What kind of decision-maker are you?

You don’t have to know what you want right now.

Universities see every type of student walk through the door, from rigid planners, to those who are going with what they are interested in and seeing where it takes them. That’s one thing that's so great about uni – it’s a place where you find yourself along the way.

We realise that everyone has their own natural strengths, so we’ve put together some tips and questions to help you make the most of yours.

1. The straight shooter

You’ve chosen your degree and career – but watch out for tunnel vision.

It’s important to leave yourself room to be surprised, so try and find a uni where you’ll be exposed to new and unexpected things. This can mean going out of your way to get involved in projects that aren’t obviously tied to your career goal.

Broad perspective, courage, the ability to make real connections with people: these are what recruiters and entrepreneurs call soft skills, and others might call life experience. Hone these skills at university and you’ll find the path to your goals will be a little smoother.

Questions to ask:

• How can I get involved in uni life?: Make friends, push yourself and remember: mastery isn’t everything. While your studies may get you the interview, sometimes life experience could be the edge between one job candidate and another, or the reason one person’s business succeeds and another fails.
• Are there opportunities to mix my learning with work?: Get your hands dirty. Ask about chances for mixing work and learning (including corporate-sponsored scholarships), and ask employers about their grad recruitment programs.
• Do I want to be my own boss?: Ask unis about entrepreneur support like UOW’s iAccelerate.

2. The happy-go-lucky

You know yourself and what makes you happy – the trick will be getting someone to pay you for it.

Knowing what you love is a bigger head start than you might think: uni lets you do your thing like never before. Do it as much as you can, get excellent at it, and this mastery will be your biggest advantage when you graduate.

You’ll still need to put effort in to make opportunities happen, but you have at least three years at uni to focus your interest, tailor your degree and figure out where you want your career to go.

Questions to ask:

• Does this uni cater for my interests?: Find a uni that will respond to your talents and help you build them into a career. Ask about options to combine different major and minor studies, degrees with lots of elective options, or double degrees.
• How can I turn my talent into success?: See where it can take you. Ask about employment support and career guidance (particularly for later in your degree). Search for graduate interviews on university websites, make your own opportunities and look for chances to hear graduates speak at information events.

Meet Sara Khan

“As you go through uni your passions and your wants start to change. For me, coming to UOW in the first place was because of the Woolyungah Indigenous Centre. I chose creative arts mainly for the theatre aspect, I wanted to get into acting and when I was 18, and I did media and communication mainly for the fact I was obsessed with The Daily Show and I wanted to learn more about how we receive and give information through media.

"Connecting with other Indigenous students, I started to figure out that through my degree I could shift and change what I was doing to empower other younger Indigenous students – it’s extremely rewarding."

What to do now?: Check out life from a student’s perspective at @uowstudents, look for inspiration or hit us up on our UOW Future Students Facebook page.

3. The dreamer

You know what you want to do (eventually), but you can’t quite pin down what job or degree is going to get you there. The good news is this can be easily answered by asking questions.

Be diligently curious: ask questions and try lots of different things. If details get in the way, cut through them and ask what things mean and why they’re important. Your big advantage is motivation, so once you find that thing that feels right, you’ll quickly rise to the top.

Questions to ask:

• What skills do I need to build on?: Figure out the essential skills or behaviours behind your dream job, and find a course and university that can give them to you. This applies to everyone, but it’s especially important for Dreamers. Look for extracurricular programs that reinforce skills beyond the classroom and ask about flexible study choices that will let you redirect your degree as you go.
• What does my uni stand for?: Talk to uni reps at events and see if you can arrange to speak with their academics (open days are a good shot, as are virtual events or maybe even a campus tour). They can tell you what’s on offer beyond a degree, whether that's opportunities for workplace experience or an environment that supports your interests.

Meet Simon Grant

"UOW taught me to be self-sufficient. A big thing for me was this idea of being self-propelled, because a lot of the time things aren’t necessarily handed to you – sometimes you need to go and get them or create opportunities for yourself.

"Now I run my own business called Verb Syndicate and one of the major calendar events for us is the Wonderwalls Festival that takes place in the Wollongong CBD. This kind of artwork is important for me personally because it has been something I’ve been interested in since I was 12 years old. There’s not really a massive niche for this sort of stuff, so we had to pave our own path."

What to do now?: Talk to us! Book a UOW campus tour. Before you get here, ask about chances to meet academics, and when you get here, quiz your tour guide.