How to choose a profession

Career Guidance

Most people spend eight hours at work five days a week. The correct choice of profession determines whether a person will go there gladly or crestfallen, live through a fulfilling day or count the minutes until they return home. In this article, we will clarify what career guidance is and how not to make mistakes when choosing your career path. Our advice is suitable both for those who are just starting to think about future employment and for those who want to change their professional path.

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What is career guidance

Career guidance is the study of existing professions to choose one of them for the career. For many, this concept is associated with lessons in high school, where the teacher talks about different specialties. In reality, you can look for your true calling at any age and do it in much more interesting ways than by just taking tests at school.

Career guidance has several functions:

Unfortunately, some do not pay the necessary attention to career guidance. They do not listen to themselves and blindly follow in the footsteps of their parents, or look for promising professions, but do not feel interested in them. Others remain where they had worked part-time during studies. With this approach, a person runs into the risk of wasting most of their life on work that only brings irritation and melancholy.

Who needs career guidance

Most often, the question of career guidance is relevant to high school seniors. Together with teachers and parents, they try to determine which direction will bring them both success and satisfaction. But in fact, career guidance is necessary for everyone, and depending on age, it will have different goals and methods.

Career guidance for preschoolers

For the first time, a person gets acquainted with the world of professions in kindergarten, where they learn to distinguish one job from another while playing. Already at this age, the first preferences are formed — everyone wants to become a firefighter, a teacher, a doctor, or a policeman. The child chooses toys based on early professional inclinations and imitates the specialist they want to become. Scientists have not yet figured out whether they affect the future life of children, but this practice definitely helps the child to prepare for primary school and get motivated to study.

Career guidance for school children

School career guidance begins in late secondary school. Ideally, representatives of the professions are invited to tell about their work, or the children themselves go on excursions in companies, where they are told about different jobs. But more often than not, meetings in this format are superficial — more than two specialists rarely come to school over the entire duration of a pupil’s study, and excursions are not interesting and informative enough for high school students. Usually career guidance is done by the school psychologist who talks about different professions and conducts tests.

Career guidance for students

Students learn about different jobs on Career Days at their university. Employers come there in search of new talents, talk about the company and various promising directions. Some universities have career centers, which we will talk about at the end of the article. In other cases, students undergo consulting during internships and there understand which direction is worth further pursuing academically.

Career guidance for adults

Career guidance helps adult professionals improve or even switch their qualifications. This is usually done at job counseling centers or job fairs. Many books have been written on this topic, but the most effective way is to talk in person with a career counseling specialist.

Career guidance methods

Please note that no method will be effective on its own. To form an image that will be as close to reality as possible, try several methods of career guidance at once.

Career fair at Georgia College, Milledgevile, USA

How to choose a profession

This is an algorithm of actions that will help you find your calling. None of the steps should be neglected, even if it seems that the answer is obvious. Often, the superficially easy questions need the most time to be well understood.

Step 1. Self-analysis

At this stage, it is important to put down the answers in written form. Without it, your head will be a mess, and the later exercises will not be as useful as they could potentially be.

What are you good at?

What subjects at school or university did you do best in? Which of them did you enjoy attending and do your homework responsibly? Now ask yourself why this happened. You probably just liked the teacher, but if the subject itself was your thing, make a note.

Now choose the most interesting of the four — numbers, words, visuals, or physical work. Imagine that you are now in this area professionally. Who do you see yourself as? Can you benefit people or companies by doing what you love?

What skills do you already have?

Think of at least five soft and hard skills [2] you already have. What do you do better — communication, self-organization, teamwork or problem-solving? Perhaps you already know a programming language, type super fast, can draw, or support people well.

In a career, one way or another, all the skills will come in handy, but some skills will be needed to a greater extent. If you can’t remember anything, ask people you talk to often. Sometimes it is difficult for us to assess ourselves on our own, but those who are close to us can help a lot.

What gives you opportunities and what slows you down?

SWOT Analysis is often done to answer this question. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This is what it looks like. You divide a sheet of paper into four parts: in the first, you write everything that you can do quickly and efficiently. The second is your weaknesses. The third is how you can use strengths to your advantage. In the fourth, you list all the things that can complicate the achievement of your goals. For example, in the «opportunities» section you wrote that with your ability to work hard, it is not difficult for you to master a course even in an alien field — programming. And in “potential threats” you state the loss of interest and unexpected family circumstances that can interfere with studies. Analyze the likelihood of these events occurring and evaluate their importance. If everything works out, how will your life change? And what if your fears come true? A SWOT analysis will help you weigh the pros and cons before you start learning. The main rule is to be honest with yourself.

What would you like to do if you had all the money in the world?

Most likely, you have already heard about this question. Henry Ford also noticed that the best job is a high-paying hobby.

You should not chase prestigious specialties if the only thing that interests you in them is money. You will get four years of studies at an unloved university, and then (if you are lucky enough to get a job in a good company) you will come to work with a heavy heart. And remember that in any industry, people who truly love their profession will compete with you. It will be difficult to outperform such specialists.

Check the demand in the labor market, but do it consciously. The profession that is relevant now may disappear in ten years. Therefore, it is important to understand your inclinations and how you can use them. For example, you love to draw, but you’re afraid of not finding a job. In this case, you can learn to be a web designer.

Step 2. Career guidance tests

The easiest way to help you navigate in the infinite number of directions is through career guidance tests. There are many of them on the Internet, but not all of them are detailed enough and of high quality. We’ve researched this issue and invite you to check out the top three platforms.

Career Explorer — test by Sokanu Inc.

Career Explorer is one of the best-known career guidance tests in the world. It is run by a company specifically aimed at providing such services. It suggests an appropriate profession from a pool of more than 1000, which is constantly being updated and expanded. The test itself consists of a neural network-assisted quiz that asks you questions, slowly narrowing down their focus depending on the answers. It takes about 30 minutes, after which you are shown all the appropriate occupations, along with your psychological portrait.

