How to choose a Career path that is best for you | Greatcrackers

Choosing the right career path can be quite overwhelming for many, especially youngsters. And today, many people get stuck in a particular job or career path. And therefore, they wake up each morning with no enthusiasm— having to put up with the same routine they managed to get by the previous day.

That is a worry that this article aims to address.

Choosing a career that is best for you requires time and careful planning.

While there are no best career options in the world, you sure can pick one that befits you. Again, as said earlier, it will take time and meticulous planning.

But before we look at how you can choose a career that is best for you, let’s look at the possible signs that show your present job or career path doesn’t suit you:

• You will experience a progressive decline in enthusiasm on the job.
• You’ll grumble at every little thing.
• You’ll find it hard to get rid of the resurfacing thought of resignation off your mind.
• You witness limited or no opportunity for personal growth and career advancement
• You smell dissatisfaction in the air, no how hard you try not to.

Choosing the right career path— Career Journey

At times, we ask ourselves some questions that revolve around the issue of the career journey. And some of them include:

• Why do people end up in a career journey or path unrelated to what they studied in college or university?
• Why do some people feel comfortable with the idea of a 9-5 job, yet others propose in their hearts never to try it?
• Why do 90% of people embark on a professional journey that’s far or entirely different from what they’ve always wanted to do during childhood and early teenage period?

Now, the crux of this write-up.

How to choose a Career path that is best for You

No doubt, beyond a person, some things somewhat influence one’s career selection. It may come from family, friends, or society. But whatever the case may be, everyone must take responsibility for his actions and the choice he makes– including career choices.

That is why no one wants to choose a career that will cost him nightmares and heartaches. Thus, to avoid such a common mistake, one needs to grasp all of this:

1. Know yourself

We are all unique. For this reason, you must understand who you are.

Yes, you can only understand yourself when you are brutally honest with yourself. Through this, you will be able to select a career that will serve you the most. And to do this with simplicity, you need to answer these questions:

I. What is your personality type?

A person’s personality constitutes his overall makeup, traits, and dispositions. And It is usually the outcome of the interaction of two factors: heredity and environment. In simple terms, your personality is the product of the influence of your genetic makeup and the exposure you get from your environment.

For example, determining whether you are extroverted or introverted can help you decide if you should take a job or pursue a highly relational career or not.

Note, relational careers, in this context, means jobs built on relationships; involving a lot of networking with people. These career options allow you to relate with people very well compared to those that will keep you seated and glued to your personal computer– without leaving the office. Examples of these jobs include real estate agent, sales representative, amongst others.

Yes, taking up job roles such as a sales agent or a realtor would demand frequent mobility and interaction with tons of people every day.

That’s because such a career would cause you to leave your office and therefore go into the field to meet with prospective clients to close sales. Yes, sales that can fast-track one’s retirement.

II. What matters to you?

Answering this question will help point out things you value a person. It could be your family, freedom, money, or time. Identifying what you value will help you select a rewarding career free from heartburn that arises from doing what you least have passion for.

Moreover, some careers require people to stay far from their families, while others afford a considerate amount of time, compared to others. So know what matters you want.

III. What motivates you?

Answer(s) to this is like a follow-up on the previous one.
What motivates many of us is the need for survival, while many others it is growth, progression, or advancement.

But yours might be something different. It may be to raise a reasonable amount to serve start-up capital for a business you’ve always wanted to set up.

2. Explore activities that are interesting to you

We can spend the whole day doing certain things if we have our way. And most of the time, we refer to them as our hobbies or pastimes. But the question is, how many of these activities can we monetize– and make a living out?

In my case, it is writing and teaching (and others you are yet to know).

But yours may be something entirely different from the usual thing people know around. It could be swimming, dancing, singing, cooking, or as the case may be.

Music superstars like Don Moen, the Christian musician, found a career in music (and song creation) out of their passion for creating good music. And on the other hand, Christiano Ronaldo, one of the football legends in this dispensation, decided to take up soccer as his career path.

3. Assess your skills and qualifications

There are standards for every career or job. In other words, there are prerequisite skills and qualifications needed to get started in any particular field of endeavor or to pursue career progression and advancement.

That’s why you must consider which skill set, as well as academic and professional qualifications you need to have to pursue a career.

Therefore, in instances whereby there’s a gap in one’s portfolio, one may have to enroll in a course or an educational program.

4. Evaluate the prospect

Change is constant. But failing to plan for it can cause a terrible impact on a person, group, or organization.
In choosing a career, you should do your personal and careful research. Through this, one can evaluate the prospect of career options on one’s list. Will they still be in still be demand (and relevance) in the years to come.

You’ll need to ask yourself, will the career (you want to choose) be relevant in the next 20,50 years (or even more). In other words, will it be in demand in some decades to come?

Ideally, when the demand for professionals in a field or any given career outnumbers skilled professionals available for hire, the earning potential of professionals in that career goes up.

Remember, carefully examine the prospect of the career options– out of which you want to choose one that is best for you.

Say, for instance, a fellow may want to start his career as an application developer. For this reason, he may want to examine the prospect this career option has through thorough research. With no specific statistic, more than ever, new applications get launched every day on the Google store. With this information, do you think the service of developer would still be relevant in years come?

You already know the answer. YES of course!

Summary

Now, regardless of the career that you have chosen, there are three things a career that befits you will do:

• Earn you a living
• Give you satisfaction
• Place you in a good position in life

Question

What motivated you to get started in your current or previous career journey?