Deciding what career you will take in your life is the most important question in everybody’s life as the rest of your life is dependent on this decision. Selecting the right career is a must for enjoying happiness and success in one’s life. But taking a wrong decision based on vague information not based on research can damage your prospects and prosperity for the entire lie. So in this article I am going to give some tips that can help you to explore the career options suitable to you and take a conclusive decision regarding the most suitable career for you according to your taste and temperament.
Know what is the best career option for you
Everyone does not grow up with definite plans about what he should become in future. When world is the oyster in which you are growing up it is really difficult to find out what to become. Before deciding on what to do ask yourself and find out what is the real matter in this world which has always interested you. For example if you are interested in music there are many options like becoming a musician or organizing concerts or starting a recording company etc.
It will be better if you can write down all your interests and hobbies and things you love about. From them, find out the peculiar interest and brainstorm the different possible careers that arise out of the interest. You can also use self assessment tools for gathering information about occupations that are suitable to your tastes and temperaments. List out the probable options
After completing the procedures stated above, you might be having a number of options generated by the different methods followed by you to find your favourite career option. Write them down in a blank page avoiding duplication. From the list find out the occupations which are appealing to you. There can be careers about which you know only little and about which you do not know anything at all.
Explore the occupations
This is the time to gather more information about the short listed occupations in your list. Now the number of jobs suitable to you would have reduced to a small group about 5-10 options. By finding the job descriptions and by understanding the educational qualifications and training required for the above jobs, you will be able to understand whether your qualifications are enough for the selected careers.
Create a short list
From the above list, eliminate the options which you do not want to pursue. Eliminate all the careers that do not appeal to you or which are not matching to your educational qualifications or which requires soft skills which are not possessed by you. Now you will be left with a fewer options to the tune of two to five.
Discuss with your colleagues
When the list has shortened and contains very few jobs only, it is the time to discuss this with your friends and colleagues. If any of them are working or having some experience with the jobs you have selected you can ask them about the job and other details regarding the acceptability or otherwise of the job selected by you. You can use your networks including LinkedIn for this purpose.
Pick up the career that matches you the most
Now is the time to select the job that matches your tastes and helps you to give job satisfaction and happy living. There is nothing wrong in changing the career option at this stage as it is a common feature which has been practiced by many.
Identify your goals
Once you have found out the suitable career option for you, it is the time to frame your own short term and long term plans for the success of your career as well as your life. Short term goals can be considered as goals that one wants to accomplish between six months to two years and long term goals are those that can be accomplished between two to five years or more. For example short term goals in a career can be completing the training needed. Long term goals can be getting promoted to the next level or getting appointed to a connected post of higher remuneration as a continuance of the present job.
Write an action plan
A career action plan is a written document which states all the steps needed to reach the goals you have already set. It is like a road map that takes you from point A to B and then from point B to C and so on. This includes all the long term and short term goals and the steps that have to be taken for completing the goals.