Making your CAO decision is just the starting point for a working life that will involve not only multiple jobs but multiple careers'Soft' skills will help you smooth career transitions from job to job and career to career Peter McGuireFri Jun 26 2026 - 06:01 • 5 MIN READClimate change, geopolitical instability and rapid technological disruption – particularly artificial intelligence – mean that the jobs market of 2035 is largely unknowable.Every year, thousands of young people are asked to make a decision about their future, based on last year’s CAO points. Increasingly, however, students, teachers and parents realise that this decision isn’t about mapping the next four decades of their working lives. Instead, it’s just the starting point for a working life that will involve not only multiple jobs but multiple careers – and a whole heap of learning along the way.“It’s not about sitting down and trying to choose a job you will have for life, as parents did,” says Meadhbh Costello, senior policy executive for education, skills and innovation at Ibec. “We know that as soon as a grad leaves their first round of education, they are probably not just going to change jobs multiple times across a career, but entire industries, with different careers at different points.”If the goal is no longer a single career, then the question shifts. It’s not: what job do I want? Instead, it becomes something more fundamental: what kind of thinker do I want to be?Costello says the ideal outcome of any further or higher education pathway is the “T-shaped graduate”. “When you go to university, an apprenticeship, or whatever route suits you, you develop deep specialist knowledge in a key area, but you also get a broad foundation in transversal or ‘soft’ skills. These are things that will last you a lifetime, like communication, critical thinking, problem solving and teamwork. It is those skills that will help you smooth career transitions from job to job and career to career.”The distinction between specialist and soft skills matters more than ever precisely because technical skills date, Costello says. “We try to focus on the broad skills areas – digital literacy, digital skills, transversal skills. Unlike tech skills, transversal skills have a longer shelflife. They are evergreen.” Unesco (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) has been tracking this at a global level. In its research report, International Trends of Lifelong Learning in Higher Education, the Unesco Institute for Lifelong Learning says that lifelong learning is essential in a world shaped by technological and demographic change, framing it as a broad social priority.Unesco’s more recent work on higher education also emphasises that universities should promote lifelong learning and connect with society.Costello agrees, adding that what employers really want is a graduate who can keep learning, rather than one that can only really show their formal qualification.Alice O’Connor is a guidance counsellor at an Educate Together secondary school. When a student sits down with their CAO list, she encourages them to think beyond the course title. “Are you interested not just in the course title but in the college, the location, the practicalities, the course content and its length, and where it leads? Where do you see yourself in five years? And if you don’t know, that’s okay too.”Alice O'Connor. The practical questions matter as well.O’Connor has seen students overlook logistical realities that eventually wear them down. “Simple things like location: how long will it take to get to college? If you’re travelling across the city, an hour and a half each way every day, will that be sustainable? Think about your wellbeing. Will you be able to do this on a cold, dark December morning?”She also encourages students to look at the same or similar courses offered in other institutions. “If you have a course in mind and like the sound of it, is there another way to put it on the CAO? If it’s far away, is there somewhere closer and easier to get to?”Above all, she stresses that a wrong turn is not a dead end. “If you make a mistake, or leave your college course early enough, there are so many options including study abroad, a traineeship, a tertiary degree [which is not awarded based on CAO points]. Don’t be shy about contacting your guidance counsellor in school come offers time.”Costello is enthusiastic about the emergence of cross-disciplinary courses that reject the old divide between Stem and the arts and humanities. Many third-levels now allow students from one discipline – say, medicine or arts – to study a module from a completely different area, such as business or law.“Traditionally, it has been a very siloed system, Stem versus arts and humanities, and never the two shall mix. But now we see cross-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary courses emerge, something that values and mixes both.”For students who are more analytical, more creative or more academically inclined, the key is to find a course that reflects that, and to think about what kind of environment helps them thrive. “What do I enjoy? What do I want to do? How do I link them together?” Costello says. “Courses need to amalgamate all of those things.” She says we are still trying to gain a fuller understanding of how AI will affect employment. “We are still trying to understand the full impact on the labour market. We need to prepare now. We need a culture of lifelong learning and to instil in graduates the skills and ability to manage their own learning. Building that culture starts in further or higher education.”Skills that serve people through disruption are the same ones that make for engaged and rounded citizens: the ability to think critically, communicate well, work with others and come up with new ideas.“These are the same things that produce full, well-rounded citizens and the ability to integrate and fully participate in civic and social life. That is an important part of education, and it should not be forgotten.”Making a smart last-minute decisionÓrla Barry, head of qualifications information and learning opportunities at QQIThe CAO change-of-mind window, which closes on July 1st, is not just an admin deadline. It is a genuine opportunity to pause and reassess. Qualifax provides information on further and higher education and training courses, carrying information on more than 10,000 courses. It is managed by Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), the State agency responsible for promoting the quality, integrity and reputation of the Republic’s further and higher education system.Here is how you can use the remaining time well: Go beyond the title: Look at what you will actually study, not just what the course is called. Does it include a work placement? Can you select electives or specialities as you progress? Those elements help you build and evidence transferable skills when you graduate.Understand the NFQ: Qualifax uses Ireland’s National Framework of Qualifications to explain programmes clearly. A Leaving Cert student might enter at NFQ level five, six, seven or eight and progress from there. Movement between levels and disciplines is possible. Learning is not linear, and neither is a career.Look at all the routes: Going directly into a degree programme is not always the right first step. Qualifax can help you identify NFQ level five and six programmes that offer entry routes into degree courses, pathways that are sometimes more direct than they appear.Ask meaningful questions: What kind of learner do I want to be? What environments help me thrive? Which course will equip me with transferable skills for a future that is still evolving?IN THIS SECTION