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How to turn what you love into a career

By Rebecca Hanley | Presented by Open Universities Australia|

From side-hustle to pay day

Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life, they say. But often we end up trying to shape what we do into something we love, instead of the other way around.

Are you getting itchy feet at work? Finding yourself staring out the window instead of attending to that oh-so riveting spreadsheet?

From selecting the right career for you to upskilling quick-smart, here are three ways to morph what you love into your 9-to-5.

Make the right choice

The first step to getting paid for what you love is to spend some time working out what exactly it is that lights you up.

Brainstorm with a friend or book in a session with a career coach to help you identify what will really make you happy to get out of bed on a Monday morning.

Is it making a meaningful contribution by helping others? Taking your skateboarding skills pro? Or expressing your creativity through a travel blog or knitting doilies?

Itกฏs different for everyone จC the key is to be totally honest about what you really want to do. Try asking yourself, กฐIf money and fears were no object and I could do absolutely anything, what would it be?กฑ ?

Upskill in the relevant area

Now that youกฏve pinpointed what exactly it is that you love, itกฏs time to arm yourself with the skills and training youกฏll need to turn it pro and succeed.

And if you donกฏt fancy putting off your dream career a minute longer, exhale จC this doesnกฏt have to mean spending the next four years stuck in a university lecture theatre!

There are loads of flexible study options around, which means you can complete a university course จC or even a single subject if thatกฏs all youกฏre after จC remotely while making inroads in your dream career.?

Bess Kennedy was working as a fashion retail manager when she decided she wanted to do what she really loved, so she enrolled in a Bachelor of Business at Griffith University.

She studied online through Open Universities Australia, and the flexible study option meant she could even fast-track her studies to finish earlier.

กฐIt was absolutely brilliant to help me achieve my goals in my own time,กฑ says Bess, who has since launched a successful sneaker brand, SNKR Project, and relocated to LA.

Considering upskilling like Bess, but donกฏt want to wait until 2020? Mid-year intakes allow you to start getting paid to do what you love, sooner.

Launch a start-up

If you canกฏt find the gig you want advertised, take another route to 9-to-5 happiness by starting your own business.

Jayn OกฏDriscoll was working in middle-management, until she fell pregnant with her second child and started designing and making her own maternity wear.

กฐI had a few people come up to me and say,?wow, that looks really great,กฑ recalls Jayn. So she decided to channel her love for fashion into a business opportunity and launch a maternity wear label.

Jayn enrolled in Swinburne Universityกฏs Bachelor of Business through Open Universities Australia, which she says gave her the confidence to turn her passion into a fully-fledged operation.

กฐMy studies have had a huge impact on my career,กฑ she says. กฐI was able to start my own business confidently จC without the theoretical experience, I probably wouldnกฏt have had the confidence to do it.กฑ

Today, Jayn spends her days running her business, Mutha Maternity, from a villa in Bali. Not a bad way to spend Monday mornings!

Turn what you love into a career.?Through Open Universities Australia, you can choose from hundreds of degrees from universities across Australia. Explore your options at?open.edu.au?or call a friendly student advisor on 13 OPEN.

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