Looking back to 2023, I was a lot more uncertain about my career This post came from rereading an old entry where I wrote about why I started this website. One point stood out: “To have a testament to my skills and beliefs”. I explained it by saying: “Whenever i get the feeling of imposter syndrome, this is a nice place to check back on that has some detail on who I am.” Reading that again, I realised how much imposter syndrome I was feeling internally. I didn’t have a clear idea of what career path I wanted to pursue—or even what all the options were. I also felt like a beginner still in a lot of the areas I was interested in. And without spending real time in any one field, I didn’t yet feel like I belonged anywhere. I thought I needed to “belong” to something before I could build a personal brand and professional identity.

Two years on, with a little more clarity and a lot more experience, I can now write the advice I wish I had then.

TLDR:

• Just Pick a Direction
• Think from the bottom-up and top-down
• Be Patient: Your Progress Will Add up
• Talk to People - Especially Those Ahead of You
• Most people struggle to find their career fit
• Most people optimise for different goals
• Priorities will set your internal compass
• You will find your people
• You will feel a lot better after your first job

My backstory

In 2023, I was halfway through an engineering degree but still wrestling with what I wanted to be. I’d recently figured out that switching to physics wasn’t feasible, though I still flirted with the idea of doing it postgrad. I was interested in research — especially machine learning — but hadn’t learnt enough to conduct research yet. I wanted to market myself but didn’t know what label or title I could claim with confidence.

All of that felt frustrating. I had the motivation. I attended career events. I read books, listened to podcasts, joined several clubs, taught myself AI. And yet, the path felt … unclear.

Furthermore, I didn’t have a strong network yet to ask the important questions. And also I had just found out what things like consulting and investment banking were actually about. Even with other careers like software engineering- I knew I liked coding but I didn’t know a lot about the details of the day-to-day job.

It didn’t help that others around me seemed to be racing ahead — getting internships at places like Google or Jane Street. I now realise:

• They were still figuring things out, too. The advantage they had is that working at a prestiguous firm woud give them insight into a high-performing company and career capital. However, if it was their first role they were probably just as likely to not love their area as me.

Just Pick a Direction

I was scared to commit. What if I chose a job I hated?

However, the truth is that your first job doesn’t need to be your “forever” job, completely aligned with your goals. In fact, it probably won’t be. However, it will give you information on what you don’t like and do like to pivot and experience to build skills and flex on your resume,

Careers are increasingly non-linear. You won’t fall behind because you started working in one area. In fact, your unique story and skillset can be an aid in different fields. It’s true university sets you up for the working world, but your first role is just the start of your career and you have time to pivot from there. Furthermore, having a strong start at a good company will get you recognition and experience of what yu like to be able to pivot to other things.

On thinking deeply

The problem with careers is that it’s a complex decision-one that you can’t fully analyse. I’m lucky now that I have a few options that I mostly like and fulfill most of my ideals. But still, nearing graduation, I see that there are many good paths I could take. And in five years, with more hindsight, I’ll probably wish I had known about an entirely different path sooner. Howver, having small or large bumps and pivots in your career trajectory is necessary to shape you to get to those points in the future - as long as you go confidently.

One framework I like - Complex decision making is like playing a football game. Your coach might set up a set play for the first 20 seconds of kick off, but after that you have to rely on fundamentals and strategy (also your type 1 system). You can’t plan out the perfect strategy in advance-there are too many possibilities, it’s impossible. Set up the right frameworks to succeed, not an overly detailed plan.

Think from the bottom up and the top down

I started thinking about careers by using a holistic “bottom-up” approach. I scoured careers websites for companies and types of occupation. There were many jobs that it seemed like I could do and be happy in-while not loads spoke to me on all levels. Understanding them all felt like an impossible task. This is not a terrible approach, but you need to think from the bottom up and top down at the same time. In fact, many people go from the top down based off of vibes mainly. Gaining holisitic career awareness is hard so you’ll have to utilise at least a bit of top down thinking at first (and if you think about the obvious options-there’s not that many).

Your progress will add up

Career knowledge and business knowledge takes a lot of time to build up, especially while balancing a university life. Don’t be too hard on yourself: a few of your professors don’t even know that much about life outside of academia.

You’re doing the right thing by reading and learning. That will add up. Don’t stop. Especially with leadership, you have to learn a lot of different skills. Moreso for become a founder. It’s a lot harder to see your progress in the moment.

All of the people who know stuff had to start somewhere. You’re already in a great place and you probably know more than you think. Even if you don’t know particular language, that will come with time and understanding is the most important thing. It can be difficult wearing the “beginner” hat, but it’s a necessary phase. You can’t force or rush your way into being an intermediate or expert. Take this time to learn the basics as best you can from the best people possible. And read some books! They’re faster than podcasts.

