Did you know that money can actually buy happiness?
You’ve probably heard the famous saying “money doesn’t buy happiness” many thousands of times, but the truth is that those who are financially stable do tend to be happier. This is why it is so important to find a career that you enjoy doing, and that will pay you well.
The problem is that it can be challenging to know how to choose a career path. To help you out, we’ve written a guide. Read on, and we’ll tell you what is important to know.
1. Perform a Self-Assessment
It’s going to be a challenge to find the right career if you don’t understand what your skills are and what you enjoy doing. By performing a self-assessment, you’ll learn new things about yourself, such as what you value, your interests, skills, and your personality type.
By knowing these things, it will become easier for you to identify which kinds of occupations are right for you and which ones are not appropriate.
2. Make a List of Jobs to Investigate
After you perform your self-assessment, you should make a list of jobs that you’d like to have. In the case that you’ve already created these kinds of lists in the past, you should consider bringing them together into a single master list.
You should then identify the occupations on your list that interest you the most. It’s also a good idea to identify jobs that you don’t know much about and want to look into.
For example, if you are motivated to improve your abilities and love to work on computers, you might enjoy becoming a cybersecurity specialist for these reasons. If you don’t enjoy working on computers, this will not be the right occupation for you.
3. Investigate the Jobs That Are on the Top of Your List
If you’ve got a list of more than thirty potential careers, you should try to cut it down to between ten and twenty options. You can then start to gather background information about each item that is on your list.
Make sure to read up on job descriptions and how much training is needed for each of your potential careers. It’s probably the case that several of these careers will require going to school for many years. If you are not interested in doing this, you can cross these careers off of your list.
You should also investigate labor market information, how much money people make who have each of the careers on your list, and what the job outlook is.
4. Narrow Down Your Choices to Create a Short List
With all of the details that you’ve gathered, it will now be easier for you to eliminate even more potential jobs from your list. Use the information you have to start eliminating jobs from your list that no longer interest you. Try your best to continue eliminating career options until your list has five or fewer options.
One easy way to do this is by looking at the duties that are required for each job on your list. If you are not interested in carrying out these duties or don’t want to get the required training, you should cross them off. It’s also a good idea to get rid of careers that don’t have favorable job outlooks.
5. Carry Out Informational Surveys and Interviews
Now that you’ve cut your list down to several options, it will be easier for you to do more in-depth research. The best way to do this is by reaching out to people in your area who work in the areas that you are interested in. Explain to them that you are in the process of choosing a career path and that you’d like their help.
You can ask these people about what they like and don’t like about their occupations. It’s also a good idea to ask if they have any recommendations for how to make a career change in each particular line of work.
If you have trouble finding people in your community with occupations that interest you, consider making use of online platforms such as LinkedIn to find and reach out to people.
6. Choose a Career That Is Right for You
You’ll likely feel more confident in making your career choice after completing your interviews. Try your best to choose one job that you feel will make you happy.
Keep in mind that it will still be possible for you to change your mind if you feel that you need to. In fact, most people end up changing their career paths several times in their lives.
7. Articulate Your Goals
After you’ve chosen a career, take time to figure out what your short-term and long-term goals are. This will make it easier for you to draw a path forward so that it will be easier for you to land the job of your dreams.
It should take you between three and five years to accomplish your long-term goals. It’s usually possible to accomplish short-term goals in less than three years.
How to Choose a Career Path: Understand Your Skills and Interests
If you’ve been wondering how to choose a career path, remember how important it is to do plenty of research. You should also make sure to conduct a self-assessment so that you know what your skills are and what kinds of things you love to do.
Do you want to learn more about finding the right career? If so, make sure to visit the Career Self-Help section of our website.