If you are at the beginning of your work life and ready to
choose a career or if you are thinking about a career change, you are likely
doing a lot of thinking about finding the right career for you. Should you go
with the career that pays less but gives you lots of room for creativity? Or should you look for a career that pays really
good money and has room for moving up? It’s
a tough decision to make and everyone needs to come to the final conclusion for
themselves. Unfortunately, no one is
going to make that decision for you.
Well, that’s a good thing really.
One of the keys to choosing the right career is knowing
yourself well. You might think, “I’m 30
years old – I think I know myself fairly well!”
But do you? How much time have
you thought about what you really like? What gives you the most pleasure? What kinds of things you can do for hours at
a time without thinking about when you can stop?
And if you’re fresh out of high school (or maybe even still
in high school) you might never have consciously thought about who you really
are. After all, that’s not something
that is exactly encouraged in high school is it?
So, how can you go about finding out who you are so that you
can choose the right career for your future?
Here are some questions you can ask yourself:
- When am I happiest?
- What can I do for a long time before I realize how much time has passed?
- Who do I admire the most and what are the qualities I admire about them?
- What qualities do I have that I’m proud of?
- Do I prefer to be indoors or outdoors?
- What do I talk about a lot that impresses other people?
- What kinds of characters do I connect with most in books? In movies?
You can also ask other people questions about you. Other people often have insights to who you
are that you don’t see. Ask your friends
and family:
- What am I good at?
- What kind of job can you see me in?
- What’s the happiest you’ve ever seen me?
- What’s my best quality? My best skill?
The more questions you ask the more answers you will find.
These answers will help you find the career that you should be in!
