“What do you want to do when you graduate?” It’s a question that we’ve all probably heard thousands of times during our duration as students. If you’re lucky enough to have a confident answer, hats off to you. However, the rest of us, myself included, probably have a hard time answering this question. For me, there’s just so much to choose from, which is probably a good problem to have but I sometimes feel like I don’t even know where to begin when it comes to choosing a career.

Whenever I get myself worked up about this I usually call my mom (who else?) and one of the best pieces of advice she’s ever given is me is if you don’t know what, at least figure out what you don’t want. So, this is something I’ve been trying to do for the last few years or so. Each work experience or even class gives me some insight as to what I might be interested and what I’m definitely not interested in.

How does this fit into Paris, though? Well, I’ve been able to use this experience to once again add to my lists of what I do and do not like. As these lists continue to grow, I hope I’ll be able to narrow down my choices and pick the path that’s best for me.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned about my likes and dislikes while interning in Paris:

I don’t really like working in an office. Sitting at a desk all day staring at a computer isn’t really my cup of tea. Therefore, I think I’ll try to look for jobs where I don’t have to be in an office 5 days a week. Even a few days in an office would be fine, but the 5 days a week for 8 hours a day thing isn’t something I necessarily want to see in my future.

Yet, with that being said, I like the co-workers that come with being in an office. I’ve met some incredible people here and work is so much better with them around! So, having co-workers is something that I’m putting on the “do” list.

I like social media, but I don’t want to manage it for a living. Being a marketing major, I’ve always toyed around with the idea of maybe wanting to pursue a field in social media. It’s something that I have sort of grown up with, I know how to use it, and I think that when it is used well it can do wonders for a company or a brand. And while all of these things still remain true, I’ve gotten a taste of what managing a company’s social media is like and I don’t really like it. I think I’ll stick to just tweeting, posting, and updating for myself.

Lastly, I’ve learned (or re-confirmed, rather) that I love talking to people! My other jobs in Pittsburgh allow for a lot of human contact with other people. This is something I took for granted and greatly miss! Even though, as I mentioned before, I love having my co-workers around, no one really talks to each other except for at lunch. Most of the time, everyone is absorbed in their work. This means sometimes I go for hours on end without speaking…let’s just say I love talking too much for my future career to allow that!

I’ve learned a lot interning here, not just about the industry or specific marketing skills, but about myself, too. While I still can’t give you the name of the exact job I want when I graduate, I can add to my “do” and “don’t” lists, and sometimes that all I can and want to ask for.