The test is paid but has a free version that only shows a couple of dozen jobs that suit you. Still, the questionnaire is very advanced and comprehensive, so what it offers is likely to suit you. An extra benefit is that you might discover jobs that you haven’t even heard of before.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Not exactly a separate test, but rather a system used at least as the foundation for most of them. It categorizes people into 16 distinct types along 4 axes — World, Information, Decision, and Structure. It suggests that there are general ways in which each person can interact with the world. Depending on your preferred mode of action in these 4 aspects of human activities, you can be associated with a certain type of personality. Each of those implies a typical modus operandi and therefore is best suited for particular occupations.

You are supposed to discover your position on the axes by undergoing a long assessment by a qualified specialist. However, if you are good with self-reflection, you might as well just assume what is true about you according to your judgment, and thus approximate your personality. Then just look up the jobs that suit your type best.

Career attitude tests

The final option we suggest is this series of tests. The site contains surveys on career, logical thinking, personality tests and even measuring IQ levels. All the tests are relatively brief and together can give you a better-encompassing picture of your personality than just taking one of them separately.

Step 3. Make a list of interesting professions

After self-reflection and testing, write down at least 15 professions that attract you. Now you can delve deeper into each and compare them with each other. But don’t exhale with relief just yet — there is still important work ahead. The next steps will help you cross out some of the specialties, and after a while, there will be no more than five of them on your list.

Step 4. Study as much information about the profession as possible

When you roughly understand in what area you want to develop, it is time to study the topic in-depth. Never draw conclusions about the profession from one film, TV series, or book. You may have chosen the specialty precisely because of its romanticized representation in popular culture. Remember, reality can be very different.

In order not to be mistaken, watch reports, read books and notes from representatives of this specialty. You can also use YouTube — videos of people from different professions answering questions are gaining popularity there these days. On this channel, you can watch how professionals talk about their work in a funny and easy manner, destroy myths and even give advice to those who want to try themselves in the same field.

Important! The more different sources you study, the less likely you are to make a mistake when choosing a specialty. It is important to turn to both serious research and more informal sources — podcasts, videos, and articles.

Step 5. Identify Your Basic Needs

Not everyone wants to be a top manager in a large company. Someone dreams of becoming an expert in their field and helping people. For others, it is important to constantly develop and discover something new in their favorite industry. And some get tired of doing the same thing for a long time, and every few years they want to radically change their career.

Do not assume that only those who are strictly oriented towards career and recognition become financially secure. After reading our article on the highest paid professions, you will be likely convinced of the opposite. So feel free to admit your career needs to yourself. Realizing the true state of affairs will help you choose an activity you like.

There are four types of career needs:

Step 6. Assess your possibilities

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to change or get a profession for free. This can hit the budget especially hard if you are choosing a specialty for which you need to study for several years. Calculate your income and expenses and estimate the approximate amount that you are willing to spend on education. Do not forget that you will have to spend part of the day studying — it will be difficult to combine it with serious work.

But do not rush to give up the profession of your dreams. There are several ways to get an education, even if you think you are not ready to pay for it.

It is worth remembering that if you decide to study abroad, you will have to master at least one foreign language and take many standardized international exams, prepare documents and a portfolio. Take practice tests in advance (they can be easily found in the public domain) and assess your level of preparation. Ideally, you can fully prepare for admission in one and a half or two years.

Important! It’s worth calculating your budget and checking your academic ability even if you’re applying to a local university or college. This will help you avoid unpleasant surprises and make the admission less stressful.

Step 7. Study the forecasts of labor market experts

Most likely, by this stage, you are deciding between three to five directions. Research from reputable organizations such as the World Economic Forum will help you greatly. Every few years, they release forecasts of what skills and professions will be in demand in the coming years. Often experts are wrong, but we advise you to at least check the current situation on the market — where jobs are on the decline, and where the demand for labor begins to exceed supply. We analyze the topic in more detail in this article.

Demonstration of new technologies at the World Economic Forum

Mistakes when choosing a profession

Understanding yourself superficially

Some people are sure that they know themselves well enough, and therefore can immediately choose a profession of their dreams. But more often than not, this turns out to be a delusion.

It is impossible to make an informed decision quickly — it will take several days or even weeks of deep reflection. At a certain period of time, you can be influenced by «supeficial» factors — emotional events in your life, an unexpected passion arising from a movie about a specific profession, or even the desire to get a certain specialty to annoy someone. Such things lead to making impulsive decisions that we later regret. That is why you need to analyze yourself for a long time, consistently and calmly.

Prepare for quality self-analysis to be more difficult than you thought. But your efforts and the time spent will pay off — most likely you are not just looking for a good job, but for your life’s mission.

Being afraid of popular professions

This may sound unexpected because many sources recommend just avoiding choices based only on prestige. And this, by the way, is also worth considering!

Blind trend-following or irrational fear of competition make an informed decision equally difficult. Imagine that the profession turns from prestigious and highly-paid to just average. If you still genuinely want to do it, then don’t be afraid that the market will be oversaturated. Employers do not need specialists who meet only the minimum bar of requirements and do not understand their field of work deeply. But in case you like the direction, study hard, do an internship, improve your qualifications. Then you will find a job to your liking.

Focusing on singular images

If you are inspired by the success story of a representative of the profession and now you are eager to master it, do not rush. Chances are, in your first Google search, you’ll find well-packaged misinformation. These are stories from major media outlets that choose the most interesting cases to attract the viewer. Most often they are truthful, but in real life, they are rarely repeated.

If you choose a profession just to become like your idol (or succumb to the impression of a couple of stories), there is a high probability of making a mistake. A superficial approach to career guidance will only hurt — it is worth digging deeper. Read about both positive and negative experiences. This is the only way you will get a picture close to reality.

Replacing the choice of profession with the choice of an educational institution

A healthy approach to career guidance is to first choose a specialty and only then select an educational institution for it. Unfortunately, this does not always happen. Sometimes applicants choose a city or a prestigious university, and only then select options for specialties. But more often than not, people overly value prestigious higher education. A person will not be happy even in the most famous university if the occupation does not inspire them. As a result, a bored lawyer earns less than an electrician who was not mistaken in choosing a profession.

Remember that moving to your dream destination is not that difficult if you have a good education and motivation. But it is much more difficult after several years of studies to understand that work is not only unpleasant but also interferes with enjoying life. And don’t forget that a college degree alone does not bring happiness or money — a lot depends on whether you really enjoy your job.

