As a child, Michelle did not know what she wanted to do when she grew up. She did not know what she was good at, nor what her passion was. She couldn’t see herself doing what she wanted for the rest of her life and felt lost about her career. 

Despite feeling lost, Michelle still grew, gained new experiences, and learned something new each day. And she kept an open mind. Through her journey in discovery, exploration, prototyping, and experimentation, she figured out what makes her happy and what doesn’t. It’s fine to not have a clear direction right now. 

Well, she’s not the only one. Just like Michelle, I was stuck, “What am I going to do with my life?” The non-linear pathway to career advancement has become more common. The most important thing is to have your own unique journey.

Here are three big ideas or takeaways from my own career exploration, prototyping, and self-discovery journey at the “Play and Ideate” workshop, organised by *SCAPE’s newly launched Career Studio.

Let’s go!

1) There isn’t a linear path to career success

Expectations vs Reality: Career Progression Path 

Image credit: Linkedin

What’s the first sign that you are lost? You have no idea what you are doing.

You start asking yourself questions: Am I being wilful for wanting a career to enjoy? What do I actually wake up for? 

To yourself, you wanna know what you’re doing. You want to be clear; you want security. 

You want confidence. 

You want to be able to pedal ever so confidently to the end of the straight career path. But you’re in that constant fear that others will notice your slightly tilted hat, your unbuttoned shirt, and the confused look in your eyes because you feel that it’s embarrassing to feel this way.

Here’s an annoying but scary truth:

No one is fully sure that what they are doing is always ‘right’.

Or at least, they don’t know till they actually explored, actually prototyped, actually experimented. Even then, think about it. How much of life can anyone be absolutely certain of?

So what am I telling you? It’s okay to be lost! It’s okay to not know what you are doing in your career path.

First thing first, career paths aren’t always straight lines. There are ups and downs and more often, we land in slums we don’t want to land in. I know that’s an uncomfortable thought. I know this because I had no idea what I was doing when I changed careers. In fact, most of us are stumbling around in the dark looking for fulfilling work that pays the bill.

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Explore and self-discover your dream career. It does take time for exploration and self-discovery to find your desired career path. What I felt was the most important thing in my own career discovery was the fact that I learned new skills and tools along the way, and that I understood the steps and decisions I made. 

I might still be lost…

Just not so~o~o lost.

2) Dream big and go for it 

Career aspirations exploration done up by the workshop’s participant

Image credit: My Working Title

Think Oprah Winfrey, but bigger. Or honestly, anyone you admire – SHINee Taemin, anyone?

Big – and I mean, real big! Think big – imagine yourself on the front page news headline! “Defying the norms to create possibilities – Michelle inspires others to live well” will probably be something Michelle expected him to be known for. I have other aspirations – something along the lines of “Best writer wins Noble Prize”…

By exploring what you’re passionate about and trying out different career paths, you’re putting your dreams into motion. Then it’s a clue to know what career paths you can take. Let your imagination and thoughts run wild to imagine what career path you want to pursue. You can expect to be exposed to the career discovery and prototyping process.

Here’s the catch – 

Even if you had a bad start, don’t deem that you can’t succeed, newsflash, we are here to help you – read on to find how *SCAPE comes into play. The moral of the story: don’t make assumptions early, you never know what you can achieve in the end. (Just look at Steve Jobs)

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3) Have a safe place to work on your dreams

Group photo taken during the Play & Ideate Workshop

Image credit: MatcHub.co

“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.”- Chris Grosser

Perhaps you’ve realized that the career path you’re on won’t lead you to fulfilment. Come on, let’s be real – it’s embarrassing and lonely to feel lost in an area of your life that is so important, especially when in most other areas, you’re a rock star.

But don’t worry.

As we embark on our career discovery journey, we’re never alone; we always have access to help, initiatives to connect you with industry professionals, and even testbeds for your wild ideas.

Enter *SCAPE and *SCAPE Career Studio. *SCAPE offers initiatives and programmes for creative arts, media, and entrepreneurship. The 4Ps of *SCAPE (Place, Promotion, People, Programmes) are pretty important! *SCAPE can come in where they can offer a Place to incubate your ideas, People to connect with, Programmes to help you discover yourself, Promotion of your ideas and work! *SCAPE Career Studio, on the other hand, has well-curated programmes to be your beacon, to be your will-o-wisps – you no longer have to travel through the bogs alone.

Need a mentor? *SCAPE has them too. Need a sandbox for your creative ideas? Check in with *SCAPE. Programmes such as Creative Fellowship programme and Meet the Masters sharing are definitely something worth checking out.

If you have an interest or passion you are eager to pursue, what should you do next? Sign up for *SCAPE Career Studio’s upcoming programmes in 2021 and 2022! Sign up here: https://www.scape.sg/ec/scapecareerstudio/ 

Are you feeling a little more inspired? If you need more career tips, follow @myworkingtitlesg and @matchub.co on both Instagram and LinkedIn. Well, if you need help building your portfolio, feel free to drop by t.me/@matchubbot for some prompts.

About *SCAPE Career Studio:

*SCAPE Career Studio is an initiative under *SCAPE where it encourages youth to discover their interests and explore options. Through this initiative, youth can move from feeling stressed, uncertain and unclear to feeling more confident, clear, and confident for what’s ahead.