How to Make a Careers Decision

It's worth remembering that sometimes the decision you face includes the option not to decide [yet].

If you have used the suggestions in our advice on Generating Career Ideas and have been researching your options, it is quite possible that you will still have a number of career directions that interest you . For example, you might have narrowed your focus to three different sectors, such as Charities, Public Sector and/or Arts Management. At this point you might choose to make applications in all three sectors and use the application and interviewing process to gather more information on the role(s), organisation(s) and their working cultures to help make a decision in the future.

Applying to a variety of jobs and reaching across a portfolio of options offers a few other benefits.

• Some sectors may prove more competitive to get into, so spreading 12 or 15 applications across 3 different sectors rather than all in a single sector may increase your ultimate chance of success.
• Similarly, if you target a single sector you might segment that sector further and apply to a variety of firms (large, medium and small; high kudos and less visible; specialist, niche or new players; different locations) to increase you chance of success.
• It is also likely that the quality of your applications will improve as you try out different approaches. Send out a few early applications to try-out your ideas and learn what does and what does not work for you. If your early applications are not successful you may want to pause to review, and perhaps set up a meeting with a careers adviser.

If you adopt a portfolio approach and are applying across a number of sectors, it is important to ensure that you do enough research into each sector so that you can show a sufficient depth of knowledge and focus in each individual application. For some people, it can be difficult to sustain 3 or more different 'core messages' at the same time, so it may be a good idea to focus on one sector for a week or so and then focus on a different sector. This should help you develop and demonstrate the right degree of focus and intensity for each sector and show genuine enthusiasm for each company in your applications.

Another risk of being too decisive - of narrowing your focus early or deciding that there is only one possible career choice for you - is that the reality may not live up to your [high] expectations. Even a very well researched career plan will have information gaps and you cannot plan for a 'personality clash' or 'the bad boss', which can sour even the best opportunity. Work experience with the firm/team you want to join is probably the best way to minimise this specific risk, however, spreading your research and applications across more than one field allows you to keep open more options. One result from this is that it you should find it easier to pivot to an alternative course of action if your main idea does not work out or turns out to be a bad match for you after all.

As an additional thought, bear in mind the considerable evidence from academic studies that 'being open to the possibility of chance' and 'the process of allowing intuition to guide our choices' are often a significant factor in successful career patterns. If you talk to a variety of people who are happy at work you will quite often hear them say that they "fell into it by accident". Many of these happy accidents, however, are probably a result of people creating their own 'luck':

• by going through life exploring options and the possibilities;
• of travelling with their head up, and their eyes and ears open; and
• of being open and noticing when something catches their interest, and then acknowledging and responding positively to that insight.

This element of chance or luck in how people find fulfilling work is embedded in ideas such as "the chaos theory of careers" and "the planned happenstance theory".

This method can be helpful when someone suspects that they are facing competing emotional pressures but have not analysed those pressures systematically.

1. Write one of your options in the centre of blank page.
2. On the left-hand side, write in all of the positive, driving forces behind choosing this option.
3. On the right-hand side, note all the negative, restraining forces that work against choosing this option.
4. From each driving force and each restraining force, draw arrows pointing to the option, using the size and 'weight' of the arrow to suggest how strong each force is. Use your intuition when creating your arrows. 
5. Stand back and assess the diagram. Do the driving forces outweigh the restraining forces overall? Is there one driving or restraining force that dominates the decision? Can you influence any of the pressures on you? If so, which ones and how?
6. Create similar diagrams for each option.
7. Compare the diagrams for each option relative to the others to steer your choice.
8. Make your decision, and check if the outcome feels right. If not, then re-evaluate your analysis.

This model uses the acronym 'decides' to signpost a seven-step process, and will appeal to those wanting a clear process to work through.

The acronym

• D - define the problem (what problem are you trying to solve?)
• E - establish a plan of action (how are you going to tackle your dilemma?)
• C - clarify underlying values and interests (what factors underpin your decision?)
• I - identify the key alternatives that you are deciding between (what are your options?)
• D - discover the probable outcome of each alternative (what would be the result of taking each option?)
• E - eliminate alternatives systematically (look at outcome against underlying values and interests, and eliminate)
• S - start action (get applying!)