Blindly following friends

It often happens that people with similar interests work in the same company. But this does not mean that the same profession will bring you the same pleasure. Studying in different universities (or even cities) is not scary. What is scary is to understand after decades of work that you would have been much happier if you had made a more conscious choice.

Most often, blindly following the crowd is a sign of infantilism and fear of taking responsibility for your destiny. If you want to find what you love to do, then you will have to make important decisions anyway. No one knows you better than yourself, and there is hardly a person who fully shares your interests and goals.

Bonus: Career Advisors

Don’t confuse a career advisor (or consultant) with a regular HR manager. An advisor is a specialty for which one learns separately. They solve more serious problems than just finding a job and writing a resume.

If you are still in school, a career counselor will help resolve the issue of career guidance and advise the university. Students are advised on how to find their first job or internship. Adults — how to change their profession, position, and place of work.

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UniPage guidance in the admission process

The UniPage team will consult you on what study field better suits your aspirations and vision of the future career. We’ll take into account your interests, personal qualities, as well as the demand for professions. Then we will select universities that offer quality education specifically in your career field.

How to Make a Career Choice When You Are Undecided: 8 Steps to Choosing a Career

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Deciding on your future career is not easy, whether you’re just starting, or you’re making a well-thought-out career change.

Several factors can influence your career decisions, and they may end up taking you on the wrong path. You should make such important choices with a clear head and a detailed plan.

The perfect job for you isn’t lying around waiting for you. You have to make an effort to get to it.

With the right steps and information, deciding on your future career won’t seem as daunting to you as it may seem now. With the right plan behind you, you’re unlikely to fail.

STEPS TO CHOOSING A CAREER

1. Introspection

You can’t decide on a career without knowing what job suits your personality best. The first thing you should do when you’re not sure about what career suits you is to have an in-depth and honest discussion with yourself.

Look deep and discover what special skills you have and what areas you excel best at. Every individual is different, and you may have some specific details about you that make you best suited for one job and not another.

When you have this self-examination, focus on whom you are as a person and not necessarily what you currently do. You can figure out what your passions are, what gets you interested, and what you naturally find yourself enjoying whether or not you get money for it.

After that, you should figure out how to use those skills to make money.

For example, you may love reading and creative writing. If you want to convert them to careers, you can decide to become a book critic, publisher, editor, and content creator. The options are endless once you find something you are good at doing.

To make it easier for you, you can check online for career tests, aptitude tests, or behavioral tests that can help you figure out what you love and what you’re good at.

They can also help you determine your strengths and weaknesses so that you can decide on the best workplace for you. Career counselors also help people out with these questions.

2. Make a list

If you use a good career test, you may be able to generate a long list of possible career options for you to consider. When you go through them, pick the relevant ones, and compile them into one long list.

You can identify the careers that appeared in several tests and keep them at the top of the list because they are your best matches.

Pro tip: Use several tests so you can have a lot more options and variety to pick from.

This list should contain any occupation that interests you, whether or not you think you’ll be good at it. You may find out that a career you didn’t consider previously is a good fit for you later on.

Ensure that you compile this list honestly: do not be swayed by monetary rewards. Picking a career based on salary is a good way to end up in a job field that you hate.

3. Explore the list

After whittling out the irrelevant careers, your list should be ready to explore. Start by researching each career as much as possible.

Allocate enough time for each profession and get as much information concerning the job, workplace, and opportunities in pursuing that as a career. You need to know what you are getting into regarding the position and any similar opportunity in the same field.

The most relevant information you need at this stage is what requirements, certifications, and education you need to venture into that career.

You should also find how much you need to do to keep that position and possibly move up in the field. Get as many job descriptions, salary details for different positions in the field, and labor market statistics and information.

A lot of this information is freely shared online, and you can find them on government websites. You can easily find out about the average earnings and requirements of different positions in that career, and figure out what positions you can apply to, based on your qualifications.

This can also help you figure out what further education or training you might need, and if you can keep up with the job’s conditions.

4. Narrow down the list

The next step is to cut out any job that has any tasks or obligations you don’t agree with or that don’t align with your goals and ambitions.

These cuts should be based on the information you gathered about each career choice, and they should be done without any bias.

You may like a career, but one part of it can be a deal-breaker that you can’t accept in the long run. Sometimes, the job may require you to have 2 or 3 extra years of education or an extra degree that you don’t have. You may also lack the required experience to apply for the job.

Some jobs sound great on the surface but have really poor advancement opportunities or remuneration, and that is enough to cut it out of your long list.

Your goal here is to create a shortlist with at most 5 jobs on there that you will enjoy, are qualified for, and you can reasonably pursue. Make sure these jobs are as few as possible, to make your choice an easier one.

5. Get more information

At this point, you must have whittled down your list to a few options that you can realistically pursue. The next thing to do is to get more detailed information about those jobs on your shortlist.

You may think that you already have enough information by now, but there is a limit to things you can find online. This information you need is only accessible by people on the inside.

This stage calls for something called an informational interview.

An informational interview is when a job seeker inquires about in-depth information on a job or company, like the corporate environment, job description, job outlook, and even other possible opportunities related to the company.

You don’t have to be unemployed to schedule informational interviews. As long as you’re researching a job, you can reach out to people who work in that field.

Don’t hold back when doing this research because it is an essential step in choosing a career. Use all the resources and connections at your disposal. LinkedIn can help you find the employees and professionals you need, and you can also approach your friends and network for help.

6. Make a choice

After all the information you must have gathered, you should be in the right position to pick a career. Based on all your research, you should pick the career that most aligns with your goals, vision, and values.

You also need to keep the company structure and salary in mind when making this choice, although they shouldn’t be the primary driving forces behind your choice.

If, at any point in this step, you feel like you made a mistake, don’t hesitate to make a change. It is quite reasonable and a lot of people make several career changes during their lifetime.

So, don’t put yourself under undue pressure. Instead, make a choice backed by facts and figures and not emotions. Your career should give you satisfaction.

