You were in the cafeteria reviewing an assignment, when it hit you. You have new goals and ambitions to pursue. After you’re done, you plan to go out and take a second to look around and notice everything that you’ve been neglecting. That’s when you start to wonder if this marketing path you’re on is really what’s right for you.
Can you really see yourself doing this as a career? Are you even going to be good at it? As you double and triple check your assignment due in an hour, you start to wonder - is this marketing education that you’re pursuing – what you want or is it something you think you want? You’re taking stock of how things are going in school but more importantly how you feel about it. Suddenly, questions like. “Is this really where I want to be?” start floating around in your head. You’re not sure if something’s driving you, but at times it feels like you have more questions than answers.
One thing you can try is taking a career quiz assessment. You may have taken one before, but if not, there are various career quizzes available online to help you decide if the path, you’re on is right for you.
The Government of Canada’s Job Bank website has a page dedicated to career quizzes and tests to help you understand what motivates you. [1]
There are three quizzes to help you explore career possibilities:
There are also three personality tests to help you become more self-aware of what you’re looking for:
After you hand in your paper, you walk across the campus and into one of the empty classrooms to think. You stare out the window and wonder if you are where you are meant to be. Is this the right program or should you have taken something else instead? Can you really build a marketing career? Is this where you belong? You remind yourself that no one can tell you how you’re supposed to feel or if the career path you’re on will lead to success or failure.
As you walk through the halls and stop off at a coffee shop, you place your order, pay and wait. You think about the positive things your professors have said about your work. You think about the advice you’ve received from others telling you to push yourself, think outside the box, be the best you can be – stuff like that. That type of advice has given you the strength to move forward even though you’ve doubted whether you’re doing the right thing.
As you walk through the halls, you wonder if you’re pursuing marketing because you love it, or if it’s because you don’t know what else to do. You remind yourself that your career path isn’t about right or wrong. It’s just a path. As you stop and take a minute to look around at your surroundings, you think about the challenges you have already faced and overcome; like late study nights, and presentations you had to deliver. As you slip on your gloves and push the door open and step outside, the cold wind makes you want to turn around and go back in.
But you’re not going back in – even though it’s cold you’re going to meet a friend. You know going left instead of right doesn’t mean you made the wrong decision. It just means you made a choice. You’re comforted by the idea that where you end up is probably where you’re meant to be. You know if you are struggling with an assignment, you can reach out to a friend for help. If you are excelling but are lacking vision, you could ask your mentor who happens to be a professor you can trust. Walking down the street as your campus disappears behind you, you try to remember not to look at everything in right and wrong or black and white – because there are gray areas too. Ridley Scott, the film director once said, “Life isn't black and white. It's a million gray areas, don't you find?”
[1] “Career quizzes and tests” Jobbank, 01 January 2026, https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/career-planning/quizzes#careerQuiz
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"I love that marketing doesn't force me to pick a lane. I get to be the analytical one who figures out the strategy, but I also get to be the creative one who brings it to life. It's that constant back-and-forth between the two that makes the work actually feel like me." – Sakina, CMA Intern
One piece of advice that stuck with me was to stop waiting until I felt 'fully ready' before taking opportunities. A lot of growth comes from putting yourself in environments that challenge you, even if you're still learning. I've learned that experience builds confidence.
While scouring social media sites, job postings and your favourite companies searching for opportunities to get your foot in the door, you kept seeing one constant – required experience. That's something you just don't have. You're trying but you can't seem to get your foot in the door. Either you get no response or the response is that they've decided not to move forward with your application. That sucks.