Check the outcome against what your heart is telling you, and explore further if doubts remain.

An example

Define problem

Not sure whether to apply for jobs in general management or whether to apply to become a Human Resources (Personnel) trainee. Interested in HR, but not sure if trying out some other management functions for a while before specialising would be a good idea.

Establish plan of action

I will tackle the problem by using the D.E.C.I.D.E.S model - and then talk about it with someone in HR via the Oxford Alumni Community and my parents.

Clarify underlying values and interests

My main interest is in working in an environment where I can learn about how people think and behave. I'm interested in strategic level work, and in particular how you can get people to learn and develop. I am also interested in how businesses run more generally. I like the idea of managing people and helping others manage people.

Identify key alternatives

Either a general management position with opportunity to rotate around different management functions or applying for HR positions straight away. Alternatively, studying for a human relations postgraduate diploma or the professional personnel exams offered through the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development).

Discover probable outcome of each

• General management - Chance to look at different management functions, gain a good, all-round business understanding in my first year, possibly get a management qualification like the diploma in management studies. Includes the chance to better understand the HR function in business and make sure it is the area I want to focus on, and then move into HR after one or two years.
• HR management - Chance to get an in-depth understanding of HR management and see different sections within this function, get ahead in this function a bit quicker, and start building up expertise. May include support to get my CIPD qualifications or a relevant Diploma/Masters. May provide options to move into other areas across the organisation a bit later on in my career.
• Postgraduate study - Make my applications more competitive in terms of getting into HR management or general management, possibly specialising too soon if HR not opted for afterwards. Give me more time to apply for jobs, but experience is often looked for as well.

Eliminate alternatives systematically

Using your underlying values and interests identified earlier, estimate how well each option meets them. Eliminate those which meet them less well.

Start action

Move on to the 'action' stage. Deepen your research into companies and roles, analyse job descriptions and talk with people in these roles. Set up an early discussion with a Careers Adviser for impartial in-put and to explore which questions to ask, how to network effectively with alumni and ideas on how/where to develop appropriate skills.

This can be a logical approach to making decisions, and will appeal to those comfortable with numbers and adopting quantitative approaches to support their thinking and analysis.

You start by creating a list of pros (and perhaps cons). You then apply a weighting system to reflect the relative importance of each factor in the mix. This encourages you to consider what the most important factors are, and reduces the risk that too much emphasis is given to less important factors.

1. Set up a table with your options on one axis and all the relevant decision-making factors on a second axis.
2. Weight each factor on how important it is to your decision: e.g. 3x - important, 2x - quite important, 1x - less important.
3. Score each option according to how well it fulfils each of the decision-making factors. You can choose your own scale, and is it good to use the full scale when scoring options. A scale with an even number of options can reduce the tendency to cluster scores around the middle. For example, 3= fully meets requirement; 2= mostly meets requirement; 1= partially meets requirement; 0= does not meet requirements.
4. Multiply out all the factors for each of the options, and add these products to make a total score for each option.
5. Rank your options using the total scores.
6. Check your final result against your intuition - does the option suggested feel right? If not, why not? 

See a worked example (with options scored 0, 1 or 2 only) in our Guide to Careers.

If you are not comfortable with outcome, or your instinct suggests this might not be the right result, you might consider revising or re-calibrating the grid, perhaps adding new factors or adjusting the weighting system. Alternatively, you may want to use a different method to gain another perspective which may help you understand what you are feeling unsure about or which will balance your judgement.

This approach can work very well for people who like to follow their intuition and feelings about an option, and/or who are very visual thinkers. It can take time and may be quite difficult to run through on your own, and you will need to immerse yourself in the process for it to be effective. For those who are able to create a complex visualisation of the option(s) they are considering, it can create a powerful and instinctive insight or reaction to move towards or away from that particular option.

Example

Dilemma

Should I sign up for a Chartered Accountancy training contract with a large firm?

