I don’t know about you, but I’ve been wearing the same clothes for a few days, don’t know what day it is and I think Netflix is beginning to run out of things that might interest me. We’re living in uncertain times. Will you have exams? Will you graduate or move on to the next year? And did Carole Baskin kill Joe Exotic?!

Given all the uncertainty, there is something I can help you with. Your career.

Here are five tips that will help you figure out your career.

What do you want?

Like seriously? What do you want to try? What interests you? Since we’re in isolation, this is a good time to start thinking about you. This isn’t a super serious question because whatever it is, is just a starting point. You won’t be doing it forever unless you want to but if you don’t try something, how do you know if it is or isn’t for you?

Let’s get social

If you’re unsure about what you want to try and explore, then LinkedIn can help. Firstly, are you on LinkedIn? Yes? Is your profile optimised? Have you completed all sections? Filled in your content for your experiences? Make sure you have added an appropriate photo and have a summary and a headline. Then you're all set and good to go.

No? Well, there isn’t a better time to get started. It’s free and it gives you access to over 675 million people in over 200 countries.

Network

This is going to be the most useful tool in all aspects of your life, not just your career. Once you have your profile set up on LinedIn, it’s time to build your connections. To ease you in, start with people you know such as family, friends, high school mates and your university colleagues, including academics and other staff. The more people you’re connected with, the more you can see.

See what you can do with your degree

This is where LinkedIn can really show you different options of what you can do with your degree.

If you go to your university LinkedIn page, on the left-hand side, you’ll see some options, and one of them will be Alumni.

Now you can see what people who did your degree are doing and better yet, you can connect with these people.

Alumni are great people to network with and since you have something in common with them, it’ll be easier to connect and chat.

Fill the gaps

Once you’ve connected with people you know and alumni, you can start venturing out and building relationships with people who you don’t but would like to know more about. Before you do though, always think about why. Why are you connecting with this person? What for? What are you hoping to gain? It’s easy to say they could give me a job, maybe... but very unlikely. They don’t know you. Instead, use this opportunity to find people at all levels and experience who can give you tips and advice.

You can speak to these people about the things that are important to you, such as; what does a xxx really do? Will a postgrad degree help? What’s the culture really like? And so much more.

Gaining experience is a two-way street, think about what you want and don’t forget that. If the relationship naturally grows, a job could present itself but, don’t count on it.

Have fun, enjoy the process and discover what you can do with your career!

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