How To Decide on a Career That Works for You

Deciding on a career is important for several reasons, such as:

• It can set you along a specific trajectory. Each career path has unique features in terms of job experiences, work settings, and a hierarchy of occupations. By selecting a career path that works for you, you can benefit from an early start when compared to workers who choose to work in several diverse career trajectories instead of focusing on one that suits them. For example, in your chosen field, you can gain the relevant experience, adjust to the environment, and focus on advancement relatively quickly.
• It can help you to start planning. When you choose a career, you can make short-term and long-term plans for professional development. This enables you to figure out all the necessary things you need to do to achieve the success you want in the future.
• It can help you to exploit field-based opportunities. Most occupations offer specific opportunities for growth, such as training programs for skill development, internal promotions, and influential employees who can become valuable contacts. By choosing a career that suits you, you can make the best use of these opportunities to advance.

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• Follow your professional dreams. The most successful professionals are usually doing things they enjoy. It’s easy to get sidetracked when you’re looking for the right career based on the opinions of others and the logistics. However, if you’re highly motivated to work in a specific career, try your best to reach this target.
• Be your own career planner. While you may lack the necessary qualifications to get an entry-level job in your chosen profession at the moment, you can achieve them with proper planning. Identify what you need to do to become eligible in the future, make a plan, and start taking small steps toward your goal.
• Invest in self-assessment. Remember to take the time you need to assess yourself and identify your interests and aptitudes. Assessing yourself accurately will make it easier to find matches when you research different occupations.

Learn more: The Top White-Collar Jobs to Pursue

You can use the following steps to decide on a career when you’re undecided:

1. Assess yourself

You have a unique personality and abilities that can be developed to effectively complement the requirements of certain jobs, so start the process of choosing a career by finding out what they are with the following methods:

• Get expert career advice. Talk to a career counselor and get some professional advice on careers. However, make sure to choose a National Career Development Association (NCDA) member who has a state license to avoid people who misrepresent themselves as job coaches.
• Complete a value inventory. Knowing your values, which are the things that are most important to you, is an important step in the process of deciding on a career because your values are likely to impact your level of satisfaction with a particular job. For example, if you value choosing your own hours for work, a traditional 9-to-5 occupation that does not provide flexible hours is unlikely to satisfy you. Contributing to society, earning a high salary, and working in a fast-paced environment are examples of values you could have. To learn what your values are, take a survey such as the Temperament and Values Inventory (TVI) or Survey of Interpersonal Values (SIV).
• Complete an interest inventory. Learning about your interests, which are the things you like doing, can significantly influence whether or not you like a job. Make sure to complete an interest inventory, such as Strong Interest Inventory (SII), to find out about the interests that suit different occupations.
• Complete an aptitude inventory. Your aptitudes are the things you can do well, which are also simply called skills. Knowing what they are is an essential step in choosing the right career because some skills are difficult to learn. For example, while you can gain a technical, or hard, skill through study, such as coding with JavaScript, it’s more difficult to gain a natural, or soft, skill that is a part of your personality, such as attention to detail, which all efficient JavaScript programmers have.
• Complete a personality inventory. Each individual has a unique personality, and the traits that comprise who you are can influence whether or not you like a job and can excel at it. For example, if you’re an extrovert who enjoys interacting with others and being in the spotlight, you’re likely to like being a sales representative because this involves interacting regularly with colleagues and clients, but you’re unlikely to enjoy being a researcher because this profession involves working independently with minimal interaction with others. Use a personality test, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to find out about your personality traits.
• Consider your values, interests, soft skills, and hard skills. Use what you learned from the career counselor and the self-assessment tests as well as what you know about yourself to make a list of your values, interests, hard skills, and soft skills.

Learn more: Best Careers for ESTJ Personalities

2. Research professions that motivate you

Armed with what you found out during the self-assessment stage, research different professions that appeal to you. You may already have a career preference, but there could be other professions out there that suit you, too. To find these career paths, read various job listings, talk to your friends about jobs, and consider employee reviews for different occupations. Then, make a tentative list of five professions that appeal to you.

3. Consider the logistics of preparing for each profession

Each profession requires a combination of educational qualifications, experience, and skills in an entry-level candidate, and you need to know if you’ll be able to meet these requirements. You can use the following questions as a guide when deciding whether or not a career is achievable:

• Can you pay for the educational requirements?
• Can you get help in paying for the necessary education?
• What is the student aid available to help you get the education you need?
• What grades do you need to qualify for student aid?
• Are you willing to work hard to qualify for student aid?
• What work experience do you need to get an entry-level job?
• Can you get work experience while you’re studying or working in a different job?
• Are you willing to volunteer or do internships to get the necessary work experience?
• Do you have a resume?
• Are you willing to develop your resume to get a job?
• Is getting hired for the job you want in the future worth the effort necessary now?
• Are you excited to prepare for your new career?

Based on your research on the feasibility of your career options, choose the top three careers. Learn more: How to Write a Resume

4. Experience your three favorite career options

Find out if you’re likely to enjoy working in your top three career options. To do so, research key personnel in each career, make contact, and seek informational interviews. This type of interview offers the following benefits:

• It gives you the opportunity to learn about the job.
• It can provide insights about the industry.
• It can help you to develop a valuable, professional relationship with the interviewer.

5. Select a career

Use your research findings to choose your career. Ensure that you made the right choice by checking it for the following features:

• It suits your values, interests, and aptitudes.
• It is achievable in terms of the necessary time, finances, and effort.
• It inspires you to work hard.

6. Evaluate your choice

Once you choose your career, focus on getting the necessary qualifications to get your first job. When you do so, it’s important to evaluate whether you made the right choice. You can do this by asking yourself the following questions:

• Do you like your career?
• Do you like your supervisor?
• If you had a different supervisor, would you like your career?
• What do you like about your job?
• What do you dislike about your job?
• Are there things you can do to become more satisfied at work?
• In the next five years, do you see yourself working up the ladder you’re on?
• Do you want to change your job?
• Do you want to change your career?

7. Decide whether to switch or stay

Based on your evaluation, decide whether to continue advancing in your current career or switch to another one. Now you have the tools you need to decide on a career. Use the career selection process you learned in this article, follow the steps, and make a great decision. Discover companies hiring by location, job title, and industry.