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I haven't quite figured out what my interests are. Advice needed.

I have been looking at a wide range of possible careers, but nothing interests me. What would be the best way to develop my interest? Through more research or through first hand experience? #college #career #jobs #college-advice

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Veli’s Answer

I would recommend that you you make a bucket list of things you enjoy doing at school and outside of school. As an example, if you love to build intricate lego sets then you might be interested in becoming a designer engineer. There are many different types of design engineers, but your hobby or current interests can help you figure out what careers you can explore. Once you have your bucket list of things you love to do, post again and I bet other professionals will help provide you with even more ideas.


Once you've gotten advice on what careers align with your bucket list of interests, then you should explore what types of hands on experience is available or you can create it yourself.


I hope this helps!
Thank you for the response. I will start making this bucket list right away! – Ignacio F.
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This really helps narrow things down when you don't know what to do, thank you – Teal K.
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Thanks for the help! – Andrea H.
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Ryan’s Answer

This can be a hard decision for you, but I would advise looking more closely at some of the careers that might interest you, even if just slightly. This may include reaching out to professionals in the industry to find out more about what their daily lives look like, what some of the other opportunities in the field are, and what possible future careers might look like as technology and society evolve.


Also by talking to more people, you may come across careers that you haven't heard of before. I spoke with a few people in high school, but I had no idea all of the different varieties "engineering" offered until I was in college. I've learned even more about them as I've progressed in my professional life, and that's just in one field.


Good luck in your search.
Thank you for the in depth advice. I definitely want to explore all the different options before I completely set my mind on one. In terms of looking more closely, do you recommend online research or more hands-on experience? Any follow-up response would be appreciated but your initial advice definitely helped a lot. – Ignacio F.
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I recommend both. Online can be great because you get to learn about a lot of different fields and careers very quickly from a variety of sources. But hands-on and meeting with people, and even working as an intern can allow you to get the real feel of how that industry operates. Sometimes online forums just don't discuss something that you might feel is really important. – Ryan Bonaparte
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Thank you so much for your responses. I greatly appreciate it. – Ignacio F.
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Thank you for the info – Andrea H.
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Alicia’s Answer

I think this is something that people struggle with throughout their life!


I find that the things I am interested in are often the things I like doing the most, or things I day dream about or things I wish I could be doing (instead of whatever I'm doing right now). Often, whatever you do in your spare time outside of school or work tends to be where your interests are aligned!
I'll keep that in mind now that I'm choosing a major, but it still seems difficult choosing something that will define me for the rest of my life. But I still appreciate your response and will think about my interests outside of school when time comes to decide. – Ignacio F.
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Hi Ignacio - My best advice is that you can change your career throughout your life, many times! I changed my major in college three times, and have since changed my professional career after starting in marketing 5 years ago. My passions and interests changed, and I allowed my career to follow. Your career doesn't have to be limited to one path, in my opinion. Be open to multiple paths and know that if you have to change later down the road, doing so is anything BUT failure. It's growth! – Alicia Curley
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Thank you so much or the insight! I guess I was just unsure about what I would go into college interested to and tried to avoid changing, but hearing stories from people that did and are now on their own path definitely relieves me. Thanks again. – Ignacio F.
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Thanks for the info! – Andrea H.
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Thank for the advice. It really helps take some of the weight off – Teal K.
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Sean’s Answer

I've been in the workforce for about a decade and I'm still figuring out what I'm interested in. The best thing I think is to talk to people who actually do those things, and actually start to do certain things to get a feel. For a few positions I've been in, I likely would not have applied or figured out I actually liked it had I just looked at the description on paper. Instead a lot of times it is just a leap of faith.
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Richard’s Answer

Try to get first hand experience. If you are already in college then try to get internships. If you haven't started college then get some work experience first and figure out what you want to do before picking an undergraduate major.
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Estelle’s Answer

I recommend shadowing different people at their work place. You can learn so much about an occupation this way. Also, consider whether you want to interact with people regularly (like in real estate or banking) or work in a quiet office (engineering for example.)
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Tammy’s Answer

What do you do in your free time? Do you like working individually or be in a team? Make a list of what you enjoy and then a list of what you don't. Ask family or friends where they see your strengths and then go from there.
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