As an LSE student you might be familiar with hearing about the career plans of your friends and course-mates, who seem to know what they want to do following their degree. They might even have a job lined up for after graduation and their next three years planned out. So if you don’t you might be thinking: How will you ever get a job? And when will you start paying your university fees back?!

Breathe – you’re not on your own! In fact, in Michaelmas Term 2016 and Lent Term 2017, a fairly large percentage of our career appointments were booked by students who were unsure of what to do. Often the students seen in these appointments express peer pressure as being a catalyst for wanting to make a career plan, alongside a number of other reasons. Sometimes this pressure results in them 1) making rushed applications to jobs that ‘seem ok’, 2) becoming nervous and panicked about their perceived lack of direction, or 3) citing a job their friends are doing as their own preference without fully understanding what it involves.

It’s ok to not know what you want to do

How you react to this statement will depend on your personality type. If you’re a planner or have perhaps always known your next step, this outlook might make you feel uncomfortable (and possibly a little irritated!).

However, not knowing what you want to do can often lead to something us careers consultants refer to as ‘happenstance’. Happenstance is a theory by renowned careers theorist Krumboltz (2009) who explains it, in its simplest form, as the ability to recognise and capitalise on the opportunities which arise from various life and work-related situations. In reality this might be in the form of:

• keeping your options open and applying to any interesting opportunities that are advertised or offered to you
• road testing career ideas through paid work experience or volunteering
• making contacts and speaking to people (building your network helps to increase the number of people you know and, in turn, the chance of unplanned opportunities occurring via them)
• being in the right place at the right time

Your career path

The first job you have out of university is unlikely to define you and your future career (stay with me on this one, as I’m sure you’re sick of hearing this!).

The traditional notion of a career for life is outdated; the Office for National Statistics (2003) found that in 2001 the average length in a job was four years. This relatively short employment average could indicate a level of happenstance in the UK labour market – it could be a result of employees becoming more self-aware, so seeking opportunities elsewhere. Or perhaps it is down to increased external opportunities or a number of other factors, which don’t fit quite as neatly into the topic of this blog!

In fact, in the 21st Century, it is estimated the average worker will make 5-7 career changes over their working lifetime and this is likely to increase due to the changing priorities of the millennial workforce. So, do any of us really have a clue what we want to do?! You’re likely to have several people on the postgraduate courses in your department who are making a career transition and using their studies as a way to do this. Ask them about their career journey – I am positive it will be varied, and anything but linear or predictable!

How we can help

Whilst you might be happy to follow happenstance, or be someone who moves jobs to find what you seek, it’s always worth speaking with one of the careers consultants here at LSE Careers. We’ll listen to your career thoughts and concerns and talk to you about what’s right for you, in terms of how targeted you would or would not like your next move to be, and help you formulate some next steps. Book in to speak to one of us on CareerHub.

Remember, it’s ok to not know what you want to do yet!