How often are we told that we should follow our passion? These days, we see more and more influencers, vloggers, YouTube and TikTok stars rising to fame - most of whom have followed a passion that they love, be it fashion, travel, food, the list goes on.
But is following your passion really the best career move? Is chasing your dreams realistic? Here are the 3 things you need to consider before you try to turn your passion into a career.
Do You Have A Passion?
Firstly, how many people actually know what they are passionate about? We go through school then maybe college and still don't exactly know what we love to do. In order to follow your passion, you have to have one, which often, we don't.
It's Not Easy
If you are one of the lucky ones that does have a clear passion in mind, it can be extremely difficult to turn that into a profitable and sustainable career. The advice to 'follow your passion' makes it sound quite simple but really it's extremely vague and also can seem elusive for many. Try making a side-hustle out of your passion first and trial it.
Do You Have What It Takes?
It's important to consider if you actually have a skill in the area that your're passionate about. Often, we are interested in things that we are not particularly good at. Developing a passion and honing the skill to the standard where you can make a living from it are two very different things. If you're going to turn your passion into a career, you need to make sure you're good enough at it to make money from it.
An Alternative Plan
While following your exact passion may not always be a great idea, you can think about incorporating your passion into your daily work, but without working specifically in that industry.
While this might sound somewhat ambiguous, insurance is the perfect industry for allowing you to do this. The insurance sector is diverse and varied, and there is an abundance of opportunities in many different and innovative areas and sectors.
For example, your every waking thought might be about sport, and so this sort of passion and interest would be a huge advantage if you wanted to work in an area of insurance where this knowledge would be useful. All clubs and athletes require cover of some sort, so you can easily seek out ways of gaining experience in this area. This is something that would allow you to indulge your passion, and this level of enthusiasm for the sector could also be seen as a huge advantage by an employer and customer.
So, while not necessarily the best career advice, ‘follow your passion’ could in fact be beneficial to your career in insurance, and if you harness your skills and your determination in the right way, it could lead you to an exciting and fulfilling career, and one you might not have envisioned.
Are you interested in finding out more about a career in insurance? Head to our website to read more about our qualifications or learn more about our apprenticeship programme.