Building self-awareness in your early career helps you make choices based on what truly fits you, rather than simply following trends or external pressure. It is essential to take time to better understand yourself - your interests, strengths, values, and motivations.

Start by noticing what comes naturally to you and what gives you energy. This could involve the types of tasks you enjoy, your preferred way of working, or even how others experience working with you. You might notice that you:

• Enjoy working with people, or prefer working independently
• Like practical, hands-on tasks, or prefer thinking through abstract ideas
• Prefer clear structure and planning, or more flexible, open-ended work
• Pay attention to details, or focus more on the bigger picture

Paying attention to these patterns can help you narrow down what potentially suits you whether that is a field of study, a new activity, or a specific type of role.

Furthermore, developing self-understanding makes it easier to talk about yourself in professional contexts. In your CV or interviews, you will find it easier to explain what you are good at, what you enjoy, and how you work with others. This helps others understand where you might fit and what you can contribute.

• Complete self-assessments or personality tests (e.g. VIA, 16Personalities, Holland Code, or other careers assessments on RMIT Careers Online Portal) to discover what makes you unique.
• Ask your friends and teammates what specific strengths they notice in you.
• Write down what you enjoyed, what felt difficult, and what gave you energy during a recent group project. For example: “I enjoyed working under pressure and getting things done quickly. I found it challenging to plan or organise tasks.”

Once you have a better sense of yourself, explore where you might fit by getting to know the world of work and seeing how your strengths connect to different roles.

Research different industries and specific companies to understand what they do, the roles they offer, and what they look for in candidates, including specific skills, experience, and qualifications. As you explore, look into their work environments and values to see if they align with your own.

You might start to notice things like:

• “Many roles in a specific field require strong communication and teamwork skills.”
• “Some roles involve fast-paced, client-facing work.”
• “This type of job requires specific technical skills or certifications.”
• “Certain companies value specific traits, such as adaptability or creativity.”

More of these observations can help you build a clearer picture of your options and decide which paths you want to pursue.

• Search for a few roles or industries you’re curious about and analyse their requirements.
• Attend an industry talk or employer session to learn about an industry or company.
• Talk to seniors, alumni, or professionals about their career paths.
• Explore labour market reports to update in-demand skills, salary ranges and recruitment trends.
• Compare job requirements with your current skills and experiences.

As you gain a clearer understanding of who you are and the direction you want to explore, start taking action. Set both short-term and long-term goals to guide your progress, using a simple approach like SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based) to make your plans easier to follow.

For example, you might set short-term goals such as learning new skills, updating your CV and LinkedIn profile, building professional connections, taking on a role in a student project, or applying for an internship. At the same time, you can work towards longer-term goals like building experience in a specific field.

As you take action, you may face challenges - such as not having enough experience or feeling unsure about your direction. This is a normal part of the process. It can help to think ahead about possible obstacles and what steps you can take to work around them.

Build your experience step by step, even if you are not completely certain yet. Taking action gives you real experience, helps you build confidence, and prepares you better for your future career.

• Apply the SMART framework to set at least one clear career goal.
• Join a student club or organisation and take on responsibilities that align with your interests.
• Draft or improve your CV and LinkedIn profile and ask for feedback using AI-powered tools such as RMIT CV360.
• Apply for internships, part-time roles, or project opportunities to build your track record.

After gaining experience - whether through an internship, volunteer work, or a student project - take time to review how those experiences contribute to your goals. Ask yourself if the experience helped you build the skills, knowledge, or connections you need to move forward.

Reflection does not need to take long; spending even 5-10 minutes after an experience can help you stay focused, make better use of your time, and make more suitable decisions.

As you reflect, you may find that some experiences support your goals perfectly, while others highlight gaps–skills you still need to build or areas that may not be the right fit. For example, you might find that volunteer work helped you gain experience in communication, content creation, or teamwork, directly supporting a goal of working in the marketing field. Or through a solo project, you have improved your AI skills from beginner to proficient as you can collaborate with different AI tools to develop a comprehensive plan.

Use these insights to identify exactly what to improve and where to focus your effort. Based on what you learn, you might continue to explore similar activities that are beneficial for your direction, or you may choose to try a different type of role or explore alternative ways to gain more relevant experience.

What? What was the experience? What did you do? What skills or tasks were involved?

So what? How did this experience support your goals? What did you gain (skills, knowledge, experience, connections)? What was useful, and what was missing? What went well? What was challenging?

Now what? What will you do next based on this? Will you continue or try a different direction?