Taking the First Steps to Your Future: A Guide for Students

So, you’re at that scary point in your life when your future looms ahead of you. You’ve been told that your decisions now can affect the rest of your life, when not so long ago, the most important choice you made was which flavor of ice cream to eat.

First, some good news. While your decision now is important, you don’t have to continue on the same path for the rest of your life. In fact, some of you reading this article might have a few years on the typical student, having decided later on to turn around and change the course of their career.

Whichever your situation, there are some potential career options ahead that may prove rewarding, both financially and emotionally.

Obviously, each person is very different and will suit different careers. So consider your strengths and weaknesses and decide from there what calls to you

The Potential in the Healthcare Industry

The healthcare industry isn’t going away for a while, that’s for certain. In fact, it’s likely on the rise as people are living longer each year, requiring more care. Also, as the worldwide population increases at a rate of around 1.05% per year, more and more future patients are being born.

Becoming a doctor is a big goal for many students, but it’s such a competitive field. You will have to enter years of training before being qualified, will have to work torturous hours in stressful situations, and even then you likely won’t be earning the massive amounts of money that are possible with other careers. However, there’s a reason people want to become doctors.

Some people have that urge to help people, and becoming a doctor is a great way to do so. Others like the prestige associated with doctoring, while some are simply fascinated by the medical side of things.

But the medical field has more potential than general doctors. Many students choose to specialize, eventually finding job opportunities in neurology and other fields. Still, others choose to take different paths. Nurses, for example, are still highly qualified and very necessary health practitioners, but becoming a nurse is far more attainable for most people.

There are also potential careers to be found outside of patient interaction if that’s not something that you like the idea of. Many of the complex equipment required to diagnose and treat patients have to be run and maintained by specialist technicians. The medical field is also constantly undergoing research, which requires researchers and laboratory technicians to continue.

An offshoot of the medical field is that of pharmacology, which carries both the potential to help millions of people and to earn money. This industry alone needs researchers, medical advisers, and all the typical industry specialists that you’d expect to find in most businesses.

Even if your talents lean towards careers relating to law or marketing, know that the healthcare industry holds opportunities for most future workers.

Curious to learn more about finding the right career path and stepping into the working world? Check out this engaging and resounding podcast on how you can leverage LinkedIn while on a job-hunting: