Question everything
It's Sunday night. You're sitting at your computer, staring at a flashing cursor, wondering if you're on the right path and where you're meant to be. You start scrolling through LinkedIn, Glassdoor and Indeed. That's when it hits you: does this path lead where you want to go? Are you even on the right path? Suddenly, you're asking questions you thought you'd already answered:
And then you go even deeper. Those questions from practice interviews, the ones you used to brush off, suddenly start to resonate:
Those questions might not have mattered before. But now they do, because you're thinking beyond simply landing a role; you're thinking about your future, who you want to be and whether the roles you're applying for will help you get there. These questions might feel existential, but they are essential.
From the people you call friends to the colleagues you work with, a lot can change in five years. The economy will shift, new technologies will reshape the profession, and your ambitions will evolve alongside them. If there's one constant in life, it's change. Navigating these inevitable shifts requires foresight: you can’t make things happen without preparation. You need to put in the time and the work to set yourself up for success. It's like manifesting your destiny, but backed by real action.
Finding your path isn't easy. It takes time, persistence and curiosity, and it requires understanding not only what you want, but what you don't want as well. While you could accept any role that comes your way, that approach can stall your journey of self-discovery. Instead, invest your time in roles that push you to learn and grow professionally.
As you scroll and imagine yourself in those roles, you wonder if you want them or if you've just conditioned yourself to believe you do. The pressure to land the perfect role is heavy, and the fear of rejection is real. But even a rejection can be valuable if you learn something from it. Whether it's a portfolio review, a job interview or something else entirely, if it teaches you something about yourself, is it really a failure? Maybe it's a lesson you needed to learn. An important one. One that could help you build a career around your real aspirations, instead of the ones you've convinced yourself to pursue.
Use the application process not just to land a role, but to evaluate whether you want to be in that specific field. In doing so, you might uncover something that matters more than a title or the income it brings. You may have just taken a step toward figuring out who you really want to be. Now, you just need to put in the work to get there. It's a process of active construction. As George Bernard Shaw once said: "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."
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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.