7. Determine your goals and set off to accomplish them

Now that you have made the big decision, you need to set the ball rolling on the journey you will take towards your chosen career. You don’t think that merely choosing the career will land you a nice job in the field, do you?

This is the time to set several personal goals that will launch you into your chosen career, and see you through it.

Personal goals can be long or short-term, but they are equally important. Short-term goals usually take about 6 months to a few years to come to fruition, but long-term goals take more time than that; at least 3 to 5 years. They both serve different functions, but you need them both if you want to succeed.

You set your short-term goals to cover any extra preparations and training you need to do before applying for a job in your chosen career.

They can include taking online courses, volunteering to gain experience, or even getting some extra certification to qualify for the position. The information you gathered previously on the career will help you figure out what you need to do.

Long-term goals are more time-consuming, and they can include getting a degree in a related field or getting a higher degree to qualify for a higher position.

The strength and effectiveness of these goals will determine how successful you are in your search.

8. Make a career action plan

A career action plan contains all your plans to get your preferred job or career advancement. It is a personalized plan for any individual, and it typically contains your personal goals, how you plan on achieving them, and how long each one will take to accomplish.

You may think you don’t need a career action plan, but having one makes you more organized and makes your goals a lot easier to achieve.

To make a practical career action plan, you need to write out your goals in the order that you plan to achieve them, and when.

Then, identify when you expect to have accomplished each goal, along with a detailed description of how exactly you intend on accomplishing each one of them. You don’t have to put in everything at once; you can add new goals as you go.

Some people prefer to write out the plan from the beginning, while others start from the end and work their way up to the beginning. Either way is fine, as long as the goals are written out clearly, with their proposed end date.

This plan of yours should be adaptable enough to include any unexpected changes or situations that might come up.

HOW TO MAKE BETTER CAREER CHOICES-200

Choosing a career is one of the hardest choices to make, and even with each step laid out, it doesn’t mean that you will make the right career choice.

You have to be careful while making this choice because it can save you a lot of grief in the future. Here are some ways you can make better choices.

Think long-term: The best way to make a decision that will be beneficial to you, in the long run, is to consider your long-term plans and make a decision that will fit into your plans.

Don’t make your decisions only based on your present life; instead, consider your future plans and the career’s job outlook and growth opportunities.

Prioritize facts over feelings: Sometimes, to avoid the pressures of making such a big decision, you may be tempted to just pick any option because of one thing you like. Instead of doing that and risk making a bad choice, consider all the facts at your disposal and use them as the basis of your decision.

Weigh all your opportunities: When looking for a career, the best thing to do is to consider every option available to you before making a final choice. Look into every available career available and weigh all the factors, including salary, location, and job outlook.

Don’t rush into anything: Most times, big decisions can be so overwhelming, and that can push you into making decisions without really thinking about it. You have to take your time and mull over everything before you put anything to paper.

Talk to someone: If the weight of your decision is heavy on your shoulders, talking to an experienced person or a mentor who has experience in that field.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU CHOOSE THE WRONG CAREER

Making the wrong career choice is not the end of the road. In fact, this happens a lot more often than you’d expect. Several people go through different career paths in their lives, and they end up in their perfect jobs eventually. So, if you think you’re in the wrong career, don’t panic. Here are some things you can do to help you re-discover your purpose:

Self-examination

The first thing you should do is search yourself and discover if the problem is your job or an unsatisfactory workplace environment.

A lot of times, the career path you picked was perfect, but the job that you’re in isn’t the best. In those cases, the best thing you could do is to find a different opportunity in the same community.

While in other cases, you may find that you’re in the wrong career as a whole. In this situation, you can completely change your career path.

How to know if you’ve chosen the wrong career

Find people who enjoy their jobs

When you find yourself getting less happy and fulfilled by your job, meeting people who enjoy their jobs might be the best option for you.

This way, you can see what they have that you lack, so it can help you know what it is you need in a career.

Also, you might fall in love with a new career just by seeing someone else talk about it with satisfaction.

Get information

If you feel your career is not the best fit for you, then it is time to go on more informational interviews. You can repeat the steps in finding a new career, or if you have one in mind, talk to people in that field.

Ask relevant questions, and see if it is a good idea to switch.

Figure out how you can transfer your skills to another job

Switching careers is not a hard as it seems, especially when you consider that many careers require the same or similar skill sets.

You can look around for any jobs that need the skills you already possess and adapt those skills to fit the job. Searching for job opportunities and descriptions can help get you on track.

CONCLUSION

Career opportunities are plentiful and varied, so there are just too many options to choose from. But, this is not an impossible feat.

With the right approach and outlook, you are bound to find the perfect fit for your personality and skillset.

And if you make a mistake, it is never too late to switch careers and find something more fulfilling. Your perfect career awaits you!

What Job Should I Have? How to Choose a Career in 8 Steps

Most adults asked themselves this question at some point. After all, it’s not an easy choice to make. Should you go after your childhood dream of becoming a firefighter or a ballerina? Or should you follow the advice of your parents, teachers, and other people who seem to always know better? What jobs will be well-paid in 10+ years? And what career can turn out a dead end in the future?

You can stop worrying. We’ll show you how to choose a career in a few minutes.

This guide will show you:

There’s no prefab career finder that’ll pick your perfect career. The quick process in this guide will help you answer what should my career be on your own.

Want to save time and have your resume ready in 5 minutes? Try our resume builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ resume templates and create your resume here.

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How to Choose a Career? Start with Your Passions

Boy, do I envy you.

You’re learning how to choose a career. You’ve got a clean slate.

If I knew then what I know now, I’d be a millionaire.

Lucky you. I’m about to light a klieg light on your path to riches.

Ready?

Start with Passion

Does that sound cliche?

It is. But only because most people misuse it.

So, don’t listen to it.

Wait—what?

The first step in answering what career is right for me is passion. But it’s just a step.

Your passion might be knitting on a desert island. Maybe you can do that, write a book, and make a million bucks.

But probably not.

So—start with passion, but don’t stop there.

Why Passion Makes a Great Career Finder

Every job has roadblocks. Passion slices through them like a lightsaber through ice cream.

