It is around this time of year that the thoughts of most students turn, inevitably, to exams.

Whether sitting the Junior or Leaving Certificate - or even just annual school exams - it is hard to escape the impression that the subject choices you make will have a huge impact on the type of career you will have in the future But just how true is this?

Can you gain experience - and skills - in one career that will translate to another? Mary McGuire, director and co-owner of Communiqué International, a communications company based in Dublin, firmly believes so.

She originally trained as a nurse before moving into her current career, advising companies and organisations on their communications strategies.

She also decided to return to college to retrain in languages and business studies.

A number of factors contributed to Ms McGuire's change of career. Coming from a family where both her parents were self-employed, she had always told herself that she would not go down that employment route.

However, when she graduated as a nurse, job prospects and the chances for career progression were rare, she says. So she decided to seek pastures new.

Ms McGuire still uses many of the skills she learned in her former profession.

"My training as a nurse helped me hugely in my job," she says. "Part of the training is how to adapt to different patients, for example. Interaction with and understanding of people is a huge part of my role now. You need to have an understanding of people, to empathise with them."

Other nursing skills which she employs in her current job include psychology and the ability to get people to work with you.

She also believes it is vital to realise that there is not just one road that you can take in life.

"Regardless of what you do you should try to learn from it, build insights and build your knowledge," she advises. "Understand that doors don't have to close; you can use any job as a stepping stone to something else."

Matthew Cogan of Concern is another example of someone who has managed to transfer the skills he had learned in previous jobs into his current role.

Mr Cogan, who recently returned from an 18-month stint working with refugees on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border, has particular responsibility for Concern's operations in Somalia.

A graduate of sociology and French at UCD, he eventually went on to complete a Master's degree in development studies at the university.

But the path to a career in development work involved a few diversions. When filling out his CAO form at school, he says he only really knew the types of jobs he did not want to do.

He has spent time in the past working as a volunteer in both India and Malawi. But he has also spent a year working as an account executive in advertising.

"I knew I wasn't going to stay in it, " he says. "But one thing I'd say is that any experience will give you some skills. A lot of skills are transferable."

He cites as examples the ability to work with people, time management and logistical skills. All of these, he says, he cultivated when working in advertising.

Working primarily on water and sanitation projects in Pakistan, he had to use such skills to the full. His work also included peace-building initiatives and conflict resolution.

"I think with any sort of challenging situation you find yourself in, you will have times where you question yourself," he says of the experience.

"You just have to rise to the challenge."

Back in Dublin, his day-to-day job involves a lot of responsibility, including maintaining contact with fieldworkers and monitoring Concern's projects in Somalia.

"Be you an accountant or an aid worker, you have to look into yourself and ask what sort of person am I?" he says.

"I'm helping to change people's lives in other countries. It is what I'm interested in and I feel good about my job."

And there perhaps lies the real key to career success. While nobody is denying the importance of making the right choices in life, there are clearly also skills that can be applied to any situation.

Nor does it really matter how circuitous a route you take, but rather the lessons you learn along the way.

Something worth thinking about, perhaps, the next time you are worrying about where you are going in life.