Do you have a job in mind? With a more or less precise vision of what this job can be and how you will live it? Unfortunately, this is unfortunately the case for everyone: it's easy to fantasize about a job, whether it's close to your heart or not, reality is usually far removed from your fantasy.
Even if it is always possible to participate in an immersion course, in which you are supposed to be confronted with the reality of the trade you are considering, with its advantages as well as its disadvantages, this type of experience will only very partially reflect the reality in the field, which can take various forms depending on the environment. And I'm not even talking about "photocopy" courses.
Blocking points
At what levels are these varied forms found? It depends on the setting. In a company, the differences between fantasy and reality can be seen at several levels, for example:
- the media coverage of the job,
- the image of a job that is poorly or not at all known,
- the practice of the trade,
- the company's sector of activity,
- the size of the company,
- the relational in business.
A bad media press or a poor knowledge of a profession through hearsay are as many vectors that do not allow to realize the reality of a profession.
There is the risk of misconceiving the practice of your future job: if you think that it will be easy to have a job practised in telework, this may mean that you underestimate the risk of poor organisation and dispersion linked to difficulties in remaining concentrated, such as your ability to work independently without supervision. This is much less obvious to think about than if you are prone to dizziness and therefore more easily aware that you will never be able to work at extreme heights if you are in the construction industry.
You can get the wrong idea of a whole sector as well as a specific trade, one way or the other:
fantasizing about being a teacher, seeing only holidays or the pleasure of passing on knowledge, without realizing that students need to be motivated, concentrated and supervised,
fantasize about the job of accountant, because you are a mathematician and you are sure you have a job that is in demand, without realizing that this job covers different fields far removed from mathematics and that it is not the best paid in the world,
fantasize about the job of psychiatrist, where you think you're only going to run into lunatics in straitjackets, whereas psychiatry is about a wider range of patients with mental disorders or mental illnesses,
fantasize about building trades, which, while they may require being in the field, don't necessarily include having muscles, especially in engineering
To cite just a few examples.
In a company, its size can have an impact on the way you approach your future job: you may be more specialized in a large structure, while a very small company will expect you to have a minimum of versatility around your job.
Relational relationships can also create an atmosphere that has consequences on the way you do your job, depending on whether you are given responsibilities easily or not, whether you have a hierarchy that is humanly bearable or not, whether you work well with your colleagues, etc.
Becoming more objective
The only solution is not to get involved in studies or in the way to envisage them (which may lead you to review your professional project) without having taken the time to find out from those who work in the field that will one day concern you, not to mention the extent of the information available on the Internet.
There is a real risk of not taking an interest in it as soon as possible, because it is easier to make a choice of course of study, because you have to make the right choice, rather than taking the time to make an informed choice. Even if it may be urgent, you must take a minimum amount of time to dedicate yourself to this investigation, which is essential for your future.
In fact, your analysis of each job you are considering must be as objective as possible in order to make the best possible choice. This requires you to know yourself perfectly, before then establishing a career strategy that matches your ambitions, of which your studies and internships will only be a starting point.