CHOOSE A CAREER PATH THAT LASTS FOR LIFE

Deciding on your career might bring up many questions and uncertainties, you will be wondering on which job best suits my personality? How can I choose my career path wisely? Can I see myself doing this all day, every day, and for many years? Answering these questions can be overwhelming especially if you don't have any idea about what you want to do and there are many different options around you. There is no simple answer on how to choose a career that's right for you, but the below guidelines will more likely help you make good career choices and decisions.

1. What are my interests?

Interests are what you desire to do, The activities you enjoy doing can give insights into a career that would be satisfying, fulfilling, and fun for you.

To figure out your interests, ask yourself:

 What hobbies do I enjoy?

 Do I prefer spending time indoors or outdoors?

 Do I enjoy working with people, animals, data, or books?

 What activities would I miss the most if I could no longer do them?

Aligning your interests with your career path selection leads to higher job satisfaction, and once you enjoy what you do on a daily basis, you will feel more productive, and this will increase your opportunity for career development and success.

2. What are my skills and strengths?

Every person has talents and strengths that make them unique, knowing these skills and strengths can help you succeed in your chosen career.
If you are not sure about your talents and strengths, make a list of everything you’re good at doing, Your family members, friends, and even teachers can help you write this list that you will use to narrow down potential career options.

You can split your list into three categories:

 Technical skills,

 Personal skills

 people-oriented skills.

Below is a simple example that can help you with this:

 Technical Skills: Microsoft office/ Powe BI / Visio

 Personality traits: Flexible /Self-motivated /Positive

 People-oriented skills: Communication / Collaboration / Problem solving

3. What is my personality?

Your personality is the way you think, feel, and behave. It includes the traits and needs which drive your attitude.

You need to think about the following aspects when it comes to your personality:

 Are you a leader or a follower?

 Do you prefer to work alone or in a group?

 Do you prefer to cooperate or to compete with others?

Do you quickly get involved in a new environment?

 Do you enjoy helping others or prefer to empower them to do things themselves?

 Are you a creative and artistic person or do you prefer structure and routine?

 Do you focus on current plans or future ones?

You can take this test to give you an insight into your personality

.

4. What are my values?

Everyone has values or things that are important to them, identifying these values can help you decide what type of career to pursue. Consider taking this test to identify your most important values.

5. Are there jobs available in this career?

 Choose highly demanding occupations which are desired in the labor market. You can easily track demanding vacancies by reading articles and track job posts on websites such as LinkedIn.

Now that you have answered the above questions; you can have a better understanding of your personality and what areas you are interested in.

 Create a list of possible careers for you and eliminate the careers that you don’t feel are suitable for you.

 Don’t let anyone choose for you, even if you asked others for some advice, keep in mind that the final decision should always be yours.

 Certain careers require specific training or certifications. Once you shortlist your career options; research the required training and certifications needed for each job, try to identify these areas, and consider the time and money you need to invest.

 After you have shortlisted the required information; you can start doing more in-depth research to find vacancies that match what you have in mind and apply to these positions.

 When you conduct several interviews, you will have a clearer vision of what would be the best option for you, and once you decide, work on identifying your long- and short-term goals.

Finally, I would like to say that choosing a career that fits you is something very important. You'll spend a significant amount of your life at work, so in order to enjoy your job, and remain motivated and engaged, you need to make your career choices wisely.

Taking the right decision early will save you a lot of struggle and uncertainty in the long run.

For more information on how to choose a career path, check out the below links:

 - https://www.careerprofiles.info/selecting-a-career-path.html

- https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/getting-a-job/how-to-choose-a-career