“Your profession is not what brings home your weekly paycheck, your profession is what you're put here on earth to do, with such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling.”
Career, Vocational and Personal Development Coaching
(Vincent van Gogh)
A'LEVEL OR STUDY CHOICES
As young people approach the end of their schooling, they are faced with many choices and these can determine the next 5-10 years of their lives, possibly longer. Choosing the right course or career is one of the most important decisions anyone makes but it’s also one the most difficult.
A young person may
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be bewildered by the vast array of study or careers information available
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feel uncertain about which course of study or career would suit best
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feel bombarded by well-meaning suggestions from friends and family
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be confused by the results of tests and questionnaires
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struggle to choose the right course of study
Many young people are aware of the importance of these choices and can find them overwhelming. They want to choose a path that they will find fulfilling and right for them, and despite support from school and home, want to have a sense of ownership – that these choices are not determined or influenced by others but are truly theirs.
Young people will react to this period in their lives in a variety of ways: some will become stressed and anxious (and show symptoms of this), other may follow the advice of peers or authority figures rather than feel they can trust their own sense of what is right; some will rebel against the system and opt out; others may become lethargic, apparently lazy or de-motivated as a coping mechanism for lacking any inner sense of purpose or direction. Those who find a healthy and happy route through this maze of choices thrive, but they tend to be the minority.
The process supports people in this journey of change, helping them to take a cool, clear look at themselves, enabling them to move forward in confidence, better equipped to make choices that really work for them.