If you take a look of the people close to you, you will immediately realise that the traditional three- step career plan no longer applies. It is clear that graduating college, getting a job and getting promoted at the same company plan is outdated. Today people change their job titles, move between many companies and industries throughout the course of their career.
The main advantage of this trend is that people are more flexible and have more choice when it come s to choosing a career. The downside is that all choices are not necessarily good and having too many can be daunting. Choosing a career path is, for the majority of us, a confusing, difficult and anxiety filled experience. Even if you ask for help of professionals, you can still be confused about what is right for you. Many will tell you to find something that you love and follow your passion but to be honest I don’t find this as very useful advice. When I finished university, there were a lot of things that I loved and was passionate about but didn’t want to do it full time.
We all want to choose a career that will make us happy and feeling satisfied, but how can we know how to find it? It is not that difficult to find someone who thought they would enjoy their chosen profession and end up hating every minute of it. Well, it is only fair to say how can people know if they would be happy being a teacher, lawyer or doctor if they have never done it before.
The following are some tips and questions to help you decide your ideal career path.
- Think hard about what you want to do and what you don’t want to do: People end up in the wrong career for a number of reasons. They might give a lot of importance to the salary and benefits that come with the job, to please a family member or simply because it looked like a good idea at that time. People should have clear goals when opting to go for a new career path. These goals can be revealed by asking questions like: What do you enjoy doing? What are you good at? What things do you do better than other? What means a lot to you?
- Evaluate your background and personality: When you know what you want out of your career, evaluate what qualifications you have and choose your ideal background. Take into consideration your skills, experience, education and personality traits. Having a degree in a particular field can help a lot, but not having one does not necessarily mean you won’t get a job.
- Keep your options open: Career experts say that no matter what stage you are in your life the important thing is to keep your options open. If you are just entering the job market do your research and take time to explore different options and learn more about different careers.
- Determine if you are in the wrong career: If you are asking yourself these question the probability is that you have been thinking about changing your career for some time. I suggest that you ask yourself to distinguish between being in the wrong career or the wrong environment.