(Also if you feel late- you can do a lot more in a year than you realise if you properly lock in).

Then when I did try entering a new field e.g. entrepreneurship I felt out of my depth because in some cases I didn’t know the language of the field and I was afraid of looking like an amateur. (if you feel stuck in a position like this-do whatever you can to link to your own experience-you must know something.)(Once you have skill in any working area though, you can use that to relate to other areas.)

My perspective now

Now that I have more time and experience, I feel much more aware of my career trajectory. Part of this is time. One really useful thing for me now is just having people in my year who have also started careers, so I have way more people to talk to and experiences to draw from in terms of career direction.

Seeing what types of people go for different industries. Even seeing where my fellow engineering peers were going. While having the careers service list of careers felt daunting before, my gradual exposure helped.

Also, going to America helped a lot for my career awareness since it’s a bigger focus and discussed more openly.

Talk to People - Especially Those Ahead of You

The internet won’t tell you everything. In fact, some of the most valuable career information is not written down. It’s in conversations.

Early on, I used to feel like the game was rigged. I couldn’t find the information I needed online, in podcasts, or even in books. The fact is, many people ahead of you grew up with access — in households or schools where high-level careers were discussed more.

Before I felt like the “game” was set against me. I couldn’t easily find the information I needed online, in podcasts, or even in books, when even whole degrees can be learnt from the internet. The truth is, the people who know more than you probably grew up with access in environments where careers were discussed more in their schools and households.

ChatGPT makes things easier now, but it still can’t replace what you gain from building a network and learning to navigate real conversations. It might feel awkward at first, but most people are surprisingly open to a genuine 20-minute chat. And no — most career fair conversations don’t count. Aim to learn, not to impress or get a job. Ask thoughtful questions and find common ground.

Most people struggle to find their career fit

If you’re like me, you’re not trying to be the average graduate. However, it’s true for most people that they struggle finding their fit in the working world. Especially in Oxford where you learn a rigorous academic degree, finding how that maps to skillsets for particular careers is not simple.

If you’re trying out options and feeling split, that’s a good thing. It means you care. You’re experimenting to find the right match.

Most people optimise for different priorities

Most people want a relatively chill job where they can make as much money as they can and is ethical while catering to their skillsets.

If you don’t want to be like most other people-find a community and peers who lift you up.

Priorities will set your internal compass

For a while, I knew I wanted a career that was intellectually stimulating, paid well, had decent social opportunities and had a decent work-life balance. However, nothing in particular spoke to me apart from research.

Nevertheless, this gave me a criteria to evaluate jobs again and helped me steer my compass. (Note: This won’t give you the answer. You sitll need some bottom up thinking to figure out how these will apply).

Some thing I’ve found so far- you won’t relate to people as much on these high level priorities. To find friends and build communities, it’s easier to find common traits and aspirations. Look at inspirational people like founders who have clear messages-and find out how you can communicate your message in a similar way.

You will find your people

Communities are really important. I know I felt a bit isolated, especially in my first year while having a focus on career while many of my friends didn’t.

Remember: You’re not alone. While it may be difficult to find your people, they exist out there somewhere. Your struggles are not being felt for the first time.

So you should keep searching for people, and they will come. This is also a skill: you need an instinct for when someone might align with you, and you need to be proactive-follow up on that text, create a small or big lunch meet up. Somebody has to be the planner.

You also might have to stretch to find those people. It’s difficult to find someone else motivated in the same way you are, and doubly so for someone interested in the same fields you are. You don’t need companions to share every field, some friends might not be engineers, but they will understand your drive.

Also, you will probably have some intial opinions of certain areas. Don’t close off any doors before you actually understand an area.Personally, I dismissed finance and took too long to learn about it because I thought there were better ways I could directly help humanity. There’s no such thing as being above something. When large numbers of smart people are drawn to something, there’s probably a deeper reason worth understanding.

You’ll also change as you learn more. A community or career path that doesn’t resonate now might feel completely different after a few key experiences or opening yourself up more.

You will feel a lot better after your first job

After my first proper internship, I saw that I did have useful skills and I gained a much better understanding of the workforce. While I didn’t know where I wanted to work exactly, having my first datapoint in a graduate-level workplace helped a lot to orient myself. At the end of the day, there is no perfect job. You should find one that excites you but that isn’t necessarily the same as it being your passion.

Final Thought

If you improve a small amount every day you’ll see astronomical gains.