Visualisation

Imagine you have accepted the job. For example, that you are already employed by the firm. In the case that follows, we outline what this might mean for someone participating in an accountancy/audit process for a large IT consultancy organisation.

• Visualise yourself and the surroundings:  Where are you - in an office with others or on your own? What you are wearing - imagine how you feel be dressed in these clothes? What equipment are you using - a lap-top?
• Who are you working with, or are you working alone? What are the other people like? Are they the same age as you? Are they older, younger?
• What is the actual work that are you doing? Are you talking to your team, and/or a client? Is it a formal 'business meeting' or something more relaxed or spontaneous? Are you gathering financial information about the company, or analysing date? 
• How do you feel - excited, interested, bored? What do the documents in front of you look like? How are your colleagues talking to you?
• What are you planning to so later - a night out or are you working late? Do you have to travel a long way home, or are you working close to where you live?

Spend some time developing a specific visual image of yourself in the job. Think very carefully afterwards about the picture you have built up. Is it based on firm facts or preconceptions about the role? You may need to check out the details with someone in the role at the moment. How did you feel? If you felt negative about the whole experience, try to pinpoint the source of the negativity. Is it just nerves about starting work, or is there a characteristic of the work that worries you? Talk this over with someone, such as a Careers Adviser, who can help you think objectively about these anxieties.

There are a range of potential barriers that may prevent you from reaching a career decision.

First and foremost, your capacity to make a good decision will be directly affected by the quality of information that you are working with. If you are struggling to make a well-balanced or well-consider decisions using any of the methods outlined it is possible that you do not yet have enough information about your options and more research may be desirable.

The overarching model promoted by the Careers Service is that you need to bring together both self-awareness about who you are and good research into the job-market.

• Our guidance on Generating Career Ideas  can help you work through these stages.
• Career Weaver, our web-based app, was created to provide a language and variety of short exercises to support and direct effective reflection about you work-related skills and strengths, values, work preferences, and motivations. Access this with your SSO or (for alumni) ask for an account through CareerConnect.
• Our Sector and Occupations briefings provide accessible information on some 50 different fields of work and are a rich source of information to help kick-start your job-market research.
• For insights into more specific functions or roles, use the 400+ individual job profiles you can find on graduate careers websites like Prospects and TargetJobs.  

Remember that the Oxford Careers Service offers alumni access throughout their working lives from the day of matriculation, so we are available to you whenever you choose to reach out or want to book an advice appointment.

Below are some of the more common questions we are asked - see if any of them seem familiar to you at this point.

Common problems

'Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)' and even 'What if I'm not 100% sure'?

Making a decision to take a particularly role or direction may well prevent you for pursuing other ideas or interests for a particular period: that is the nature of decision-making. However, no decision is for ever, and it is possible to change direction if a particular choice stops working for you: most Oxford graduates switch careers a number of times, and a surprisingly high number of all graduates change jobs in the first two or three years after graduation. Moreover, few jobs are so entirely all-consuming that there is no time to pursue other interests as hobbies, as second-jobs or a side hustle, or through voluntary or community activities, so it may well be possible to take the first-choice option AND continue to explore other interests, but try not to over-extend yourself and risk burn-out.

To some degree any decision requires a leap of faith based on what seems to be the right choice at the time. It is difficult to be 'certain' unless you have already worked for the company, and you can only expect to have all the information you would like to be '100% sure' once you have started a job, and perhaps only after you have been there for a year or more. 

Talk to a Careers Adviser for an impartial reaction to your thinking. This can help you feel more secure that you have done all you can to make a good choice or highlight additional points to consider.

What if I feel nervous about starting work?

Starting something new will often carry with it a mix of anxiety and excitement: think back to how you felt as you started at Oxford and you may recognise this feeling.  Remind yourself that you made the best choice you could at the time, based on the information (and options) available to you. Try to move forward in a positive frame of mind to embrace the challenges and opportunities ahead of you.

What if I find that I don't like the work or the organisation I have joined after starting work?

Sometimes things do not work out, but if you find that you are in a job that you don't like it is OK to choose to stop, and to change direction: you probably only have to give one month's notice to leave.

