During my early undergraduate years, I noticed an interesting pattern: every year, a new career path seemed to become ‘the trend.’ One year, it was supply chain management as students were instantly signing up for certifications. The next year, Chartered Accountancy became the popular choice, and suddenly, almost everyone was preparing for it. 

While there is nothing wrong with these fields, this shift made me wonder: how many of us are making career decisions based on genuine interest, and how many are simply following what everyone else is doing?”

This observation also made me realise something important: career confusion is not about one specific field; it’s about how easily students can feel pressured to fit into whatever path seems most popular at the time.

Unfortunately, this is a reality for most undergraduate students in our country.  As Taufiq Rafid, a final-year student at the Department of Finance, University of Dhaka, put it: “We often get many options but have very little information about where those paths might lead. Without knowing which careers match our skills or interests in the long run, choosing just one direction can feel overwhelming.”

During their school or college years, students are rarely asked to make significant academic or career-related decisions independently. Instead, parents often make these decisions on their behalf, or at least, have a massive influence on them. While these choices may seem trivial at the time, they can gradually weaken a student’s ability to practice independent decision-making. Fast forward five or six years, and most of them have no idea which career they want to pursue.

Nevertheless, there are a few methods that, if implemented well, can help improve your decision-making ability in the early years, allowing you to make confident strides in your career-related decisions.

Know thyself

It might sound cliché, but success in a career is heavily dependent on your strengths. Creative people with a knack for words may not enjoy working with numbers. Similarly, students with strong analytical ability, who can easily visualise the patterns behind the numbers, might not enjoy experimenting with words. Therefore, it is essential to understand your personality, including your strengths and weaknesses, as well as where you can effectively showcase your best abilities. 

Tools like personality tests, career assessments, and even simple reflection exercises can provide valuable insights into what type of work environment or career path may suit you best. These self-evaluating tests serve as a starting point for self-discovery.

Mayesha Nahar Islam, a final year student at the London College of Legal Studies, shared, “I have always respected the legal profession. I enjoy researching and the constant challenges that come with it, and I feel litigation could never get boring. I also enjoy having the opportunity to share my opinions with a crowd, and the law provides me with the space to do so. Most of all, law can help make a difference in society, and that is what makes this field meaningful for me.”

Therefore, continuously evaluating your attributes, passions, and values is one key to choosing a fulfilling career.

Seek career counselling

Presently, in Bangladesh, access to career counselling is unfortunately limited. However, students can still seek guidance in different ways. Many turn to professors or mentors who can objectively evaluate their abilities. Others consult educational advisors, especially when planning higher studies abroad, to gain perspective on opportunities and pathways.

Sometimes, valuable opinions from the experienced can give you a new perspective on your career trajectory. Even professors can give advice by objectively providing suggestions suited to your abilities. Scheduling consultations with career counsellors or professors might lead you to the right pathway for understanding yourself better. 

Fahmida Faiza, a former educational consultant at BD Expert Education, suggested, “For most students, passion often develops much later in life. If you are not sure what excites you yet, it is better to choose a field of study and a career that will not restrict you from shifting directions in the future.”

Students often delay reaching out early to teachers, mentors or university seniors which causes greater uncertainty. Sharing specific concerns earlier can lead to a clearer sense of direction.

Embrace exploration 

One mistake that students often make is believing they must make a career choice as early as possible. Sometimes, this extensive pressure leads to wrong decisions, which later turn into lifelong regrets.

But in reality, exploring various fields can be just as important as making a decision. Increasing exposure to multiple sectors through internships, workshops, or extracurricular activities will introduce students to fields they might not have considered before. Sometimes, this might help students discover areas of work they do not enjoy, which is necessarily not a bad thing. Continuously exploring will help you make better career decisions by narrowing down your choices. 

When asked about how exploration can help, Asif Mahmud, a Junior product manager at Shopup, said, “I’ve noticed many CSE graduates end up in business analytics, SQA, or even MTO programmes in banks—not always out of passion, but due to limited opportunities. I felt that pressure too, but chose product management because it lets me work at the intersection of tech and business, which excites me.”

By giving yourself the freedom to explore before committing, you can break free from mindlessly following trends and instead pursue careers that genuinely fit your skills and aspirations.

Create spaces for peer learning 

Students often feel pressured to jump on career trends because they only hear about what “everyone else is doing”. The reality is usually that most of your peers might be going through the same uncertainty as you are. 

However, without engaging in meaningful conversations, you are merely harboring the fear of missing out. Participating in structured peer discussions and mentorship circles can help young people openly share their uncertainties, goals, and experiences related to various fields. Listening to diverse fields helps mitigate the feeling of being left behind, providing a valuable reminder that there are valid career paths beyond the most popular ones. 

Choosing a career will always be a tough decision, but identifying your innate abilities and interests early on can make it easier. After all, there is a reason why Albert Einstein once asked the famous question, “Can you ask a fish to climb a tree?”