When it comes to choosing a right career, the most important thing for you is to know what you actually want. Having an understanding of yourself will help you to make choices and decisions about your career direction and is essential for presenting yourself to employers in a competitive and confident way. On the other hand, if you do not understand yourself, you will end up making choices that do not work for you.
Identify Yourself
In order to identify yourself, ask the following questions to yourself. Be honest in doing that.
• What are the things that you think you are good at - computers, statistics, economics, accounts, writing, music or something else?
o The right answer to this question will help you choose the right occupation for yourself.
• What are the special talents that others see in you?
o Assess yourself by comparing adjectives, such as confident, competent, capable, practical etc. You can ask for help from your teachers and family members in order to get a right answer.
• Which location do you like to work in - home, city, country, country town, or suburbs?
o However, location would more depend upon what occupation you have chosen, and whether the employment in that occupation is available in your chosen area. Still, you must be aware of where would you like to work.
• Do you want a field job or an office job?
• What shift do you prefer to work – day shift, night shift, weekends, or flexible hours?
• What are your academic qualifications? Do you have any plans to improve on it?
• What other job-specific skills do you have – analytical skills, computing, typing etc?
• What does personal freedom mean to you?
• What are the things that you cannot live without – family, integrity, faith, wisdom, peace, friends, love etc?
• What dreams do you have now and for the future?
Making Decisions
• Stay focused. Test each option and choice against your values and your definition for personal freedom. Eliminate the ones that do not fit on it.
• Come up with ten options. Prioritize your options according to what is important and valuable to you.
• Remember, you have to accept the full responsibility for your choice. Therefore, think about an alternative. Think about what you would do in case you do not get your preferred job.
• Once you have come up with the best choice, re-evaluate the same. Think about how you feel now that you have taken your final decision. If you still feel confused and not that happy, you have certainly made a wrong choice. Go back. Evaluate your choices repeatedly until you reach a choice that makes you feel empowered.
Choosing a right career is thus all about evaluating yourself and your preferred choices. No body can tell you which is the right career for you. So assess yourself properly, since the decision lies in your hands.
