Would you enjoy data analysis?
Clean attendance data and recommend which workshop time to test next.
Would I actually like it?
Small, safe pieces of real work for a dozen fields, and the experiments that tell you more than a quiz.
Every guide in Try the work
48 guidesTry a piece of the work
Practice tasks for data, design, security, logistics and project work, with their limits made clear.
8 guidesRead the guide
Is UX design right for me? Test the work, not just the tools
Observe a participant, explain a usability problem and revise a design using a practice brief.
Is cybersecurity right for me? A safe first experiment that is not hacking
Try a fictional incident and risk exercise without hacking or live targets.
Would I enjoy project management? Try a project that goes wrong
Respond to a late event change while balancing a small budget and competing priorities.
Is product management right for me? Try deciding what not to build
Decide what not to build using customer requests, limited capacity and incomplete evidence.
Is logistics right for me? Try a plan that changes
Adjust a fictional delivery plan when timings change and constraints collide.
Is furniture making right for me? Try a brief before buying tools
Test furniture planning with a dimensioned brief, a worked panel list and a client change before buying tools.
Is conservation work right for me? Start with observation, not a verdict
Practise careful conservation notes, keep unknown values visible and separate sightings from unsupported wildlife conclusions.
Try before committing
The small experiments, conversations and days that produce real evidence.
5 guidesTry the work before you switch.
Make one real output, ask about difficult weeks and repeat the task before switching.
Small ways to test a career this week
Choose an evening-sized experiment that produces something you can learn from.
You tried the work. What did you learn?
Record what interested you, what remains uncertain and what you want to test next.
What is job shadowing, and how do I arrange it?
Arrange a day beside someone doing the work and record what you notice.
How do I run an informational interview?
Ask focused questions about someone’s working day, challenges and route into the field.
Is this work for me?
Marketing, sales, teaching, trades, games, nursing, law, medicine, counselling and technical writing, each with a safe task to try.
10 guidesIs marketing right for me? Try a real brief before you retrain
Choose an audience, write three message angles and plan the measurement for a fictional bakery brief.
Is sales right for me? Test the conversation, not the stereotype
Run a practice discovery call with a hidden customer brief and practise responding to no.
Is teaching right for me? Teach one fifteen-minute lesson and find out
Plan and teach a fifteen-minute lesson with an observable objective and a final check.
Is becoming an electrician right for me? Safe ways to test it first
Test the maths, a wiring plan and a day with an electrician, without touching mains wiring.
Is game design right for me? Make a paper prototype this weekend
Build a paper prototype, watch three people play it silently and change one rule.
Is nursing right for me? How to find out before you apply
Test bodily care, clinical precision and emotional steadiness separately before applying.
Is law right for me? Try the reading and the arguing first
Find the ambiguities in a fictional pet clause, redraft it and watch a public hearing.
Is medicine right for me? What to test before a decade of training
Test patient contact, study, specialties and training reality, and shadow an adjacent profession too.
Is becoming a counsellor or therapist right for me?
Practise listening without fixing on a low-stakes topic and look into supervised volunteer roles.
Is technical writing right for me? Write instructions someone can follow
Write instructions for a real task, watch someone follow them and revise every hesitation.
Where to start
When nothing obvious is pulling at you, and the question feels too large to answer.
1 guideTests and tools
What quizzes, aptitude tests and AI assistants can and cannot tell you.
3 guidesOffLadder vs Forage: choosing what to try next
Compare exploration with employer-designed simulations, and learn when using both can help.
How Laddie works: an AI guide that should change its mind with you
Learn how Laddie uses context, supports experiments and updates its guidance as you learn.
Entry-level jobs and AI: how to get experience when nobody will hire you
Build a credible work sample while navigating changing entry-level hiring.
When AI changes your job
Role by role: what changes when software does the first draft, and which judgement still carries over.
1 guideActually changing
The method, the timelines, and the two questions everyone asks: no experience, and no degree.
2 guidesBefore you pay to retrain
Master’s degrees, bootcamps, apprenticeships, portfolios and freelancing, with the checks worth doing first.
2 guidesHow to build a career-change portfolio when you have no clients
Build honest portfolio evidence using practice briefs, even before you have clients.
Should I freelance? Test more than the part you enjoy
Test finding clients, agreeing scope and handling revisions alongside the work you enjoy.
Other ways to build a working life
Too many interests, stepping back from management, climate work and helping people outside healthcare.
3 guidesIs instructional design right for me? Build a lesson someone can actually learn from
Build and test a short lesson to find out whether solving learning problems interests you.
How to move into climate work without a science or engineering background
Find where your current skills fit climate work and test a practical sector-learning exercise.
I want work that helps people, but I do not want to be a doctor, nurse or therapist
Try helping work while checking boundaries, qualifications and the kind of support involved.
Students and graduates
Course choices, what a degree can open, and what to do when graduation did not bring an answer.
2 guidesGraduated. What comes next?
Talk to someone in a field and try one real task over the next seven days.
A career exploration lesson plan: try, notice, choose a next question
Facilitate an account-free 45-minute lesson using public work samples, private reflection and a next question rather than career scores.
Tests, tools and methods
What to do with Holland codes, O*NET and CliftonStrengths results, how to research and decide, and a plan you can follow.
10 guidesI got my Holland code. What do I do with it?
Read your RIASEC combination, turn the top letters into activities and compare the feeling with the score.
How to use your O*NET Interest Profiler results
Narrow profiler suggestions by Job Zone and tasks, check local facts and test the top two.
How to use CliftonStrengths results to choose a career
Translate your top five themes into activities and find kinds of work where they meet.
What is the best career exploration app for adults?
Assessment, information, simulation and experiment tools compared by what each is for, with our bias stated.
How do I research a career properly before choosing it?
Combine official data, job postings, three conversations and one piece of the work.
How do I make a career decision when every option has downsides?
Weight your criteria, score two options, then test the guesses with the biggest weight.
How to use a side project to test a new career
Design a project with real tasks, a real person and a deadline in one afternoon.
Can volunteering help me test a career?
Choose volunteer roles by their tasks so each one answers a specific career question.
Should I move teams inside my company instead of changing careers?
A six-week plan to earn a move into another team while keeping your pay and reputation.
A career change plan template you can actually follow
A twelve-week explore, test, decide and move template with a money threshold and weekly review.
From the notebook
1 guide145 guides. Many ways forward.
How we write & check our guides