Deciding on a career path is daunting.

The big question, “what do you want to be when you grow up?”, repeated frequently by parents, teachers and elders is a serious one and, often, answering it is fraught with pressure and responsibility to say the right thing.

When, really, it should be simple! People shouldn’t be afraid of choosing a career they’re genuinely excited for and passionate about.

The truth is, most people don’t know what they want to be when they’re a teenager. Restricting yourself to just one role from such an early age can be damaging; industries change and new roles appear all the time, so chances are your career path will develop over time and the role you started out in wont be the one you end up in.

Life and career paths are not linear (if you don’t believe us, check out the World of Tourism to see just how diverse they can be!), so don’t be afraid when you’re asked “what are you going to do with your life?”!

Our advice is to:

• Identify the things you love doing. Your hobbies and interests; the things that make you smile, and make you excited to wake up in the morning; the stuff you wish you could do every single day if there were no barriers.
• Find the things you are great at. The things you have natural talent at doing; where your strengths lie; the type of tasks that are easy and enjoyable for you to do. (Don’t worry if you don’t know what these are, just ask your mates, your parents, your teachers and they’ll be able to tell you with no hesitation!)

Once you have these two things figured out, working out what you want to do, or be or what career path you want to follow is just a case of working backwards! We can guarantee there’s a job out there for you in Tourism that will encompass both of those things, but if you need a little extra help, our Right Fit Quiz is the perfect place to start.

Finding a career or industry where you can combine your passions with your talents means you’ll get to develop your skills in an area you’re interested in (so learning won’t feel like hard work!); you’ll get to spend your days with other people who are interested in and good at the same things (so your colleagues might even become your friends!) and waking up in the morning to go to work will be make you feel energised rather than a sense of dread!

After doing some research, identifying your dream role (or roles!) and coming to the conclusion that a career in tourism is for you, the next step is breaking it to the people around you! 

We’re still not sure why tourism careers have such negative stereotypes that surround them (check out our Success Stories for some truly amazing examples of where a job in tourism could take you!) but here are some steps to help you out, just in case you need them…

Once you’ve told your parents what career you want to pursue, see whether they’re:

• Happy and excited for you – this is the ideal response!
• Uncertain - it’ll be easy to persuade them, we promise!
• Concerned and worried that you could ‘do better’ – don’t worry, we can change their minds!

All you need to do next is adjust your response accordingly and get your facts straight. Having evidence to back up your decision will help show them that you’ve done your research and are serious about the great choice you’ve made. These stats show that working in tourism is a no-brainer: 

• Prior to Covid, tourism was (and will very soon be again) Aotearoa’s largest export industry, generating close to $40 billion every year.
• The wider tourism and hospitality industry employed 1 in 7 people in New Zealand, with 50% of all Kiwis working in the sector at some point in their lives.
• At the top of the tourism remuneration rankings for FY22 sits SkyCity Entertainment Group’s Michael Ahearne, with a total package of $2.85million!
• Currently there are heaps of industry vacancies listed online and, since opening our international borders back up, there is a huge demand for workers across all nine sectors.
• Although the pandemic did affect the Visitor Economy, this was an unprecedented event and, since tourism is a people-centric economy and people are always keen to travel, do cool things, see new places and eat great food, the industry will be here forever!
• There are many different avenues to get into tourism, there’s no one-size fits all, so you can pick what suits you and take the path that ensures your best chances of success. Earn & Learn opportunities enable you to work your way up, just like Natasha and Sonny did. You can complete further study and fast track your career just like Sam and Alice did. Or you can go on an OE, fall in love with a job and make it your career, just like Lisa or Gus!

Lastly, reminding the people who care about you that their number one priority should be your happiness (and letting them know that you really believe a tourism career will make you happy!) should seal the deal. And, if all else fails, reminding them that a career in tourism has perks like getting friends and family discounts on trips, activities and accommodation will give them no reason to stand in your way!