How To Choose The Right Career (5 Helpful Tips)
Have you ever wondered how to choose the right career? or what the right career for you is? If you are not sure what you want to do at this moment or in the future, that is okay! Figuring out your career is a process.
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Well, most people who have a career today didn’t fall into it by chance.
If you want to make a good career decision, you need to consider more than just the money and the job security. You also need to think about how your day-to-day life will look, and how well your personality will fit into the company culture.
That is why I have put together this guide: it will help you find the career that is perfect for you!
You will learn how to use your interests and skills to find the right career. You will also learn how to avoid some common pitfalls that can hold you back from finding your dream job.
Contents
How To Choose The Right Career
The first thing to do is figure out what your interests are and how they relate to work. This will help you narrow down what kind of work is right for you.
Think about the types of things you like to do in your free time and consider whether those activities might be related to what you want to do as a career.
For example, if you like playing video games and drawing comics, then maybe working as a graphic designer or game developer would be a good fit! See if there are any jobs that use similar skillsets or require similar skillsets as the ones that interest you most.
If there aren’t any jobs available, start thinking about ways that those skills could be applied outside of their original context (like building video games during downtime).
Once you know what interests you and how they relate to your careers, it is time for interviews! Interviews are very important; they help you know how to choose the right career.
The Right Career Quiz
Most people don’t know the fundamental aspects of their personality, especially if they have no background in psychology.
The best way to get the answers you need is with a career quiz. There are many different types of career quizzes, but the basic structure is very similar: three or four questions that relate to your career (not necessarily related to your skills) and about ten answers for each question that describe how you’ll perform in your career.
Some are simplified, so you may only be asked one or two questions; others are quite complex and require several rounds of questions before it narrows down which box to put you in.
The results from these quizzes will help determine which college classes you need to take (or even whether or not college is necessary), what type of job field suits your personality, what kind of job would suit you best, and more importantly, how much money you should set aside for retirement.
As an example: If I took a career quiz on my own personality and it said that I was an “entrepreneur,” I would probably change my high school major entirely and start focusing on entrepreneurship classes right away.
However, if I took a quiz that told me I was an “individual contributor,” as opposed to a “star” employee or someone who thrives under pressure, then I might still pursue entrepreneurship by taking business courses at university instead of focusing solely on entrepreneurship courses until graduation.
However, it may be wise for me to wait until after graduation before starting my own business because there is always pressure to act as an entrepreneur until things are running smoothly enough for me not to constantly worry about money issues every day.
Talk To Your Peers
Ask questions about what they studied, what it takes to get into their field, if there are opportunities and growth in their field, and what a typical work day looks like for them.
This is a great way to learn about fields you know nothing about but that sound interesting. It also allows you to talk with people who have gone through the same process as you or can relate to your position.
Explore Your Interests
The next step is to identify and explore your interests and values. These are the foundation of your career path. You cannot figure out which path to go down without thinking through what you like doing, what you feel strongly about, and what you see as important.
You can take some time to think about this on your own or you can use some tools that will help guide your thinking. The Career Interest Checklist can be used to help you think about your interests and the Values Checklist can be used to help you think about your values.
Make A List Of Careers
Make a list of careers that interest you. This can include any job title you find intriguing, even if it doesn’t seem like something you would want to do for a living.
Although many students don’t know exactly what they want to do with their lives, this is not an excuse to put off the assignment.
Simply make a list of jobs that spark even the slightest bit of interest. You will get more ideas as you continue reading through this guide, and as your life experiences change over time.
Identify career fields and industries that are trending in the market. Are there any new jobs or career fields that have recently emerged due to technological advances?
For example, information technology was practically unheard of until computers became mainstream several decades ago, but now it is one of the fastest growing career fields in America. Any new and emerging careers can be added to your list if they haven’t already been included in the first draft
Asking Yourself Must Questions
Asking yourself some important questions will help you figure out what courses to study. Some of those questions are:
- Do I like the kind of work this career involves?
- Do I have the skills and abilities to do this kind of work?
- What kind of education or training will I need to get this kind of work?
Ask yourself these and more questions to narrow down your options until you find a course and career that you love.
You need to take your time and think about it
You need to take your time and think about it. If you do this, you will be able to find the right course for you. You should not rush into choosing a course or degree program. This means that you will end up studying in the wrong field or with the wrong institution. Most people have made this mistake and ended up regretting their choice.
When it comes to choosing a degree or course of study, there are some basic questions that most students ask themselves:
- Will I enjoy what I am doing?
- How much will my parents help me pay for my tuition fees?
- Which university is best for me?
Final thoughts on how to choose the right career for yourself
Here are some tips for figuring out what career is right for you:
- Take a test. There are a bunch of different tests online that will help you figure out what careers you might be good at and which ones aren’t right for you.
- Talk to people who have jobs in the careers that interest you. Find out what they like about their jobs and how they got there, and see if it sounds like something that would work for you too!
- Read about different careers on websites like [careersherpa]. They will give information about what it’s like to work in each field, pay info and more!
- Find someone who has a career that interests you, and ask them if they’d be willing to chat with you about their experiences so far (and if not, why not).
