Choosing a career when the future feels uncertain
For teenagers and parents in Ukraine: separating interest from pressure, allowing for war and making a plan that can change.
In brief
You do not need to choose a lifelong career today. Find two or three directions, try one ordinary task and check whether training is accessible. After a sleepless night or forced move, the plan may need to shrink. Changed circumstances do not mean you lack ability.
First, work out what is getting in the way
“I don’t know what to do” can mean several things: I know few careers; I like several things; I fear making a mistake; I don’t know where I can study. Finish that sentence in your own words. The first situation calls for examples, the second for comparison, and the last for training information and a backup route.
An OECD review shows that career uncertainty is common outside Ukraine too. Another report using the same PISA data distinguishes missing information from feeling unprepared. These are not two independent findings or Ukrainian statistics. [1] [2]
Parents can ask “what would help you take the next step?” rather than “when will you decide?”. Do not demand a final answer on a day when a child returns exhausted from a shelter.
What teenagers say about future readiness
PISA 2022, OECD averages. Responses to separate questions; groups may overlap. Not Ukraine data. Labels are shortened.
Data table
| Indicator | Share, % |
|---|---|
| Worry about being unprepared for life after school | 47 |
| Do not feel prepared for their future path | 42 |
| Do not feel well informed about possible paths | 34 |
War changes access, not what you are allowed to enjoy
An air alert interrupted the lesson, the internet failed, or moving made a club inaccessible. Do not record that as “I never finish anything”. Separate interest in the task from whatever prevented completion. Not having a quiet place is different from lacking ability.
UNICEF describes disrupted and remote learning in Ukraine. Our practical response is to give each step an accessible alternative. If a visit is impossible, read the provider’s official course outline; if connectivity is unreliable, use a short paper task. This is a RealSkills adaptation, not a UNICEF-tested method. [6]
If finding one training provider is all you can manage today, that is one useful step. You can return to the decision later without discarding what you have already learned.
Compare tasks, not impressive titles
Choose two or three directions from the career catalogue. For each, name an ordinary action: tracing a software error, explaining a difficult idea or organising a work sequence. “Creative” and “promising” do not explain how most of the working day is spent.
OECD links career exploration and reflection with later outcomes, but associations do not establish causation. Its job-shadowing paper explains the purpose of seeing work happen. The EEF review cautions against simple generalisations across different formats and study quality. [3] [4] [5]
Our suggestion is to try a small part of a task from the safe trial collection. Afterwards, ask “would I like to understand this better?” rather than “am I talented?”. One unsuccessful attempt does not rule out a career.
Ukraine’s recovery: a reason to explore, not an instruction
RDNA5 identifies transport, energy and housing among the hardest-hit sectors. This explains attention to recovery, but does not predict how many jobs will await a graduate or what they will pay. [7]
We suggest exploring engineering, construction, logistics, accessible design, rehabilitation, education and digital services. This is our selection, not an RDNA5 ranking. Interest in transport can be explored through a fictional timetable; interest in accessibility through reviewing an ordinary web page.
You do not have to abandon music, cooking or design because they do not sound like “reconstruction careers”. A country needs many kinds of work. Look for an overlap between interest, accessible training and working conditions you can accept.
A plan that can change after a move or interruption
First: choose two directions and one task for each. Second: check the provider’s current admissions requirements, cost, format, accessibility and contact details. Do not rely on an old admissions post. Third: identify an alternative if relocation or safety changes the plan.
A backup need not mean a different profession. It might be another provider, a later start or more accessible preparation. Do not assume every qualification can be completed remotely: practical and licensing requirements need their own checks.
Agree a date to revisit the plan with an adult, not a deadline for a final life choice. If sleeping, studying or spending time with others is difficult too, start with support. A career task can wait.
A worksheet: complete one for each of two directions
RealSkills practical framework; not measured study results.
| Question | What to write | How to check |
|---|---|---|
| What would I do? | One everyday task: ______ | Career profile and a short trial |
| What interested me? | An action, not a judgement of yourself: ______ | Revisit the task on another day |
| What is in the way? | Sleep, connectivity, cost, travel: ______ | What can change and what cannot yet |
| How can I access training? | Provider, requirements, date checked: ______ | Official website and admissions office |
| If the plan falls through? | Backup route and next step: ______ | Agree a feasible step with an adult |
Method and limitations
This is a thematic review of 7 public publications, not a RealSkills survey. Sources were selected for relevance, attribution, date and described evidence. The consulted portions are listed below. The search was not systematic or exhaustive. We compared findings without pooling samples. Ukrainian context was checked against official ministry and UNICEF material or the joint recovery assessment; international work is used only within its stated scope. Sources checked on 14 September 2026.
Tasks, sample conversations and worksheets are RealSkills practical proposals, not evaluated programmes or diagnostic tests. They do not guarantee less anxiety or a successful career choice. Figures from different countries, years and groups are not combined into one trend. Publications may share underlying data, so publication counts are not counts of independent confirmations. Local safety procedures take priority; this material does not replace professional help.
Sources and scope
- OECD, 2025. The State of Global Teenage Career Preparation
Introduction and PISA 2022 headline indicators. International averages, not Ukraine estimates.
- OECD, 2024. Teenage career uncertainty
PDF, p. 8: readiness responses. Shares PISA 2022 data with the 2025 report.
- Covacevich et al., OECD, 2021. Indicators of teenage career readiness
Published abstract of longitudinal analysis; no reanalysis of individual records.
- OECD, 2022. Job shadowing
Policy-paper abstract: exploring an actual workplace.
- Hughes et al., EEF, 2016. Careers education: international literature review
PDF: executive summary and methods, report pp. 1–4 and 13–15.
- UNICEF, 2025. Children’s education in wartime Ukraine
Release of 1 September 2025, citing ministry data for the end of the 2024/25 school year. Not a mental-health assessment.
- Government of Ukraine, World Bank, EU and UN, 2026. RDNA5
Official summary of 23 February 2026; assessment as of 31 December 2025. Recovery needs, not a vacancy forecast.
