How to Choose a Career – 3 Golden Rules to Discovering What Career is Right For You

When you find yourself wondering how to choose a career, you certainly must find reputable sources and tools to help you make the right choice. Today choosing a career has to be one of the hardest things to do in life than ever before, given the vast amount of information we have at our disposal today than we did in the past. Of course, it can be a lot more challenging if you’re starting all over again but surely not impossible. This question of what career is best for you is certainly not one to skip over because life is short and you don’t have any more time to waste! So here are 3 golden rules to determine what career is right for you.

1. Research the Job Market – As soon as you begin your hunt for a new job you should become a master researcher, gathering information about careers that interest you on the surface. Your investigation will need to include job descriptions, job outlook to determine if will you be able to find work in that field, and information on the required training and education necessary for obtaining placement in that line of work.

2. Schedule an Appointment with a Career Counselor – A career counselor will use diverse tools to assist you in identifying your interests, individuality, ideas, and job skills. This is to self-evaluate your innate gifts and the things you naturally enjoy doing to some degree. Once all these things are combined, your counselor will show how they each play a part in selecting a career.

If money is a problem for you at this time, getting the help you require is still possible. Some local libraries as well as local colleges and universities offer career planning support. Some may put forward free services to members of the community. Also, programs that train career counselors often have students work with members of their communities in order to gain internship credit. Don’t be afraid to search for this support.
When you have tapered down your choices to a few jobs, then you should investigate even further, perhaps conducting some informational interviews with those working in the field. You are getting closer toward making an educated decision about what career to pursue.

3. Take a Test – There are tons of free online self-assessment tools you can take that will offer up several job ideas that may best suit you. Or as similarly recommended in rule number two, you can contact the department at your local employment office, college, or temp agency and ask if they offer this type of assessment. Taking an assessment, although it may appear unnecessary, is a great initiative. You may not actually realize what you like to do until you ask yourself decisive questions. Or, you might know exactly what you enjoy, but have trouble figuring out how to turn that into a profession, so self-examination is never lost time.

This is basically a test that you cannot fail; because there won’t be a right or wrong answer, all you have to do is answer the questions as honestly as possible. This will be a detailed questionnaire asking you about your personal characteristics and your daily life. Depending on the responses you make, you will then be given details, in some form or another (often thru a graph or chart rating) to help you develop the type of job that would be good for you.

If you take the exam in-house with someone, you then have the option of talking with them and they will help you categorize key areas of interest based upon the results of your evaluation. He or she may also continue working with you as long as you require. Either way, if you find an online assessment test or go thru community program, don’t rely on just one single test; take several if you can. Not all are the same, and you may find a secret talent, or a positive reception for one topic, that you didn’t stumble upon from a different test.

These are just a few foundational tips to help you pick a career. There are tons of interesting careers out there but you only need one that you can do with dignity, skill and enjoyment. And keep in mind that it’s never too late to begin this journey.

What do you think? Are these tips useful, or pointless? Why?

Have you done any of these steps in your job search? If so, which one and how was it helpful to you?

Cheers and here’s to a productive job search!