“You can learn most things on the job,” says Steve Dalton, author of The 2-Hour Job Search. “The challenge is getting employers to want to do that with YOU.”

That means showing interest in the subject matter—and that comes from passion.

“In the end, the heart wants what it wants,” Dalton says. “As a chemical engineer by training, it absolutely kills me to say that, but truth is truth.”

Do you know your passions?

Sit down and daydream. Grab a coffee or a Buddha bowl. Make it fun.

List everything you love and all the things you’d love to do.

Then move on. In the next section we’ll blow the doors off how to choose a career.

Pro Tip: Do you already have a good job you don’t like? Don’t rush into massive changes. See if you can transform it into something better.

Moving from a career you like to one you love? Turn your experience into a mile-long lever. See our guide: Career Change Resume: Sample and Complete Guide

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Define Wealth to Duck the Biggest Blunder of Your Life

“I wish I had a million dollars.”

You don’t have to wish.

As long as people need things, the world is a river of money.

You just have to know where to dip your bucket in.

When you ask, “Which job should I have,” or, “what career should I pursue,” wealth is a huge part of the answer.

Or is wealth something else entirely?

Some people make millions and they’re miserable.

So—how to choose a career that makes you happy?

Wealth Might Be:

Could it be all of the above? Or something else?

When choosing a career, be very clear at the beginning what you mean by “wealth.”

Want more help defining wealth? Joel Litman and Mark Frigo wrote the book on it: Driven: Business Strategy, Human Actions, And The Creation Of Wealth

Pro Tip: Will a career aptitude test answer what career should I have? No. A career quiz or job quiz will ignore your passions. Tests aren’t how to choose a career.

Disney fired James Gunn for 10-year-old tweets. It’s never too early to start cleaning up your online face. See our guide: How to Check Your Online Presence Before Recruiters Look You Up

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Build a List of Jobs You Can Love

So far, so good.

You’re well on your way to knowing how to choose a career.

There are thousands.

Did you ever think you’d be a:

Those are all real jobs.

Start with the biggest list that fits your goals.

Start With a Master List of Job Titles

Google search “list of jobs for” + [YOUR PASSION].

Example

Let’s say writing is your passion.

Do a Google search for “list of jobs for writers.”

You’ll find some big lists of all the careers you never heard of that relate to writing.

Journalist, speech writer, technical writer, executive assistant, acquisitions editor.

Scroll through five lists like that. Build your own mini-list of 10 jobs you think you’d love.

Then, move on to your next passion, and repeat.

Do the same thing with each skill you’re good at.

Last, add some dream jobs.

You’ll soon have a big list of 20–30 jobs that might just work.

Put them in the first column of a spreadsheet. You can call it, How to Choose a Career, What Career is Right for Me, What Job Should I Have, or just Career Finder.

In column #2, rate each job’s passion on a scale of 1–10.

Do the same with “wealth” in column #3.

Pro Tip: It helps to look at the most popular careers. If you’re wondering what job is best for me, see our list of resume guides for the most common professions.

4

Look at Salaries to Dodge the Pauper Zone

When asking what job is right for me, don’t say money doesn’t matter.

Find crossroads where your passion meets with piles of money.

Both sites make great career finders.

In column #4 of your spreadsheet, add the median salary for each of your 20–30 job titles.

Wondering what major is right for me as well as what career should I have? See our guide: How to Choose a Major: A Complete Guide

5

Skip Dead Ends by Knowing Job Outlook

Congratulations!

You just spent 10 years becoming a master buggy-whip designer.

Now you’ll make a million dollars. Right?

Two huge things to think about when asking, “What career is right for me?”

Knowing how to choose a career means understanding job outlook.

Respect Training or It’ll Bite You

They need 5–7 years of school, plus 5,600 hours of work experience.

Most earn a lot less than the average.

Is it worth it?

For each job on your list, check how hard it is to get there.

The best way? Google “How to become a” + [JOB TITLE].

Are You Fighting to Get Into a Burning Building? You Might Be

Which would you rather be?

The Occupational Outlook Handbook says there are 1.25 million software developer jobs. They’ll grow at 24% in the next 10 years. (Much faster than average.)

Not bad.

Now let’s look up rotary phone makers.

For each job on your list, write the years of training in column #5.

Add the job outlook and growth in columns #6–#7 in your How to Choose a Career spreadsheet.

Pro Tip: If you don’t find a job title in the Occupational Outlook Handbook, Google it. Chances are, someone else has done the research on salary and job growth.

What job should I have? Your LinkedIn network makes a great career finder. I’ll explain in a minute. For now, see our guide: How To Optimize Your LinkedIn Summary & Profile To Get Jobs

6

The Fun Part: Make a Short List of Your Favorite 10 Careers

Here comes the pot of gold.

Now it’s time to narrow down your list.

Peek at your How to Choose a Career spreadsheet. You’ve got 20–30 jobs.

Pick the 10 with the best passion, wealth, salary, and job outlook.

Figure out where high pay, high demand, goals, and passion meet.

But you’re not done yet.

What if you could ask your future self, “Are you happy in this job?”

I’ll show how next.

Pro Tip: When you make your what should my career be spreadsheet, add columns for other criteria you rate highly. You’ll get a better answer.

When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.

When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.

7

How to See the Future for a Job You’ll Really Love

Here’s the really fun part.

For the next step in how to choose a career—

Peek at your future with:

Use Reddit to See Who Loves Your List

For each job on your short list of 10—

Example

Let’s say “financial analyst” is one of your dream jobs.

So—search, “Do you like being a financial analyst reddit.”

You’ll get results like, “Is anyone a financial analyst?” and, “What exactly do financial analysts do?”

You also get titles like, “I want to be a financial analyst. Where do I start?”

Boom. You’ve just opened a direct connection to dozens of people already in your dream job. (Your very own career survey!)

Holy cow, right?

You can do the same trick with Quora.

A word of warning: a lot of Redditors are disgruntled. If 10% of DevOps engineers hate their jobs, they’re all on Reddit.

So—don’t stop there.

Use the magic of tiny informational interviews.

Use Tiny Informational Interviews to Grab the Treasure

Ready?

Here’s the last step in how to choose a career:

Use your Reddit magic to narrow your list down to the top five jobs.

