How to choose your perfect career – Confucius said, “choose a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life”. This statement would possibly correlate with you when you are struggling to figure out what to do with your life. Starting the right career brings you satisfaction and financial independence. But being in the wrong job will be exhausting, stressful, and unrewarding. With thousands of careers to pick from, it’s tough to find a job that you will love going to every day.
Right career is the one that suits your aptitudes, interests, work-related values, and your personality. While choosing a career, you should also analyze earnings, job scope, responsibilities, because, in the end, the job satisfaction is what that sets a perfect career. Still unconvinced? Scroll down to have a quick glance at the valuable tips that help you with ‘how to choose your perfect career’.
1. Evaluate yourself thoroughly
Most of us start our first job when we’re in our 20s. However, not all of us land the perfect career in our first jobs. Therefore, before you jump into a profession, learn more about yourself. Your aptitudes, interests, values, soft-skills merged together with your personality make some careers a perfect choice, while some unsuitable. Thus, self-analysis and introspection are important because it’s about something you’d be devoting your time, energy, knowledge, and emotions in to.
2. Seek valuable guidance
There are a large number of professionals or career counselors who can help you with choosing a perfect career and career growth. You can even seek guidance from your friends and mentors who can help you with choosing the right career depending upon the traits and personality that you have. Nowadays, there are many self-assessment tools, also known as online career tests, that create a list of career based on the career test analysis.
3. Create a list of jobs to explore
Making a list is the key step for deciding the right career choice. Create a list of occupations that you’re interested in. Don’t worry about how long your list may stretch. Take in accounts of the ones that are generated by the career tests. Add the professions that fascinate you. Include the careers that you know a little about and wish to explore deeper. Add the ones which are new to you in your list, so that might learn something amazing.
4. Do research on your job list
Once you have finished making a list, do some research about the job so that you can gain some basic idea about the professions on your record. Get the information from reliable and published sources. Find job descriptions and terms. Learn about eligibility, training,
certification requirements from the published and reliable sources. Get information on career advancement possibilities. Get insight into the incomes and job scope from the government-produced labor market data.
5. Shortlist the Right one
With the detailed info of the list based on your research, erase the career that you don’t want to pursue ahead. Create a short list. Narrow down your list. Make sure that you have less than 2- 5 careers in your “short list”.
If a career doesn’t appeal you, cross it off the list. Also, remove the professions that have an inadequate job scope. Get rid of everything that doesn’t appeal to you. Eliminate the jobs if you are not eligible to fulfill educational qualifications, soft skills, and additional requirements.
6. Identify your purposes
Make a decision and identify your long-term and short-term goals. You can work on your chosen field once you decide on your choices. Long-term goals basically take about 3-5 years to achieve, whereas, the short-term goal can be reached within 6 months to 3 years.
For example, a long-term goal can be completing your education and training. Short-term goals involve applying to the training programs, apprenticeship, internships, or applying to colleges. Thus, recognize your goals and work accordingly.
7. Choose your profession
Once you’ve completed all the research, you are probably well prepared to make choice for your ‘perfect career’. Choose the career that you believe will bring you the joy and accomplishment based on the data that you’ve gathered via your research. Remember that you can start all over with a new career at any point in your life if you wish for a change in your choice. Most people do change their profession at least a few times in their lives. And, yes they have attained a massive success!
In any job, motivation is what keeps you going ahead and it should come from within, not from outside force. If you find yourself dissatisfied and unhappy with what you’re doing, it’s not for you. Do not hesitate to embrace the change. Do not regret your decisions. Instead, consider using your experience in something that truly appeals you to the core. Remember, it’s never too late to set another goal, and you’re never too old to dream another dream.
Also Read: How to make the Right Career Decision
