Whether you are just fresh out of college or in between changing careers, you need to consider number of factors when you are looking to settle with a particular career. Most people will tell you that the traditional method of getting a good education, finding a job and then working your way through the job ladder is a model which is quite redundant nowadays. Professionals nowadays tend to change their job titles and workplaces much faster than changing their clothes.
This certainly shows that today people have far more options than they used to have even a decade ago. Nevertheless, too many options can actually end up confusing many people rather than helping them. Therefore it is necessary to have a clear idea about the career goal you wish to pursue as it can influence your life in more ways than one.
Choosing a career path can be a tricky thing to do. However, there are effective tools and methods that you can use to determine if a particular career path is right for you. You will have to consider factors such as attitudes, interests, skills, job training and the availability of work when you are looking to settle in a new career.
Key points to remember while choosing a career
Remember that your career is not just a way to earn money but it is also a means to create a lifestyle for yourself. If you are a creative type, then it can become quite difficult for you to adjust into a 9 to 5 schedule or even socialize with people who have priorities that are quite different from yours. Therefore in order to become really successful, you need to evaluate yourself and your needs first. This is something that you can do by asking yourself the following questions.
- What are your skill sets?
- What kind of work or subject matter spurs your interest and what bores you to death?
- Do you rely only on your educational qualifications or you also have additional skill sets that are usually not explored in conventional schools?
- What kind of lifestyle you are hoping to have once you start working in a particular field?
- What mental picture do you have in your mind when it comes to your ideal work environment?
Having the answers to the above questions can surely make it a lot easier for you to find a particular career path that is more suitable for you.
Now let’s explore some of these things in greater detail.
Your passions
One of the first things that you will need to consider when you are looking for the perfect career path is your passion or area of interest. This can actually seem to be simpler than it really is. While some people tend to have a clear goal from the very beginning as to what they want to do with their lives, there are others who find it hard to have a clear idea about their passions and interests. Being vague in this sphere certainly does not help anyone. However, for most people, it can be a tough task to make up their minds as to what would be the best thing for them to do.
No matter what your aspirations might be, you need to have a definite starting point from where you can start working on. Make sure that you have the skills that you require for your desired goal and see how you can proceed in that direction. Also remember that in any field or career path, there can be hundreds of different job patterns that look similar but may involve different job responsibilities, thus requiring different skills. You should be able to determine which of them best suits your needs before you proceed in a particular direction.
Your skills
Whatever be your line of work, you will need to have certain skill sets to be able to do well in it. This can mean your academic qualifications or even skills that have more to do with your personality. For instance, some people are good with the words and can make a career out of speaking. If that is your thing, you can very well opt for a career such as sales or legal services that would require you to speak with a lot of other people. If you are good at providing instructions to others and make them simple to understand, you can very well take up teaching as your career path.
Your motivations
- In any career path, feeling motivated to do well is an essential ingredient to find satisfaction in that kind of work. However, what motivates one person can be drastically different than what works for someone else. If you are someone who is highly creative and enterprising, then you will look for fast improvements in your career path.
- You will tend to think abstractly, recognize new opportunities and make effective use of them and work quickly to do well in your line of work. However, you will never be satisfied in a 9 to 5 job where things are heavily methodical and moves on a predetermined pace.
- On the other hand, if you are someone who likes to work in an environment that is predictable and always moves in a definite pace, then you can find satisfaction and motivation in a career that relies heavily on planning, thoroughness, reliability and analytical thinking. However, you will never feel comfortable in a work environment that encourages people to take risks and progress in an unpredictable pace.
Your social circle
- Based on the kind of work that you do or the career path that you choose, your social circle is also going to vary greatly. For instance, if you are working in a steady 9 to 5 work environment, then the people whom you socialize with will mostly tend to focus on job security and predictability as some of their main concerns.
- On the other hand, if you are working in a creative environment, then people will be more goal-oriented in their approach and would be ready to try out anything to achieve those goals. The interesting thing is that most people tend to practice the same approach that they have in their work lives in other areas of their lives as well. Therefore you will need to find out what works best for you if you are to have a satisfactory career.
The market
Whatever career path that you opt for, you will need to make sure that you get enough financial returns to provide for yourself and your family. To do this, you will need to understand the market value of your career path. So if you want to open a business that mainly deals with the supplying of seafood, you will need to live in a location that is closer to the coastal areas.
On the other hand, if you are not ready to move close to the sea and would prefer living in inland areas, then a career in seafood supply may not be the best option for you. You will also need to evaluate the demand for the goods or services that you are ready to deliver among your prospective customers before you choose a particular career path.