Choosing a Career Path

Choosing a career is not just choosing any other job. It is choosing what kind of life you want to live. Picking a career path is a momentous decision and should be approached with thoughtful consideration.

It all starts with examining your skills. Is there a certain talent you have or something you love to do? It’s important to look at your abilities and see what you can develop and utilize. Try to be creative and flexible with your talents as well. See where seemingly frivolous interests can lead you in the job market.

Consider your past experiences. Did you hate your job as a camp counselor? Did you love your job as a shift manager? Use your previous experiences to gauge what kind of field you’d enjoy being in and which ones you’d be miserable in.

You should also look at your work style and where and how you work best. Do you work better in an office? Do you like hands-on, physical tasks or do you excel with computers and information systems? It’s important to see where you’re most comfortable working. This is hopefully where you’ll be working for the majority of your life.

In addition to your comfort, you should also assess your social needs. If you like interacting with people, sales might be a field you want to explore. If you’re more independent, you may want to look into jobs in which you are able to work from home or jobs that have limited social interaction.

Maintain an organized list of all these elements. You can document your interests, disinterests, and personal strengths. You can note things you want to learn more about or things that sound interesting to you. This will help shape your career path aims. Choosing a career should not be an overnight decision, but something you steadily explore.

Set short term goals that will help pave the way to a long term goal. Pushing yourself to achieve a series of smaller tasks rather than one, large task will help you break up the process and actually accomplish what you want to.

It is also essential for you to intern or volunteer in the field you want to enter. You may think you like this career option, but until you experience it in its purest form, you will never truly know. You may love teaching children, but hate the classroom environment. This can lead you to consider other career options or deviations from your initial choice.

A career path is something you want to seriously consider. Reviewing all your options and exploring your talents and interests are crucial in this process.