It’s a common misconception that in order to get the career of your dreams, you have to go to university. Yes, graduates do have a much easier time of getting their foot in the door at a lot of big corporations. However, as university places become more and more accessible, the job market is gradually becoming oversaturated with graduates, and degrees are beginning to lose their value. If you didn’t get the grades you wanted, or you’re just sick of full-time education, there are many alternatives to pursuing the career of your dreams. Here are just a few of the options you may want to consider.
First of all, starting your own freelance business. If I was writing this post ten or twenty years ago, then this item probably wouldn’t have appeared on the list. However, things have changed, and in 2016 becoming a self-employed freelancer is easier than ever before. The internet is more accessible than it’s ever been, and more and more start-ups are being run from several bedrooms by a single remote CEO. It’s also become much more common for large, well-established businesses to outsource certain pieces of work to freelancers. In the world of freelancing, qualifications don’t count for much. The only thing that really matters is what you can actually do! Perhaps you’ve always loved Photoshop, and can spend hours working on all kinds of random graphics. Maybe, like me, you’ve got a knack for stringing words together, telling a story and capturing people’s imaginations. You might be a fantastic voice actor with no practical outlet, a musician, a photographer, or almost anything else creative. Whatever your skill, build a portfolio and start reaching out to prospective clients. You’ll be working a lot and earning peanuts to begin with. However, you will get to work in your pyjamas!
Perhaps after finishing sixth form, your issue isn’t pursuing your dream career, but deciding just what that is. Some people know exactly what they want to do from childhood, and it’s this that carries them through college and into a university. Others, like you, may have absolutely no clue what they want to do by the end of their sixth-form education. If this is the case, then getting some work experience may be the best move you can make. Look for some companies which you find interesting, and call them up to ask about the possibility of work experience or internships. Most of these placements will only last a couple of weeks and be totally unpaid. To top it off, they’re also notoriously hard to get. However, getting some experience of working life can give you a much clearer perspective of where you want your career to go. You may fall in love with the job you’re given and start bombing applications for similar roles. You may hate it so much that you want to distance yourself from that job or industry as much as possible! Regardless of how you find the experience, you’ll have something good to put on your CV by the end of it.
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Perhaps you like the idea of working in a role that interests you, but you’re not such a big fan of not getting paid. Don’t worry, you’re certainly not alone in this! One of the most popular alternatives to going to university is going in for an apprenticeship. This gives you valuable work experience, enables you to earn some money, and at the end of it you’ll have a very sought-after qualification to add to your CV. A lot of people falsely believe that all apprenticeships are tied to some practical, hands-on career, such as plumbing or mechanics. This may have been true a few decades ago. However, there are now far more apprenticeships than there once were, and hundreds of exciting careers they can lead into. From engineering to accountancy to veterinary nursing, you’re almost certain to find some kind of apprenticeship that suits your hopes and dreams. Of course, if you’re pursuing a specific job title, you may not be able to find an apprenticeship that will give you a feasible route towards it. However, there are still various forms of education that keep you progressing towards your dream career, and out of the lecture halls! Go looking for some online courses for careers. You might be surprised by what you discover!
If none of these options are really jumping out at you straight after college, then you may want to consider taking a volunteering position for a while. Whether you do it in the UK or the furthest-flung corners of the world, volunteering is an incredibly worthwhile way to spend your time, and gain experiences that will help you in the world of work. Do a little research, and you’ll find countless volunteering opportunities which will look fantastic on a CV. If you’re looking for adventure but want to do something more worthwhile than a gap year, you can stay in a third-world country and help build a school. If you want something closer to home, you can probably volunteer in a charity shop, work for the national trust, RSPB or some other organisation you feel passionate about. Obviously, you won’t be paid except for your expenses, and you’ll have to fit the hours you put in around your various other responsibilities. However, if you make the right contacts, you could end up starting a career working for a cause that you really believe in; something a lot of professionals dream of, but never pursue. At the very least, you’ll get some decent experience under your belt, and show future employers that you’re not afraid of hard work. Charities and community projects are almost always in need of volunteers, so go ahead and start looking!
If you felt that not going to university meant the end of your career, I hope this post has given you a clearer picture of how things are. Getting into university is just one way to chase that dream career, not the way.
Let us know if you are considering an alternative way to your career. How are you finding it?
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