Our adventurer had seen the world and explored multiple possibilities. Travelling by many different forms of transport and meeting an amazing range of people. Looking in his notebook he counted up, that he had identified 66 different careers!
That is 66 different possibilities of how a life can be lived! Yet, with so many different contexts and ways work can be done, whether part-time, full-time, flexi-hours or via portfolio careers (where you may have more than one job), these 66 could easily be expanded further to create a total of 80 different jobs.
Looking out the window as their plane flew back to London, it didn’t satisfy entirely. They wanted to know more and to discover more possibilities… they were 14 jobs short of their goal to discover 80 different jobs as they travelled around the world.
As the plane landed and they hailed a taxi to take them to the train station, which eventually would allow them to take the highspeed train back to the CXK Head Office in Ashford, they were struck by a thought.
It occurred to them that so many jobs can be achieved via an Apprenticeship or further study (in many different shapes and forms), such as University or distance learning. Often there was more than one way to reach a job goal for the majority of careers which were out there.
Checking their notebook, they saw that some of the most useful websites to explore what Apprenticeships were available included:
Yet, they hadn’t found the final 14 jobs…
In a world where new jobs seem to be invented each day, how can a “Careers Adventurer” keep up? How can each of us discover new possibilities, to discover the jobs which haven’t been invented yet?
Having a browse through the above websites, our adventurer let out an amused chuckle! They had found the Occupational Maps: https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/occupational-maps – suddenly they discovered a whole host of different jobs! If there was a job they had discovered which interested them, they could find a whole host of other similar jobs that could be achieved via an apprenticeship.
As the train pulled into the station at Ashford and they wandered back to Head Office, our adventurer clicked a few more buttons on their phone and found: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/explore-careers which had a whole range of easy-to-access job profiles.
On clicking through the information, they found that they could “Choose from over 800 career profiles to discover what a job involves” (https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk). Smiling, they thought… 800 is more than 80 but, works for me.
Thinking ahead, they thought… I better give one of the National Careers Service advisers a call and talk through some of my ideas from my travels! Their number was easily found (telephone: 0800 100 900 with the advisers available, 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 5pm Saturday and bank holidays). There was also the possibility of chatting online, emailing, or contacting them by post: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/contact-us
Just wait until the get together with friends at the weekend, they thought – there would be so much to talk about! On that note, they walked up the steps and into the CXK Head Office building. The sun was coming out and Spring was just around the corner!
Written by Chris Targett, Careers Adviser & CXK Area Manager, Careers Service, Kent & Medway
