 Career Exploration You might be feeling nervous about picking a college program and that's normal. It's a big decision But it's also possible that you're nervous because you aren't quite ready to pick a program This video is going to discuss two theories of career development This will help to take some of the pressure off and disprove any misconceptions you might have Specifically the idea that you need to decide right now what you're gonna do for your entire life First off, let's break down Donald super's career development model There are five stages to this model, but the one we're gonna look at is exploration This stage usually occurs between the age of 15 and 24. So right around the time you're starting to really think about your future Uncertainty is extremely common at this point. So don't worry if you're feeling a bit directionless or questioning what lies ahead in The exploration stage. It's important to do just that Explore let your interests questions and curiosities guide you take a class Volunteer or shadow workers in different fields Maybe you'll love cooking building or working with kids, but you won't know until you try After you've had a chance to dabble in a few different areas, you'll become more self-aware Which is to say you'll get a stronger idea of what you want to do The second model that may help you relax a bit is John Comboldt's model of planned happenstance Despite what you see in media or expectations that you might feel are being placed on you Career paths are not a straight line These days relatively few people train for a job get that job and then work in that field until retirement In this sense uncertainty is actually a gift It allows you to be open and flexible embracing new opportunities as they arise The fact is you could do everything right and still find yourself switching careers due to unpredictable shifts in the labor market Like technological advances. We live in a changing world and managing career shifts is just a fact of professional life now This might sound scary, but when you don't have a set path, it's easy to say yes to exciting new opportunities as they come up Planned happenstance ultimately is about welcoming the unexpected so embrace your uncertainty and enjoy the exploration process You're not on anyone's timeline, but your own so really get a feel for different career options Figure out what you enjoy and take it from there