Then, do informational interviews.

Sound tough? It’s not.

Go to LinkedIn. In the search box, type your dream job.

In the drop-down menu, click the “people” option.

See where it says, “DevOps in People” in the image below?

When you click it, you’ll get a million DevOps engineers (or any career you pick).

Ask 2–3 what they think of their career. Send a short note like:

I’m interested in a career in DevOps.

Could I ask a few questions about what you do?

Here’s a career finder tip worth money—

You might need to ping 10+ people to get 2–3 who say yes.

When they do, ask:

You’ll get an almost supernatural glimpse into your future.

You’ll also build great networking connections to start your new career.

Pro Tip: If your LinkedIn interviews get really interesting, ask to switch to phone calls. You’ll learn a lot more and built a deeper connection.

Want to really nail your informational interviews? We’ve got a guide for that: 15 Best Informational Interview Questions

8

Bonus—The Problem With Career Tests and Career Quizzes

Danger!

Everybody loves career quizzes and career path tests.

Half a million people a month search some variation of:

So—why are they so popular?

It sounds like a great idea! Answer a few questions and out pops your dream job.

The problems?

Do you really want to trust your future to something with that many flaws?

Want proof?

I took one online test, and it told me I should be a mathematician, programmer, astronomer, or photonics engineer.

It completely ignored my biggest passion—writing!

Why not ask a psychic or a bartender, “Hey, what career is best for me?”

Certainly, use career tests to see if fun ideas pop up.

But please—!

Don’t trust your future to an online job quiz. Go for professionally developed assessment tests instead.

Pro Tip: Thinking about easy careers? Think again. According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of the bestseller Flow, the best moments of our lives are when we’re challenged.

Once you’ve answered what career is right for me, you’ll need to find real jobs. See our guide: Job Sites: 15 Best Job Search Engines and How to Use Them Perfectly

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here’s what it may look like:

Key Takeaway

This guide gives a quick, useful system to answer “what job should I have?”

Here’s how to choose a career:

Do you have questions on “what career is right for me?” Still not sure how to choose a career that fits your skills and passions? Give us a shout in the comments! We’d be happy to reply.

Some have defined the career they want to study and practice practically since they are aware. Unfortunately, this is not everyone’s case. There are also those who find difficult to make that decision.

We already know that choosing a career is a very important decision. It is a decision that will affect the rest of our lives tremendously, so it is quite natural to be afraid of making mistakes. Or maybe we just do not have a clue where to start looking for our vocation. Whether you’re about graduating from high school, or you have not made a decision yet about the profession you want to choose,…

Whatever your case is, next, I present you some information about it and some tips I hope you will find helpful to clarify some of your doubts, and thus make this decision easier for you.

Before we begin, I would like to make it clear that this and all other writings on the web or other information, should be used only as a guide in making your decision. But it is your decision to make. No one else can or should make it instead. It’s your life and your future, it is you who will spend much of his life devoting time and effort to this career, so you’d better choose for yourself.

Let’s begin.

There are a lot of ways we could do this. Given that we must take into account many factors, we must first assess some aspects. For example, what are your likes? What are you good at doing? How do you see yourself in 10 years? Which university should you study at?

I present then the description of each of the points above:

1. What do you like?

Think about your likes, the things you enjoy… these are very important for making your decision, because it is likely you will coexist with that profession you choose the rest of your life. So, in order for you to find it easier and bearable, it should be something you like, you’re interested in, something you enjoy. For example, if you like to help and being surrounded by people, you can choose a career in health sciences, education, law and so on. If you like math and you are a bit of a loner, maybe you’d rather go for engineering, architecture, the sciences,… instead. It all depends on you.

To orient yourself a little more about which career is closer to your interests, you can submit a vocational guidance test. Whether in an institution that offer s vocational testing, where you will perform a series of tests to discover your interests and inclinations, or you can take an online test. The latter there are with or without cost. The ones you must pay are more complete and therefore accurate. Those that are free, they are much simpler and therefore inaccurate, although it doesn’t go to waste just trying it out in case you can’t afford paying for a more professional one.

Also, if you already have the University of your choice, it is possible this has vocational guidance tests. You may look for the option to take one on school’s website, or you can also contact a counselor of the admission process for the university and ask if they offer these tests.

Again, if you take one of these, it would be to give yourself a clearer idea of which career is closer to your interests, but it is you who must make the final decision. These tests are helpful for guidance on this, but they can also be wrong. It is most likely, you will realize when you get the results, whether the suggested profession approaches to your interests or not.

Once you know and have present what your likes are and some related careers to choose from, it is time to consider other aspects.

2. What are your skills?

What are you good at doing? What are you good for? Regardless any kind of studies are all tought to prepare you with knowledge, skills and all competences you require to put on practice such studies in the future, you should already have at least foundations. A person’s interests and skills often coincide, but that’s not everyone’s case. There are also people who are good at something they do not like to do. Or otherwise, there are also times when our eyes are on something that we have never been able to try or, maybe although we may have tried this, we are not really good at it. And we still want to make that our profession because we believe that is our vocation.

Based on this, I present the description of the 4 possible scenarios in which you might find yourself:

a) I am passionate and good at it.

If you are a person whose interests and skills match, you have it easy. There is no more to think of about it, this is the path you should follow.

On the other hand, if your passion and abilities differ between them, you should choose a career that fits any of the following 3 cases.

b) I like it but I’m not good at doing it.

If your interests and abilities contradict themselves or they just don’t match, you must evaluate what’s more important to you: devoting your life to what you enjoy or to what you know would be easier for you even if that’a not what you want.

I suggest you that at first instance you just follow your heart, what you are passionate about and what you enjoy the most, what you want for your future. I suggest this, but I should warn you that if you’ve never tried it or you do not know if you’re good at it, it will be very difficult for you to study and then practice a profession in those terms

Perhaps your expectations are not as specific as the examples above, or perhaps they go even further. Anyway, we all have dreams and expectations about our future that we wish they’ll hopefully come true. By choosing our profession, we have the opportunity to take a decision that will get us closer to our desired “future”, or this could also get us away from it.

