Finding the right career path to follow should be the concern of every young man or women who intend making all round success from their career – life. The right career path is not solely about the money one tends to get from the profession but also the fulfillment and certification that can be derived as a result of working in a career path.
It is important to state that no career path is superior to another it is just a matter of what people want to achieve in life and the goal that they have set for themselves. So, in essence, no body should feel inferior as a result of the career that they have chosen for themselves.
The truth is that anybody can make success at of any career path that they have chosen if they are dedicated to it. There are several careers that a young woman and man can choose from; it could be medicine, pharmacy, engineering, music, law, nursing, banking, sports, human resources, pilot, chef, academician, film production, information technology and military et al.
A few people have a wide range of interests and passions, whereas others have a strong proficiency or natural skill in a subject that applies to a wide range of fields. These are all good things, but having that many options can make picking a career difficult.
If you are interested in multiple career paths, then the most critical features of your journey will be thinning your list and consulting an advisor or mentor.
People can be indecisive about the types of careers that would complement their abilities or unique talents. The most crucial component of career search for individuals experiencing this uncertainty will be taking a personality test to assist in determining which careers coincide with their attributes and qualities.
The bottom line is that people should not be forced to choose a specific career because of only the monetary reward they stand to get from the career but simply because it is a thing they want to do. Now let us quickly consider some questions that if answered honestly will guide you in finding the right career;
Will Taking a Personality Test Help You Find the Right Career?
One of the methods of discovering the right career path to follow is to go through a well designed personality test. What are personality tests, you may ask? Personality tests are designed in such a way that if you answer the questions asked honestly, you will be amazed to discover that the result you get at the end of the test will go a long way to reveal the area of your interest; your career.
There are several personality tests online that are designed to help people discover their most suitable career path. As a matter of fact, some organizations subject applicants to personality tests during recruitment processes in order for them to know if you are suitable for the role you are being interviewed for.
It is the usual practice especially if the screening is for graduates trainee or management trainees. Let us quickly consider the reasons why taking a personality test can help you find the right career path to follow;
-
The Questions are Well Crafted
With the aim of helping you discover yourself by just giving sincere and honest answers. For example; questions are asked without you having any inkling about where the questions will lead to or what the questions are all about.
-
The End Results will be determined by the Answers You Give
For example, if after going through a personality test, and the result shows that you are supposed to be a civil engineer, even if in your heart you don’t intend becoming a civil engineer, you will realize that the career in your mind may be close to it. It could be Building Engineering or any engineering field and not banking or nursing et al.
-
The Tests are designed by Professionals (Psychologists and Career Coaches)
The fact that personality tests are designed by professional psychologists and career coaches makes it a highly suitable tool to use when you want to discover the right career path to follow. These professionals would have invested enough time in researching and also subjecting the personality test to different processes that will make it universally acceptable and also to give the result that is expected.
-
It is meant to Drill You to Bring out Your Best Quality
In some instances, the personality test will help you discover hidden qualities in you that you never knew you possessed.
A comprehensive personality test naturally will drill any individual and at the end of the day it points the individual to the right career path that is most suitable for their personality- especially if the personality test is designed with the aim of helping people discover their careers.
Tips to Help You Choose a Career Path Even When You Have no Interests
Here are some useful tips to help you choose careers that are a good fit for your needs and interests:
-
Evaluate Yourself
You should first learn about yourself before you start seeking the right career. Note that depending on your interests, values, aptitudes, and of course your soft skills, as well as your type of personality, some careers will be perfectly suitable for you, while others are totally unsuitable.
Leverage self-assessment tools and career tests to collect information about your characteristics and, based on them, draw up a list of careers that are perfectly suitable for you. Some individuals work with a career counselor or other career development professionals who can guide them through the process.
-
Draw a List of Careers to Choose From
You should have several lists of careers in front of you at this point, one from each of the self-assessment tools you used. You should integrate them into one master list to keep yourself coordinated. Next, copy any careers that appear on multiple lists onto a blank page. Call it “Careers to Investigate.”
If your self-evaluations note that a career is a perfect fit for you based on a number of your characteristics, then it is worth investigating.
After that, look for any careers on your list that interest you. They could be careers that you are interested in learning more about. You can as well add careers that you have little idea of but are thriving in your country. You may discover something unexpected.
-
Identify Your Strengths
You should take time to consider your strengths in order to generate potential career ideas. For instance, if your friends and family consistently and sincerely acknowledge your cooking, you might want to consider a career in the restaurant industry.
If you are comfortable interacting with a variety of people, you should think about working in the hospitality industry. Consider compiling a list of your strengths and using it to guide your career planning.
-
Prioritize your Wants and Needs
Your wants and needs portray your personal and professional objectives in life and work. Your future career will furnish you with compensation and benefits, and it will most likely consume a significant portion of your time. Make a list of items such as salary, benefits, personal satisfaction, capacity to effect change and opportunities for internal or professional growth.
Examine that list and write down what you require in terms of each item, as well as your ideas for each. Then rearrange the list so that the elements are listed in ascending order of importance. Start comparing this list to the research you did for the career paths you are considering.
-
Eliminate What Doesn’t Interest You
Your personality test results may occasionally include a list of suggested careers. You may be able to recognize career choices or paths that do not complement your personality or interests after creating a mind map and completing an assessment.
If one of the suggested careers contradicts your nature, belief system, or interests, cross it off your list. Removing job types that aren’t a good fit for you narrows your options. A list with fewer job titles is more likely to help you focus.
-
Take a Test
Based on complementary personalities and task types, a personality test can help you determine your working style, strengths, and the sort of environment you will work best in. Many such free tests are available online. Instead of recommending a specific career, consider taking a personality test that evaluates your traits and strengths.
