost of the degree

Before choosing a university course, consider that some courses are more expensive than others. Even if you study at a public university where the costs are more affordable, some degree programmes involve a constant extra expense.

An example of this are courses that require students to buy materials on a regular basis. Dentistry and architecture are good examples. In both, you would have to set aside a part of your monthly budget for the purchase of work materials.

If you plan to save money, public universities will always be a good option, but if you decide to go private, find out how much the tuition fees are. This factor can also influence your choice of degree, as tuition costs vary from degree programme and from university to university.

For some people, choosing the right university course is a simple matter because they have always been clear about what they want to do for a living. For others, it is a more complicated issue that requires a lot of analysis and consideration. If you are one of the latter, we hope we have helped you with these tips.