IF YOU are applying to college this year, I would suggest a series of steps, which will assist you in selecting the best course.
All of us have a wide range of interests, hobbies, skills, aptitudes, and achievements, both academic and personal.
If you are trying to select CAO courses, you should try to compile all of these career clues, and lay them out in front of you, to see if a picture begins to emerge as it does in all good jigsaw puzzles.
You should ask yourself, what are the activities you enjoy engaging in the most?
Are you the outdoor type, who loves the freedom being in the open air offers? Are you good with people and do you enjoy helping or caring for them?
Alternatively, you may enjoy making things or taking them apart, to see how they work.
Are you entrepreneurial, having bought and sold things among your friends and made a profit in the process?
Do you like regular routine and enjoy organising your personal space, so that it is neat and tidy, where you can find anything you want at a moment’s notice?
The answers to all of these questions will guide you toward the best choice for you.
From your life in school, whether now or in the past, you will find another set of clues going back to when you first entered the education system as a four- or five-year-old.
What are your favourite subjects in school? Where did you perform best in the Junior Certificate or Leaving Certificate? Are they language subjects, the sciences, business, technology, the creative arts or music or something else?
You also probably took a set of aptitude tests either at the end of your Junior Certificate year or Transition Year.
Did they indicate that you were strong in numerical, linguistic, abstract, mechanical, organisational reasoning, etc? If they did this is a particularly important clue.
Genetics or family interests may also assist your investigation.
Is there any particular pattern within your own family, on either your mother or father’s side, which might give you a clue towards what direction your own career might take?
Have you been involved in a particular career through helping out at home in some aspect of a family business or profession?
It’s no coincidence that the sons and daughters of politicians often end up in politics; some are virtually programmed to enter the political life.
If you are still trying to figure out what type of third-level course might suit you take out a sheet of paper and go through the questions which I have posed.
Better still, write down a list of any relevant answers to these questions.
When you have finished, review the whole process and look at the overall pattern.
In most cases, you will see a theme or possible area of interest emerging, which will inform your research in the weeks and months ahead.
Remember that you are not looking for any blinding flash of inspiration, which will reveal the entire pattern of your working life. You are simply looking for a strong indication as to which CAO course might be the next appropriate step in your academic journey.
Brian Mooney is a former president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors
Tomorrow: What are the best sources of information on courses and careers?