Well of course exploration would help, but it's often very, very hard to get an opportunity to try something to any depth. Who's going to write a better job application, someone who already knows what the job is about, or a tourist?
The advice about keeping your options open is IMO basically advice to do a STEM degree. It is plausible that someone who studied science could read a lot and become a political consultant. It's a lot less plausible that someone who studied politics is going to pick up a book on fluid dynamics and work on formula one cars. Neither should logically be impossible (it's just books after all) but what will most employers' intuition be? Both are small industries where opportunities are limited.
What's needed is more transparency. Nothing throughout school or university showed me anything relevant about work. For instance, what salary can you get from various careers? I was left with some leaflets with rough estimates for finance and consultancy. And I had an offer in Engineering. But apart from that, no clue.
What would make sense would be if firms got some kind of incentive to let young people come in and have a look. And young people would be sent to do various things, not just the ones they (or their parents) think will be best. I remember one 18 year old intern who somehow knew she wanted to work in investment banking (what she was doing in quantitative finance is a good question).
The advice about keeping your options open is IMO basically advice to do a STEM degree. It is plausible that someone who studied science could read a lot and become a political consultant. It's a lot less plausible that someone who studied politics is going to pick up a book on fluid dynamics and work on formula one cars. Neither should logically be impossible (it's just books after all) but what will most employers' intuition be? Both are small industries where opportunities are limited.
What's needed is more transparency. Nothing throughout school or university showed me anything relevant about work. For instance, what salary can you get from various careers? I was left with some leaflets with rough estimates for finance and consultancy. And I had an offer in Engineering. But apart from that, no clue.
What would make sense would be if firms got some kind of incentive to let young people come in and have a look. And young people would be sent to do various things, not just the ones they (or their parents) think will be best. I remember one 18 year old intern who somehow knew she wanted to work in investment banking (what she was doing in quantitative finance is a good question).