The former makes you understand yourself so you can see how you’d fit in any field, whereas the latter focuses on job-specific tasks and interests and doesn’t provide as broad an overview of the options. Popular personality tests for careers include:
- Meyers-Briggs
- Big Five
- MAPP Career Assessment
- CliftonStrengths
-
Talk to a friend
Speaking to a trusted friend can help you recognize strengths and interests in yourself that you were previously unaware of. You could ask a friend what sorts of jobs they think you’d be good at or consider inviting them to help you brainstorm career ideas that you haven’t already taken into account.
It may also be beneficial to pay attention to your response to specific job ideas they provide in order to assess your interest in various career fields.
-
Find an Internship or Apprenticeship
Internship and apprenticeship programs provide on-the-job schooling to people who are new to a career. Internships and apprenticeships may allow you to test out various kinds of jobs before committing to a long-term career.
Active participation in an internship or apprenticeship program may also help you discover the particular types of job duties you enjoy. Internships and apprenticeships come in a wide variety of professions, such as software engineering, carpentry, and journalism.
-
Work with a Career Counselor
A career counselor or coach can assist you in finding out whatever you like and what your strengths are, and then match you with careers that are a good fit for you.
Speaking with one of these experts can allow you to discover careers you might not have taken into account or even knew existed. Career counselors frequently assist you in improving your resume, honing your interviewing skills, practicing negotiating, and directing you toward the skills and training required to work in your chosen career.
-
Put Together a Career Action Plan
Another important thing to do is to also come up with a career action plan, this is a well-drafted document that will clearly state all the moves you need to take to achieve your goals. Consider it a road map that will carry you from point A to point B, then to points C and D.
Make a list of all your short- and long-term goals, and of course, the needed steps you will take to achieve all that is stated in your overall career plan. You may want to add any potential challenges that will stand against you when going after your career objectives, as well as strategies for overcoming them.
10 Survey Questions to Help You Find the Right Career for You
1. What is Your Life Goal?
One of the questions that you should ask yourself if you want to know the best career path to follow is to ask yourself ‘what is my life goal?’ If you can give sincere answer to the question, then you will have an idea of the career path that will be suitable for you.
For example, if your life goal is to fly around the world, it could mean that being a pilot might be the right career path for you or even being a preacher et al might not just be it for you.
2. What Natural Skills Do You Have?
Another question that you should ask yourself that will give you a pointer to the right career path for you is ‘what natural skills do I have?’
The truth is that everybody is born with some natural talents; it could be singing, it could be mediating, it could be sports, it could be fixing home appliances and it could be virtually anything that you can do very well and effortlessly that doesn’t come naturally to everybody.
If you are able to discover your naturally skills, you can match it with the available career path that you know, and that will help you choose the right career path to follow.
3. What Do You Enjoy Doing?
In order to achieve an all – round success in your career, you must be engaged in something that you truly enjoying doing, even if you are not going to be paid for it; something that you are willing to do for free. So, an indication that will point to the fact that your choice of career is the right one for you is when the career involves activities that you derive excitements from; an activity that truly energizes you.
For example; if you enjoy taking care of people, you can start a career as a nurse and if you enjoying playing soccer and indeed you can play for free, it means starting a career as a professional soccer player might just the right career choice for you.
4. What are The Views of People that are Close to You as Regards Your Choice of Career?
We are not all – knowing on our own- that is why we have people around us that we can ask questions and also get guidance from.
Part of what you need to do that will help you choose the right career path is to seek the views of people that are close to you, know the career path that they feel is the best for you based on their interactions with you and what they know that you can do pretty well. People close to you could be your parents, you siblings, your friends and even your teachers / lecturers.
5. Who is Your Role Model and What Does He or She Do?
Another guide that will help you choose the right career path is to discover someone that you would love to pattern your life after, someone that you are proud to be his protégée. The career of your role model might just be the right career path for you.
6. If You Already Have the Money That You Need, What Career Path Will You Choose?
If you already have the money that you would ever need, what career path will you choose? That is a clear cut question that will help you make the right career choice. If money is not your motivation and you still want to be engaged in a career, it means that the career is your right career choice.
7. What Specific Problem Would You Rather Solve?
Another question that you should ask yourself that will help you choose the right career path is ‘what specific problem do I really want to solve?’ If you can pick a problem that you truly want to solve, it will give you a pointer to the right career path for you.
For example, if you enjoy solving dispute amongst friends, it means that the legal profession might just be the right career path for you to follow.
8. What is Your Picture of an Ideal Career Life?
Another survey question that you should ask yourself if truly want to discover the right career is ‘what is your mental picture of an ideal career life?’ Your mental picture of an ideal career life is a pointer to the career that will give you joy.
For example, if you mental picture of an ideal career life is one where the man will wear suit and knot tie to work everyday, carrying a business portfolio and working on a computer regularly, it might indicate that working in a bank, consulting firm, research firm and in a corporate setting might just be the ideal career for you.
9. What was Your Childhood Fantasies?
As unserious as it sounds, one’s childhood fantasies might just be a pointer to the right career path for him / her. When you probe into your childhood fantasies and you are likely going to discover the right career path to follow.
10. What Skills Do People Really Appreciate in Your Life
Another thing that will help you discover the right career path to follow is to ask people around you to know the skills they appreciate in your life. The truth is that people that are close to you can help you choose the right career path for you to follow based on the skills that they appreciate in your life.
There you have it; 10 survey questions that you should ask yourself that will help you choose the right career.
Conclusion
If you truly want to determine the best career for you, you need to confront your fears. Don’t ever be scared to make phone calls or shadow someone for a day. If your dream job requires you to return to school, you may need to make major changes. Take control of your life and don’t let your fears keep you from pursuing a great career opportunity.