Steps to Choosing a Career  

Use this step-by-step process to understand how to make a good career decision. Then make your decision and evaluate your choice as necessary.

STEP 1: Assess Yourself

To decide what career you would be well suited for, you first need to determine your interests (what you like to do), skills (what you are good at), work values (what is important to you), and personality (what personal tendencies do you have). These factors provide a good indication of potential majors and careers to pursue.

STEP 2: Research Careers

By knowing as much as you can about careers of interest, you are able to narrow your focus and make the best informed decision possible. Read books and resources to learn about the training needed, work environment, salary, and job outlook for the careers you are considering.

STEP 3: Experience Careers

By talking with people in the field, shadowing people who do what you want to do, and experiencing the work required through an internship, you are going to find out what is really involved in a career.

STEP 4: Decide

You are now able to decide if it is the career you want to pursue. If it is, you can then begin planning your path for that career. If it isn't, go back and research and experience other career fields of interest to find the one that is right for you.

STEP 5: Evaluate

After you have been in a career, you need to periodically evaluate your choice. Do you want to continue in this career field, or are you in need of a career change? If you stay within your career field, determine the steps you need to take to make yourself continually marketable in the field. If you are thinking of a change, it is then time to start the career development process again to see how your interests, skills, work values and personality have changed and how those changes will affect your career choices.

 

Building Your Career

Setting off on your career journey

Your career is the variety of experiences of learning and work (both unpaid and paid) that you undertake throughout your lifetime. If you want to take charge of the development of your career, you will need to actively manage your learning and your work.

Developing your career is not an easy or a short process. Our careers are influenced by many things, such as our age, our gender and our ability/disability. Our careers are also influenced by our families and our cultural values. Chance also plays a part.

But it is up to you to plan, build and manage your lifelong career journey. You are the person best suited to make choices on the basis of your own skills, knowledge, interests, personal circumstances and preferences. The good news is that it is very difficult to go through life without changing, growing and learning. It is important, however, that you actively manage this process as much as possible, rather than just letting it happen.

Making the Right Choice

This could be the biggest decision of your life, make sure it’s the right one.

Choosing the Right Career

External factors such as money, prestige or family history can often influence initial career choices. However, as you pursue your interests and discover more about yourself, you may find that the ‘right’ career choice for you is driven by more personal factors. Whether you have given a lot of thought to your career or not, this page is designed to give you some very practical assistance in making choices about your career.

 

Self Assessment

Your Achievements

Some employers feel quite strongly that a pattern of achievement in education is likely to be repeated in later years. Try to identify which courses you enjoyed most and resulted in your best achievements. Then think about your other achievements, e.g. responsibilities you’ve accepted in organisations, within your family, work or social groups. Employers are interested in far more than a degree certificate and will look for achievements in all aspects of a potential employee’s life.

Your Skills and Abilities

Skills are the essence of what we contribute to the world. Advising, coaching, communicating, analysing, researching, organising, are only a few of the hundreds of skills that you may possess. Most jobs will require a variety of skills; start to think what skills you would enjoy using on a regular basis as part of your ideal job.

Your Personal Values

Carefully consider the following:

  • What are the most important things to you?
  • What are you committed to?
  • What makes you happy?
  • How much power and responsibility do you want in the work place?
  • How much of yourself do you want to put into your work?

There are no right and wrong answers to these and other questions. It is important to think them through so that your ambitions are realistic. The closer the match between your values and your job, the happier and more successful you will be.