Based on the questions above, you may be put off only by what you like, or what you are good at… but ideally it’s needed a balance among all this. So, I suggest you do not choose something that you just like, but also you do well, and that it fits the vision you have of yourself in the future. I suggest you look for a balance among the above aspects to make your decision the most conscious possible way.

4. ¿How to choose a University?

I suggest that in addition to the previous recommendations, you take into account your budget for the university offering the career of your choice.

I consider this last point important, although not as much as others, given that this will help you to choose the university where you will study, but I say it does not have to be taken as important as other aspects because, currently, there are many ways to finance your studies; through loans, credits, … Although in my personal opinion, if that’s an option for you, it’s always better only using the money you have available to spend, nothing more.

If possible that you get some financial support as partial or full scholarship, take it! If not, consider that sooner or later you’ll pay the loans and credits, and that as optimistic as you can be about your own future economic status, you do not know anything for sure.

So consider your cheap possibilities when choosing University for your studies at superior level, but do not let this aspect limits your choice of an institution if you really want one. And choose carefully because when looking for employment, the name and fame of the University you’ll have studied in will most probably be taken into account. On the other hand, don’t let this pressure you to the point of choosing a higher education institute which cost goes beyond what you should afford yourself paying for it.

Of course, there are many other aspects to consider when you select a university: it offers the career of your choice which curriculum you like, location, trained teachers, it has official studies validation, facilities and services you need…

All this is vital for making your decision. Do not rush to do so. It is preferable that you take a few extra months to make sure what it is you really want to do rather than you rushing to make a decision and then you regret it. Of course, if then you regret the decision you made, it is always valid changing your mind and switching course.

As final words…

I’ll share with you a strategy that helped me a lot to choose my profession: discarding options. I’m not saying that you should use specifically this one, perhaps it can work better for you to use some other way. But this one was what helped me more than anything else. I’ll tell you how I did it.

First of all, I wanted to be sure to choose the best profession for me, so I wrote a long list of careers that called my attention, either because they seemed interesting, I had heard that they were well pai d, or whatever. The list contained all the careers that I thought were cool. Then thoroughly I researched about each of them: what they were about, entry and exit profile, a few curricula of each one in different universities which I liked, job opportunities, average income perception for each profession, and other things that I was interested in knowing about these careers. After that, I only had left a few careers to choose from.

Then, by comparing them, I discarded one by one those that I wasn’t convinced about, either because I did not like them that much, or because realistically thinking, I knew that I was not I wasn’t very well at doing that, or because it was not according with my vision of my future life… and I was with some few careers in the now short list, so I went to investigate, now on universities offering these courses in order to select a career that convinced me in all aspects: it was to my liking, according to my abilities, that brings me to my expectations of life I want to have a future, and that it was given in a school where I wanted to study.

And it worked. Finally I was left with the career of my choice, and I’m satisfied with how things have turned out.

To conclude.

Just as I mentioned earlier, choosing a career is a very important decision because it is a decision that will affect the rest of our lives tremendously. The selection process of your profession is very personal and only you are going to decide which one to use. Over time you will discover which works better for you.

Remember it’s your decision. No one else can or should take it in your place. It’s your life and your future. If you still do not know which way to choose, do not despair, do not pressure yourself. There will come a time when everything is clearer and then you’ll know what you want to do with your life. I hope the information I have shared with you helps you. And I wish you luck in this quest for your vocation.

An Essential Guide to Finding the Right Career

Learn how to choose a vocation and find the right career paths with our comprehensive guide.

Career and Future of Work Expert

Finding the right career path can be an exciting (albeit daunting) process that can influence all aspects of your life. While your first line of thought might be to choose a profession that pays well, you also need to consider other factors like your lifestyle, personality and interests, all of which can inform your career choice and how happy you will be with it down the line.

A 2020 Gallup study found that only 36% of the US workforce was actively engaged at work, while two-thirds were partially or actively disengaged. These are staggering figures that have massive implications both for businesses and individuals alike. Feeling disengaged with your career can have adverse effects on your professional success and your health and well-being.

Regardless of whether you’re fresh out of university or you’re considering a career change, giving your career choice a serious consideration can make a big difference in your overall feeling of success and happiness in life.

Within this guide, we will share with you 10 vital steps on how to find the right career path and start making your first moves.

Watch the video below for a few simple steps to finding the right career:

1. Take a career assessment test

Think of choosing a career like a jigsaw puzzle. Many pieces need to fit nicely together to build a complete picture of who you are as a professional. You need to consider several factors such as your personality, natural talents, interests, lifestyle and existing skillset. It can be hard to identify all of these by yourself; that’s where career testing comes in.

Career tests are a great way to sift through the noise and uncover your true talents and traits. Our thoughts and opinions can be subjective and flawed, making it difficult for us to understand what we want to do in life. Therefore, these tests can help you see yourself in a more objective light and take informed decisions about your career.

Psychometric testing analyses different facets of your personhood, including your aptitude, cognitive abilities and personality, and uses this data to measure your suitability for various roles and working environments.

For instance, our CareerHunter test uses a sophisticated algorithm to see how users match up against 250 career paths. Once completing all six tests, you receive a personalised report that provides you with suitable career options that best fit your talents and personality.

While some of your matches may not have considered before, you can rest assured that the options you receive are a good fit for you.

2. Identify what’s important to you

As mentioned, there are a few factors to consider when choosing your career. Rather than letting salary be the determining factor for your career choice, think about what else you would value within a profession.

Specific jobs, like being a professor, confer a great status but not a high income. Others, like being a lawyer or a doctor, pay well, but they also require long or unpredictable working hours. Other roles, such as entrepreneurship, can mean lots of excitement and creative control but can also be an unstable source of income.

Whatever your choice, make sure to select a career that aligns with your values and expectations, as it can have a significant impact on how happy and satisfied you will be with your career in the long run.

3. Do trial jobs

You might think trial jobs are challenging to come by, but that’s not necessarily true. In her TEDx talk, Emma Rosen, a work happiness expert, explains how she trialled 25 jobs before turning 25. She tried anything from more conventional jobs like property development and interior design to really niche options like working in a police dog unit and alpaca farming.

