How to get ideas for your career

Unsure about your career options? Need inspiration? Find out how to explore career ideas.

What's on this page?

Get career ideas using our tools

Our online tools are a great way to find career ideas and identify your interests and skills. Once you have some career ideas, research them further using our jobs database.

 

Explore career ideas with our jobs database

Often you may have a rough idea of an industry you'd like to work in,  but you're not sure of the different jobs in these industries.

Exploring our industry information can introduce you to job options that you didn't know existed.

Find inspiration in success stories on Oompher TV

Get inspired and get ideas by watching New Zealanders talk about how they got from ordinary to the top of their careers on Oompher TV on YouTube.

Look for opportunities around you

You can also get job ideas just by tuning yourself in to job ideas that may be all around you. For example, you may get ideas from:

  • Online - browse our YouTube channel or your favourite channels, get ideas from your favourite sites and apps
  • Job vacancy websites - read the jobs to see if they match what you want in a career
  • Noticing gaps - is there a service or job that you could do that no one is doing? Could an existing business use your skills? 

Get others to help you come up with ideas

Sometimes other people may be able to see you more clearly than you can see yourself. 

Try asking:

  • family/whānau
  • friends
  • employers 
  • church or community group leaders
  • teachers.

You may also get some ideas by looking at what the people around you do for a job. It is quite common for people in a family to have talents in the same areas, or work in similar jobs or industries.

Create a job list

After working through the activities and tools to know yourself, and doing some research, you should now have a list of job ideas that interest you. 

Updated 17 Jan 2019