Ask Sam letter

Hi there,

Choosing a career can be difficult but focussing on what you enjoy can help when you’re thinking about your future. You might want to work in a job where you’ll be following in the footsteps of people you admire - like actors, sports people, authors, scientists or someone you know personally like a family member, teacher or a coach.

Some careers are more popular than others and that can make it harder to get a certain type of job and harder to stand out from other people applying. But that shouldn’t stop you trying if it’s something you really want to do. Practice, learning from mistakes, being open to feedback and being willing to try again when things don’t go well are all qualities that will help whatever direction you decide to take.

When you’re deciding what to do it can help to research different careers and the national careers service has lots of job profiles so you can see what’s involved, information on what training you might need and a skills assessment to see if you’re suited to a career.

Your family might be worried about you struggling to get a job especially if it’s very difficult to be successful in that career. It’s important to think about what being successful means for you. If you’re not interested in money or fame but just want to do a job you love, then this could be a success for you.

It’s usually better to try something and fail than to never try at all. You’ll likely have many different jobs and try different career options before you find something that works for you – and that’s okay. It’s good to think about how you’ll feel if you never try and be an actor because having the regret of never trying is usually worse than trying and failing. Most people – including the actors you admire – will have tried and failed many times before becoming successful.

Thank you for writing to me, I hope this has helped.

Take care,

Sam