Have you thought about what’s next after high school? Yes, it is summertime, and the pressure may, or may not be on you – yet.
Depending on your circumstances, it could be a “Gap Year” to work to earn income, or travel to learn about another country’s culture. Or maybe you’re thinking of an apprenticeship or trade, or considering going to a post secondary or polytechnic? And then, there is also the option of online learning.
Yes, it can be stressful for youth and for millennials who are not sure how to answer the dreaded question – “So What’s Next”? Thinking about how to navigate your career pathways will become the norm to getting to where you want to go. Occupations of the future will create new roles, new jobs. So how to decide?
For Tegan, she went with her heart and passion to be a real estate developer, and set her mind on just doing it, with the realistic understanding that it was up to her to act on it, and that she would always need to be in continuous “study mode“ (even on completion of high school and post secondary). Over 10 years ago she realized that she needed to learn through experiencing different roles at of work, and through the perspective of others to achieve the skills needed to build towards her career goals.
In Episode 2, Tegan shares how she navigated her career journey through understanding – that formal learning was only the start, and that being patient and working hard to improve her skills and recognized meant going outside normal “job descriptions” on her on time, as key to attaining the skills and knowledge that she needed to move forward.
To learn, she stayed with the companies she sought out for several years – not hopping from job to job for short-term monetary gain. She talked about taking a pay cut to get the job she wanted – so she could learn and pivot her career from engineering to the real estate side. It was important to her that opportunities and situations align with her career vision, and her “gut feel” – and when it does she goes all out to perform, beyond what the role requires during work, and even after work to network and attend related industry meetings and events outside of her scope and comfort zone.
About Tegan Martin-Drysdale
Tegan is the owner and founder of Ocheller and the RedBrick Group of Companies. A LEED accredited civil engineer, Tegan has broad experience in how buildings come together from the perspectives of the designer, architect, contractor and supplier all the way through to the client. She has first-hand experience in structural engineering and project management of mixed use, commercial, and residential projects.
Tegan co-founded Homestead, a new co-working space in Edmonton’s downtown. was past President of IDEA, the Infill Development in Edmonton Association, past co-chair for Make Something Edmonton, and past Community Co-Chair of the Next Gen Committee.