Many graduates change jobs within two or three years of graduating. People continue to get on to graduate schemes throughout their twenties and there are many more alternative opportunities you can explore that do not carry a 'graduate' label.

Aim to stay positive. It may be helpful to understand that the quality of a decision is separate from the quality of the outcome, especially if you had to decide with only limited information. 

What if I feel applying for / taking this job is a bit risky?

If you are unsure then you probably need to do more research, which can help you make the decision or create a stronger application. If you can, try to gain relevant work experience or work shadowing to experience the environment directly, or talk with more people who know the work or the company. If you are not sure how to do this, talk to a Careers Adviser and see our work experience pages for more advice.

I don't feel confident enough to apply for / take on the job

Academic study does not necessarily prepare you to do a particular job and in most sectors you will be learning on the job. If you have been offered the job, be reassured that the organisation believes that you have what it takes and that you will learn and grow into the role. It is likely that many others have trodden the path you are on, and have survived and thrived.

Spend some time listing your positive qualities and abilities. Reflect on your successes and strengths, and remember how you have built these up - including the trips and stumbles on the way that will have been part of the learning journey. Acknowledge any negative feelings you have and consciously put them to one side as you start.

There are few first jobs which expect you to hit the ground running but if you have serious doubts, then it is perhaps worth talking to someone in the job at the moment. Ask about their experiences when they started and the support offered by the organisation. Or speak to a Careers Adviser about how you feel; they can help you think it through and perhaps give you a well-deserved boost in confidence.

But if I take this job, will my whole career go wrong?

No. Nothing in life is so dramatic. You have a choice over whether to manage your career actively or to be a passenger - and if you know a job is not right for you once you have started, it is best to act quickly. Changing career in your twenties is relatively easy, and it continues to be possible later in life. Many people have a number of quite different careers in their lifetime - including every one of your Oxford University Careers Advisers.

Fiona Bruce graduated from Oxford with a degree in Modern Languages, she did a year in Management Consultancy that she did not like, then a couple of years in Advertising which she liked more. She then met the producer of current events TV programme, Panorama, at a wedding and convinced him to allow her to be a researcher on the programme at the BBC. A few years later she was the most famous newsreader in the country, and now she is one of the top presenters on art history TV programs. To our knowledge she has never studied media, journalism or art history academically, so her academic study and first job have had almost no influence on her impressive career.

Also, remember that the Oxford Careers Service offers you support throughout your working life.  Whilst the vast majority of alumni never need to work with us, those that do can get the advice and support they need to make the changes they want.

Will I be letting my parents down if I apply for / take this job?

It is you that is taking the job, and it is you that must live with and experience that choice each and every day. Making a choice based on someone else's expectations, hopes or aspirations instead of your own can be hard work, and can become a heavy burden.

It is possible that the best choice or outcome for you may conflict with the wishes of your parents, or cause tension with your partner/significant other where it challenges or conflicts with their aspirations or goals. You will need to work through these challenges.

If you need to talk to someone independent about it, and want some advice about actions you can take to make those closest to you feel better about your choice, then book in for a careers discussion.

Do I know enough about the job and what I want?

Most people find it difficult to make a career choice, and it is made more difficult when they do not have:

• enough self-knowledge, so they need to gain a clearer understanding of their career goals and drivers; and/or
• enough information on the job or target organisation, which will require more and better research.

Use desk-based research as the foundation for your research rather than the endpoint. Researching companies and people using the internet and other media is now usually straightforward. However, it is essential to look for information and insights beyond the carefully curated marketing found on corporate webpages. The best source of information will come from gaining relevant work experience, or work shadowing. Talking with people working in the jobs and organisations that you are interested in can help you uncover details that answer your most important questions.

I feel generally confused - how can I work out what to do?

Start by reviewing our guidance on Developing Career Ideas. This will provide information, ideas and suggestions for how to move forwards.

For many people, just sitting down and talking things through with someone impartial is enough to bring some clarity and kick-start their thinking. Try friends and family, your tutor or a Careers Adviser.