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Make career decisions

Whether you know what you want to do or are still exploring your options, discover practical guidance and tools to support your career planning.

 

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How to approach career planning

Thinking about what you want to do when you complete your degree can feel overwhelming. It may seem like a single decision that will determine your entire career path. As with most significant decisions, the process becomes more manageable when it's broken down into smaller, achievable steps.

Careers information is widely shared on social media and other online platforms. While this can be a helpful starting point, it's important to approach it critically. Consider whether the content is sponsored, whether the source has relevant expertise or professional credibility, and whether the guidance is designed to be general rather than tailored to your individual circumstances.

You may find it helpful to prioritise information from trusted sources such as:

· Prospects

· Target Jobs

· Professional bodies

· Industry associations

It's also important to remember that the decisions you make now don't permanently determine your future career. Many people change direction several times. The transferable skills you develop along the way will continue to be valuable.

Watch a video on how to find fulfilling work

Learn about practical strategies to help you navigate career uncertainty, build self-awareness, explore your options, and take action confidently.

How to find fulfilling work

To build on these ideas, you can use the DOTS model to structure your thinking and approach your career decisions step by step.

A simple way to structure your thinking: the DOTS model

Career planning can be structured using the DOTS model (Law & Watts, 1977, 1996), which breaks the process into four stages. Although the stages are commonly referred to as “DOTS”, they're often used in practice as “SODT". This reflects a more practical starting point, focusing on understanding yourself first before moving through the remaining stages:

  • Self-awareness
  • Opportunity-awareness
  • Decision-making
  • Transition

Using the DOTS model can help you organise your thinking and move towards a career direction. Click on each stage below to explore what it involves and how it can support your career decision-making.

The DOTS model
Self-awareness

Find your ideal career by understanding your:

  • strengths
  • interests
  • values
  • personal qualities

Consider the type of working environment that might suit you. This may be:

  • employment
  • self‑employment
  • something more flexible.

Feedback from friends and family can help you identify your strengths and qualities.

You can also use skills and employability assessments to understand what employers typically look for and how your skills compare.

Take an assessment in our What Employers Want section for insights into your abilities.

Discover the top competencies sought by employers and see how you measure up.

Opportunity-awareness

This stage focuses on researching possible options, including:

  • jobs
  • job profiles
  • attending events to speak to employers about the opportunities in their organisation / industry

You can develop opportunity awareness by:

  • using Prospects job profiles to explore what skills and qualifications are required in different roles. You can also find out more about individual roles
  • analysing job descriptions and person specifications of advertised jobs
  • attending careers fairs and employer events to speak to employers
  • talking to people already working in roles that interest you
  • using LinkedIn to research different sectors and career paths of others in roles you’re interested in

Try not to restrict yourself too early. Many graduate roles don’t require a specific degree subject. Focusing on your transferable skills can open up a much wider range of options.

Whilst researching, ask yourself, “does the role match the skills, values and interests I identified in the ‘Self Awareness’ stage?”

Decision-making

You’ll never have all the information you'd like. However, conducting thorough research and using self-assessments can help you make the best decision possible. You’re aiming to make the most informed decision you can.

Helpful techniques include:

  • listing the pros and cons of different options. Then, weighing up each decision using structured tools such as Pugh’s Decision Matrix
  • comparing advertised roles or job profiles against the values that are important to you

If you tend to rely more on instinct, visualising yourself in a role can be useful. Think about:

  • what a typical day might look like
  • how the work would feel
  • whether it suits your strengths, interests, values, and qualities. 
Transition

Once you’ve got a possible direction, focus on what's needed to move towards it. This may involve: 

  • gaining relevant experience
  • developing particular skills
  • completing additional training or qualifications

You may need to break these goals into smaller goals. It’s also important to set a target completion date, so you can work towards your goals.

It’s sensible to keep more than one option in mind or have a ‘back up plan’. Careers rarely follow a straight line, and opportunities often arise in unexpected ways.

The idea of ‘Planned Happenstance’ reflects this reality. Staying curious, taking part in different activities can all lead to opportunities that weren’t originally planned. Embrace the unpredictable and make the most of every opportunity.

The Chaos Theory has a similar approach. Chaos Theory acknowledges that careers are complex and unpredictable. Successfully navigating your career involves being adaptable and having the resilience to deal with unexpected changes.

What can I do to develop employability skills and experience?

As a student, there are many ways you can develop your skills and experience:

Quick actions to get started

These quick actions link directly to the stages of career planning outlined above.

If you’re unsure what you want to do

Not knowing what you want to do is common, and it’s not a disadvantage. In some cases, it simply means that your options are still open. You can treat this as a starting point. At this stage, the aim isn’t to decide on a specific job. Instead, begin noticing patterns in what matters to you and how you respond to different types of work and environments.

You might start by considering questions such as:

  • What types of tasks or activities do I tend to enjoy?
  • What do I find frustrating or unappealing at work or in study?
  • What kind of working environment suits me best?
  • What motivates me to put effort into something?

You don’t need firm answers. These reflections are simply a way of preparing for the career planning process outlined below.

A useful prompt at this stage is:

“If there were no barriers at all, what would I choose to do?”

This isn’t about identifying a specific career straight away. It’s about highlighting interests, values or motivations that you can explore further through research and/or experience.

You may wish to get started with the quick actions above. You can also read the model below to structure your ideas and use a step-by-step process to consider your ideas further.

Resources

Uncover your personality type with 16 Personalities.
Consider options you can do with your degree on Prospects: What can I do with my degree?
Consider Prospects advice on choosing a career: Prospects: Choosing a Career.

Useful careers websites

Prospects - comprehensive student and graduate careers resources with a careers questionnaire, job profiles, plus internship, placement and graduate vacancies.
TARGETjobs - student and graduate resource with information and vacancies for internships, placements, and graduate roles.
National Careers Service - job profiles and career planning guidance.

Speak to a Careers Adviser

Get guidance from our friendly team of Advisers. 

Open to current students and Salford Alumni only.