6 Steps to Finding the Right Career for You

If you’re in a job you dislike, or you’re in a state of confusion about the right career direction for you, you’re not alone - according to various reputable sources, over 70% of people are unhappy at work. Here are 6 steps that you can take which will bring you closer to identifying your dream job:

1. What motivates you?

What is most important to you about work? Knowing the answer to this question is one of the most important discoveries you can make. When you are in a job that is congruent with your values, you will know that you are at least in the right environment for you. Identifying them on your own can be a challenge, but one way is to think about what you really detest about your current or previous jobs. There’s a good chance that you value the exact opposite.

2. What skills do you enjoy using?

We all have a range of skills, but which skills do you particularly enjoy using? The skills you enjoy using may have been honed through work but don’t discard the skills you have used outside of the formal working environment too.

3. What’s stopping you?

At some stage on your journey to find your ideal job you’ll come across limiting beliefs that will either delay or worse still, prevent you from achieving your career goal. They normally fall into 2 categories – a) limiting beliefs you have about yourself or b) limiting beliefs you have about the term ‘work’. For example, “I’m not good enough” or “work isn’t supposed to be fun”, may be terms that ring true for you. Whatever these voices might be, they need to be challenged and you must seek evidence to the contrary. What are your top job themes?

4. What job themes appeal to you?

All jobs can be classed into 6 categories: jobs where you mainly work with or for people, with information, real objects, imagination, systems and procedures or working to influence others. Identify your top 3 themes and create a statement that encapsulates all three in terms of the work you want to be doing.

5. What interests you?

What do you enjoy talking or reading about? What subjects did you love at school or what training courses captured your imagination? The answers to these questions could give you clues towards the right sector for you. Here’s it’s important to think outside the box and you may need to get some help to come up with ideas. For example, if you are fascinated by the human body and you also love photography, you may want to research medical photography.

6. Research

Once you have identified some possible sectors, the next stage is research. You need to get out there and speak to people who work in the sectors you might be interested in. Find out what it’s really like and what you need to do to break into it. The more you find out, the better position you’ll be in to decide if it’s right for you.