Why So Many Students Pick the Wrong Career—and 4 Practical Steps to Get It Right

Have you ever gotten halfway, or even most of the way, done a difficult task, only to realize that you’ve done it all wrong and you need to start over entirely?

It’s frustrating, maddening even, and most of the time these are tasks that only take us a few minutes or hours to complete. What if it was a task that took years, though?

That’s the situation many students have found themselves in. The lucky ones find they’ve chosen the wrong path before too many years pass, but it can really happen at any time.

While it’s great that we live in a world where students can choose their own path, and where they can decide halfway along that path that they’ve chosen the wrong one… it is a pretty ridiculous waste of time, energy, and brainpower that can be avoided.

Some estimates suggest that in certain career paths, 50% or more of students will change their majors along the way - and that means that we must be doing something wrong.

Obviously, we can’t be expected to get every career decision right the first time, for everyone, but we have to be able to do better than that.

So I took the time to speak to a few experts and I’ve compiled a list of 4 simple strategies that anyone can use, regardless of their area of study, to help narrow down their options and choose the right career, the first time.

All it takes is a little time, and some careful planning. See for yourself.

1. It’s All About You

When choosing a career, too many people get focused on all the wrong things - when they should start by focusing on themselves.

I mean, sure, it would be great to work on a cure for cancer, for example… but if you have no interest at all in medicine and your grades are much better in other areas, then maybe it’s not the best career choice for you.

The first thing that you should do isn’t to look at all your career options, but to take a deep look at yourself.

What are you interested in, what are your goals, and what are you best at?

It’s also important to consider what will make you happy, and that can include a lot of facets, from having a career that earns you respect, top wages, and a good work/life balance, to making sure you’re doing something you actually enjoy.

Lots of things may change as you learn and develop your skills, but you will always be a major component.

2. Consider Careers

Once you have some idea what you want, what areas you’re best in, and what you want out of a career, then it’s time to start looking at your options.

There are many ways to do this, from taking career quizzes to looking at extensive lists. The key step here, in my opinion, is to create an extensive but curated list of careers that you could see yourself in.

If there are any deal-breakers, such as some careers that take too much schooling, don’t offer high enough pay, or whatever they may be - cross those off the list, provisionally.

During this step, you want to build a list that’s not too wide, and not too narrow, and you’ll see why in the next step.

3. Learn It All, In Advance

Now that you have a list of “potential careers,” you’ll want to start narrowing it down by learning what you can about each of them.

This is where I usually recommend talking to industry experts, career counselors and mentors, because they’ll likely know more about each specific option, and how they might play out in the real world.

It’s a good idea to keep a list for each career of pros, cons, and considerations - though for many students, by the end of this step, they know which career they want the most.

If that includes you, that’s great, but we’re not done yet.

The next step is the same whether you’re sure you’ve already made the right choice or whether you’re still considering several options.

4. Plot Your Course

The last step is where you chart out your course from where you’re at now, to where you want to be - with ll the classes, courses, certifications, and whatnot in the middle.

Creating a fully planned strategy to get you from here to there is an essential step before actually making the final decision and activating your plan.

Sometimes there are extra steps, classes, or other requirements that you might have missed at first glance, and this is where you’ll find them.

Don’t be scared to get some expert help with your planning, because by definition, the experts should know more about your options and how to get there than you do.

A little extra knowledge at this stage can go a long way over the course of your career.

With the right plan, you can pilot your way to success in any career - just follow the path you plotted out with the experts.

If you took the time to examine all your options, yourself, and what it takes to get there, you likely made the right choice the very first time.

If you didn’t make the right choice the first time, that’s alright too - it happens more often than most of us would like to admit.

In the end, we tend to get the careers we planned for, not necessarily the ones that might be the best fit for us - so it’s worth taking the time, and planning it right from the start.

It’s the kind of investment that really pays off, over the course of your entire career.