Discover your future – caterpillar your career

Posted on 3 May 2023 • Career Readiness stages, Discover

Finding the right career path can make you feel a bit like a caterpillar – slow and small in a world much bigger than you where everything seems a bit hairy and scary. Don’t worry, you’re not alone, this is often the case for students at the ‘Discover’ career readiness stage. We should also not underestimate caterpillars. They are highly determined creatures that can teach us a thing or two about life…and careers.

Here are some steps to guide your career metamorphosis, to help you to make career choices and find your wings. The quotes are what OU ‘Discover’ stage students really tell us.

1. Discover your path

“I’m just so lost.”

Caterpillars are motivated, with a clear goal – to become a beautiful butterfly. You may have few ideas about the career or study path you want to take, or none at all at this stage, and that is OK. This is where we can help. Our Career Readiness Pulse intelligent self-diagnostic will help you to identify which careers skills to develop, and signpost you to tailored resources to support your goals, ideas and needs.

2. Find your inner potential

“I am feeling so overwhelmed by it all.”

Most caterpillar metamorphosis takes place underground in the earth’s crust. You may feel buried beneath what seems like an immense task but dig deep and find what matters to you the most. You can generate career ideas that match your likes and dislikes, interests and skills, with our career matchmaking tool. You can also use the OU’s personal development planning tool FutureYOU as a way to help record your development and look at manageable steps towards making career choices.

3. Get help making decisions

“I need advice on what to study next and how to make a career change.”

Caterpillars must make important decisions to fend off predators and find food to survive – whether it’s looking like bird droppings as camouflage or appearing invisible like a superhero. Our career decision making page can help you with making choices about your career and study options. You can also get one-to-one support from friendly expert careers consultants to discuss your future.

4. Keep your eyes and mind open as you explore the terrain

“I am not sure what I want to do yet, but I know I want to use my degree to move from a ‘job’ into a ‘career’.”

Caterpillars have 12 eyes. Be open to every opportunity. OpportunityHub is your OU-exclusive place to browse what’s out there and discover the variety of roles employers are hiring for, including many you may not have known existed. Find more advice on how to connect with employers on our networking pages.

5. Focus on growth and feed your confidence

“I feel more confident and positive about my individual employability skills.”

Eric Carle didn’t name his world-famous children’s book ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by chance. Caterpillars have a huge appetite and are always growing. They can eat 27,000 times their body weight before cocooning. We can help you to grow in confidence. Our career confidence pages provide practical activities and resources, including how to identify the skills you can develop; how to demonstrate what you have to offer; and how to find the support you need to feel confident in the workplace.

6. Unearth your strengths

“Your career guidance has really helped me to understand my own key values and expectations from an employer.”

Caterpillars are strong, they have over 4000 muscles in their body. You have strengths, some of which you’re maybe not even aware of. Transferrable skills and qualities are as important as job-specific skills. Discover yours using Section 1 of Your Career Planning Guide.

7. Break out of your cocoon

“I’ve just never known what I want to be.”

The caterpillar’s cocoon is where it transforms into a butterfly and breaks free. Break out of your comfort zone, branch out and try new things such as our live workshops and forums, volunteering or even an internship to develop your knowledge, experience and skills. Getting involved and trying things out can really help you to see where you do and don’t want to end up!

Finally, it’s worth remembering that the Very Hungry Caterpillar faced many challenges but was not deterred. With our help you will discover your future. ‘Caterpillar your career’ and you too can fly to success.

OU Careers and Employability Services

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