How do you get a trial job? Just ask for it. Rather than applying through job ads, where the employer is probably looking for someone long-term, why not reach out to businesses, introduce yourself and tell them what you’re trying to do? They might not have an urgent need for another interior designer, but if you reach out and explain your situation, they might give you a few weeks or a month to trial the job.

Job trials are an excellent way to disqualify career options that might sound appealing but won’t work in the long run. As an employee, you might be on probation for a few months when you get a new job, so why not put the jobs themselves on probation and see if you actually like them?

And if the employers and companies you contact don’t have the budget to hire you as temporary staff, you could also look for job shadowing, volunteering and short internship options too!

4. Take action

When we’re unsure about what we want to do, it can be tempting to sit back in a corner and do nothing at all. You might find yourself doing calculations in your head, weighing the pros and cons of every single option but end up making no visible efforts to change your life in the real world. This is what psychologists call ‘analysis paralysis’.

Thinking about your career options can only take you so far. Discovering your career path calls for action, and that’s a whole different ball game. If you’re considering two career options, for instance, pick the one that is more accessible to you and take it from there.

For example, you might have a degree in finance, but you find yourself drawn to writing and graphic design. How do you choose which one to pursue? Why not pick a job with a financial firm and offer to help out the marketing team with their content or graphic design needs? This way, you’ve got your leg through the door and can try out your other career paths without suffering any financial loss.

5. Take one step at a time

While taking action might make sense when you have a few career options to strive towards, things can get a bit out of hand when there are too many options or, indeed, no options at all.

Recruiters love to ask candidates about their five-year plan, but the reality of the matter is that not many people have it. Life is unpredictable, and the world of work is changing so fast that your current five-year plan might be outdated long before you get to the finish line. Therefore, don’t beat yourself up if you find yourself without a grandiose career path to strive towards.

Instead, why not start small? Rather than wondering whether this next job opportunity will really take you where you’re supposed to be in five or ten years, give it a go and see what happens.

Did you enjoy going to work? Or did you feel trapped and bored? Can you see yourself doing this long term? These can be good early indicators of whether or not you’re on the right track.

Taking one step at a time gives you the freedom to adjust your path as circumstances change and really experiment with your options.

6. Start networking

Meeting people who work within your potential industries might be one of the most critical steps you take in your career journey. Indeed, research has found that about 85% of all jobs are filled through networking.

We often underestimate the role networking can play in our job search, opting for more conventional methods such as job boards and job adverts. But networking can also play a significant role when it comes to career exploration. The more people you meet from different walks of life, the more of a diverse portfolio of opportunities and insights you will gain. Ultimately, networking could help you decide whether a career path is right for you or not by merely talking to others.

7. Take your lifestyle into account

Lifestyle is rarely, if ever, considered when we’re making a career choice. However, every job comes with a different schedule, dynamic and working space.

If you decide that you’d like to be a firefighter because you want to help people but don’t want to be on call at 3 am when the next fire alarm goes off, you haven’t really thought things through.

Lifestyle refers to your preferred day-to-day dynamic. Would you like to have a set nine-to-five job and then forget about work once you log off, or do you prefer to have flexible working hours, which might also mean working well into the evening? Do you prefer being indoors or outdoors? Do you like to work with people or by yourself? Some professions are intrinsically collaborative, while others might rely more on solitary work.

All of these things can influence how you feel about your job and, ultimately, whether you will be satisfied with it or not. So, when you’re considering different professions, make sure to factor in the lifestyle that you would like to lead, too.

8. Be curious

New jobs and professions are created every year to respond to rapid changes in technology and socio-economic developments. For instance, take the new title, ‘Head of Remote Work’, which was invented during the COVID-19 pandemic to respond to the new normal of a distributed workforce.

Other professionals, like a growth hacker, digital marketers and virtual assistants, are all products of the internet, and none of them existed before the 2000s.

If you’re struggling to choose a career path, it might be that you haven’t come across or considered one that is right for you. Elizabeth Gilbert, the bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love often talks about curiosity as being more important than passion.

Being curious means that you allow yourself to explore different options, and that, in itself, can give you more answers than stubbornly looking for your ‘passion’.

Next time something piques your interest, try to follow it, be it a hobby or a pastime activity you often indulge in. See what topics you like to learn or read about and what kind of activities you’re drawn to. All of these things can be clues that will help you discover the right career.

9. Stay open to change

One way to release some of the pressure of making the right choice is to tell yourself that the career you choose doesn’t have to be the be-all and end-all. We can sometimes be too strict with ourselves, thinking there’s only one true calling and that, if we haven’t found it, we have failed. Nothing can be further from the truth.

Have you heard of the story when Singapore Airlines tried to pivot during the pandemic and opened its planes to customers for a dining experience as opposed to flying? If businesses can change tact and adjust to new circumstances, why can’t we do the same as individuals?

When choosing your career path, think about your interests but also be aware that these interests can change over time. This means that your career doesn’t necessarily have to follow a straight, linear path, and that’s okay.

10. Work on your personal branding

Regardless of what profession you choose, it’s likely that you have some type of online presence, which your future employer can easily find before hiring you. Therefore, working on your personal branding can play an essential role in getting the career you want.

There are certain behaviours that can instantly disqualify you from a job, like posting controversial opinions on social media, being overly political, or posting unprofessional photos of yourself. Other than avoiding these common social media mistakes, you can also devote yourself to positive activities that can reinforce your brand.

For instance, if you are considering a profession as an architect, sharing your observations on the latest trends in the industry can position you as a thought leader in that field. Volunteering with an organisation or agency within your selected area can also go a long way in showing the world that you genuinely care about what you do.

Of course, your personal brand should be a true reflection of who you are as a professional and what people can expect when working with you.

Reveal your perfect career

Let CareerHunter score your aptitudes, interests and motivations to recommend personalized and accurate career matches.

At the end of the day, choosing the right career path isn’t a process you go through once in your life and then you’re done.

Instead, careers can be fluid, changing parts of our lives that can offer us immense fulfilment, as long as we stay curious, connect with others in meaningful ways and continue to take steps forward.

This article is an updated version of an earlier article originally published on 30 December 2016.