Step 2: Research your career options
Assessing yourself should give you a good idea of what careers are not suitable for you. Using your list of interests, skills and the requirements that your future career must meet, you can begin to identify different occupations and sectors that might interest you.
Researching different occupations
There are many resources available to help you research different occupations. These include:
- directories available in the career centres on all of our sites
- our A-Z directory of occupations and industries
- our programme of careers fairs and careers events
- Prospects: Types of jobs (this includes regularly updated labour market information and guidance on terms and conditions, including starting salaries.)
Options with your subject
Use your qualification as a starting point to generate a list of possible careers that you can then evaluate. Look at what other graduates do or use Prospects: Options with your subject.
Researching employer types
Identifying the type of organisation or sector you would like to work in can help you to focus your job search and your skills development. Certain types of organisations will match your values and your lifestyle requirements better than others. For example; if international travel and high earning potential is important to you then working for a multinational company in the private sector could be a better choice.
You can start your research by looking at our section on types of employer.
Research by region
If it is important to you to stay in a specific area then it can be helpful to see what industries or types of businesses operate in that region. You can often find this information through local council and chamber of commerce websites or by speaking to local careers services or JobcentrePlus offices.
See our information on working in Sussex and the south-east.
Other options
Are you keen to take a year off and work or volunteer overseas? Do you want to study further rather than start working? These are all options to consider. However, researching your future career options can help you to make decisions about what type of volunteering to do, or what and where to study.
Step 3: Now that you have some ideas for your future career, the next step is making a decision.