Operations management: how I found the right career path for me

The idea this week: how I learned a lot about my skills by testing my fit for operations work.

Like a lot of students, I spent much of my final year at university unsure what to do next. Should I pursue further studies, start out on a career path, or something else?

I was excited about having an impact with my career, and I thought I might be a good fit for policy work — which seemed like a way I could contribute to solving pressing world problems. I figured this would involve further studies, so I looked into applying for graduate school.

• Check out our career reviews page, where we discuss key categories of job skills, the priority paths we think might have the most impact over the long term, and promising avenues for pursuing career capital.

But I was probably deferring too much to my sense of what others thought would be high-impact work, rather than figuring out how I could best contribute over the course of my career. I ended up doing the 80,000 Hours career planning worksheet — and it helped me to generate a longer list of options and questions.

It pointed me toward something I hadn’t considered: doing something that would help me test my fit for lots of different kinds of work.

I realised that becoming athletic union president, a student representative role I’d long been interested in, would give me experience with different kinds of work. It involved marketing, policy writing, working in a bureaucracy, finance, event organisation, and more — what we often call operations management, a set of skills that is in high demand.

After considering other options, speaking to the current athletic union president, and weighing the pros and cons — like the fact that a role with a one-year term was pretty long for a test — I ran for the position and was elected.

Here’s how testing my fit in this role went:

• I realised I was much more excited about working than doing further study. I loved having a busy to-do list, writing comms, and managing projects.
• The role also helped me develop career capital, giving me skills and work experience I could draw on when I applied to other jobs in the future.
• More unexpectedly, it revealed what I value in a working environment. For example, getting clear feedback and having opportunities for personal development are really important to me. Before having worked full time, I didn’t really know what I wanted most out of a job.
• I personally struggled with the fact that I wasn’t contributing to a pressing problem right away even though I was passionate about the role. I reminded myself that gaining this experience and testing my fit was an important part of having an impactful career — and I was donating some of my income, because that was one of the ways for me to do good no matter my job.
• Without doing this role, I don’t think I’d have considered applying for my current job in operations at 80,000 Hours. I learned what operations roles are like, that I can succeed in them, and that I felt really excited about the work.

I got pretty lucky — the first job I had after university was a good fit for me, and it helped me get a role at an organisation I love. One of my colleagues tried out at least three different career paths before coming to work here. You may have to try out a number of different roles before you find what works best for you, and you’ll need not only a Plan A, but a Plan B and even a Plan Z.

We have a lot of resources to help people who want to have a positive impact with their careers think about different options and possible paths. You can get started by checking out our career guide.

Learn more:

• How much should you explore in your career?
• Operations management in high-impact organisations
• How to make your career plan