Blog: 3 Top Tips for Choosing a Career

If you think back to when you were young you probably had loads of jobs you dreamed of. Maybe you wanted to be a professional footballer, a pop star or a movie star.
As we grow up, we realise that those vocations were perhaps a little out of reach and we start to think logically about what career would suit us and our skillset and utimately, what we enjoy doing.

Deciding on a career can seem daunting. The different industries and roles within them are vast. It can be tricky knowing where to get started. If that sounds familiar keep reading as we outline our top three tips for finding the right career for you.
 
1) Self Assess

You’ll spend a lot of time at work in your life, so it’s helpful to choose something that suits your interests, what you enjoy as well as what you’re good at.

During this stage, it’s often helpful to make a list of your passions, hobbies and interests, what areas you’d like to develop, which school subjects you enjoy, which subjects you excel in. But, it’s also important to consider the other side of the coin, what are your dislikes, what frustrates you, what subjects will you be delighted to see the back of?

Another important area to consider is your personality. Are you an introvert or extrovert? Do you like leading and helping people, and getting the best out of them? Are you a big team player, or do you prefer working and figuring out problems on your own?

You might also like to take a personality test to help you find our what your personality type is and what your natural strengths are.

2) Identify What’s Important to You

Once you’ve worked out your natural strengths, and perhaps identified some areas that you feel you want to improve on, it’s time to ask the question: ‘what motivates me?’

This could be specific things such as working with computers, or wanting to make things, it could be much broader such as job variety or physical work, or a sense of helping people.

You should also think about how important money is to you. Money motivates many people, but some careers are more lucrative than others. Some very noble careers such as working in healthcare or childcare for example, may not offer huge salaries, but do offer a huge sense of purpose; a genuine vocation rather than just a job.

Now that you’ve thought about what’s important to you make a note, jot down the ‘must haves’ and the ‘nice to haves’ to help identify compatible potential careers.

3) Find Your Fit

Did you know that a typical person will have 12 jobs in their lifetime? So, whilst well-meaning parent and Career’s Advisors try to help you find a career, the likelihood is that your goals and ambitions will change over time.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be thinking about the future, but don’t feel you need to know the exact job title you want, start wide and narrow the search as you progress. Think about the skills you have, the must-haves you’ve identified and start with a simple Google search of suitable careers.

Look for an industry that plays to your passions. If you’re a big gamer, enjoy programming or like the idea of working outside, sectors such as video games, cybersecurity and construction are set to see an increase in demand in the coming years.

Another thing to consider is where you want to live. If you plan to stay in Bassetlaw take a look at the industries that are expecting to grow. Construction is expected to see a boom with over 5,000 new homes due to be built and the Government have also published plans to recruit thousands of additional nurses and police officers, is your skillset suited to one of these roles?

Our final top tip is to look at jobs currently being advertised, even if you’re not ready for a job yet, you’ll get a feel for what skills and qualifications employers are looking for. You might also be able to find profiles of people doing the job and understand what an average day looks like.

As you research jobs make a note of the skills, experience and qualifications that employers are looking for, you can then create a clear plan of how you can get to where you want to be.

Finding your perfect career takes time and isn’t easy, so if you need a helping hand contact our friendly Learner Recruitment team who will be happy to help and guide you to a course that will help you achieve your ambitions. Explore our website or call 01909 504500.