Finding the Right CareerMany people struggle all their lives finding the right career. What makes the difference between people who get it right and those who continue struggling? Planning. That's it. Really. People are likely to plan a holiday in more detail than they'll ever plan their career. If you're going on vacation I'll bet you spend a lot of time planning. You know where you're going and when. You know where you'll be staying and how much it will cost. If you're driving you'll plan the best route, calculate how much gas will cost. But we seldom spend as much time choosing a career. Many of us just put our thumbs out and take the first ride that looks interested in us! In the past finding a career was a job for professionals. You sat a test, and some dude in a suit told you what you should do. These days a holistic approach to finding a career means that you actively participate in a complete analysis of your career and life situation. It goes way deeper than a test and can include coaching. Why is finding the right career so important?
There's no simple formula for finding the right career because the right career is different for every one of us. If you're convinced that finding the right career is important for you then you need to invest time now in your future. It will pay back massively! Finding the right career happens when you get congruency, or the best fit, between a career and your skills, abilities, personality and values. To get this right you need to do three things:
You'll notice that discover your interests and research different careers come first. Doing it this way opens up possibilities for finding the right career that would not be available if you only focused on your current skills. Here's a guide to help you assess your interests and reseach different careers. When you have identified your passions and interests you can take the third essential step and assess your skills and abilities on this page. Your Personal AssessmentA complete and holistic assessment will include your skills, abilities, personality, and values. You can follow the process I'm suggesting below, or adapt it to suit you. You could consult a professional career counselor to assist you in finding the right career if you prefer. Skills This is the first part of your self assessment and evaluation. These steps will help you to assess your existing skills. You'll also relate your skills to careers and decide which skills you need to develop further. When you think about your skills it's essential that you think wider than the skills you currently or regularly use. Push yourself a little bit here so that you don't just rely on what you do now to inform your future. Be careful of choosing a career just because you're good at whatever skills it requires. Use a spreadsheet or a few blank pages to make a list of your skills. Divide the page into three columns down the length of the page. A useful way to start finding the right career is to align roles and skills. Head the left hand column Roles and make a list of roles you have had in your life. What are all the different roles you've had in life? You should leave a few lines of space between each of the roles you write down. Roles are official and unofficial functions and positions you've had in your personal and professional life. Or just think about all the things you do. Your personal life could include roles such as mother, father, son or daughter. Perhaps you are a partner to someone. Think about all areas of your life and include roles from sport, hobbies, interest groups, or being a student. Push yourself to think of different roles and write them all down. Don't hold back! Think about all the things you do. If you are a friend to someone, write that down. If it's your job to mow the lawn write it down. Write everything down. Now think about professional roles. Write down the job titles you have held. If you've been a committee member write it down. Other than your official job title what other roles were you expected to perform at work? Think hard. Be creative. Remember to keep some space between each of the roles you write down. The idea is to generate a list of as many different roles you've had. Hopefully you've got plenty to work with. If not, go and ask someone to help you. Ask them to help you creatively think of as many different things that you do as possible. Lastly, think about the things you really enjoy doing. Are these already on your list? If not, add them now. The next step to finding the right career happens in the middle column on your page. This column you can head Skills. Next to each role you've written in the left hand column write the skills you need to complete the task. Again, think hard! Be creative. Write everything down. There are no wrong answers! There's usually more than one skill for each role. For example, mowing the lawn requires me to operate a machine, but also requires excellent time management skills and organisational skills. I might need good communication skills and an awareness of safety procedures. Can you think of more? Some ideas of skills you can draw on include:
Fill that middle column with skills relevant to each of the roles you have written. Ask yourself What do I need to know in order to fulfill this role? What do I know, or do, that helps me in this role? You may find yourself writing the same or similar skills for different roles. That's ok, but push yourself to think 'outside the box'. What skills are you overlooking? Think of as many different but relevant skills as you can. Use the last column to rate your skills using two assessments:
Make up a symbol for each rating. You might use a smiley face or a big "S" for I do this well and a question mark (?) or a star (*) for I need to develop this skill further. Place a symbol next to each of the skills you have written in the middle column. It's hard work isn't it? But this level of planning will help you in finding the right career. The last thing you need to do is create two new lists of skills. Using the pages you've created make one list of skills that you do well, and another list of skills that are areas for development. Abilities An ability is:
Skills generally enable and support your ability to do something. I like to think of abilities as things that you can do well compared to other people of the same age. Think about your abilities. What are you able to do well compared to people your own age? Go back and read through the roles you wrote down. These might guide you in your thinking. Here are 17 different abilities to help you on your journey to finding the right career. These are expanded from the Self Directed Search (SDS) career assessment test developed by John Holland. Holland's theory states that most people can be loosely categorized with respect to six types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional.
Choosing a career is easier to do when you know your abilities. And you're on the path to finding the RIGHT career. The abilities you've rated '2' and '3' take you one step closer to your goal of finding the right career. You may want to create a new list of the abilities you've rates 'average' and 'high'. The abilities you've rated '1' can be put on a separate list and considered 'areas for development'! Values Values are the principles, standards, morals, ethics and ideals that guide our lives. Ensure that you include your personal values in choosing a career. Aligning your values and your career makes finding the right career a ‘real’ or ‘authentic’ experience. You are being honest about what's important to you and are not trying to be something other than what you are. Here are examples of values:
Which values are important for you and guide you in your life? Are there any other values that are not in the list but you think are important to you? Personality Used in the sense of finding the right career personality can be described as your work 'style'. It's often easiest to have your personality style assessed professionally, although there are a number of online tests that are a useful guide. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a popular choice for aligning personality and career. Here's a useful free MBTI test that even allows you to align your result with career possibilities. If you do this test treat it as interest value in the pursuit of finding the right career rather than an official test result indicating 'who you are'. The theory of Personality Types suggests that: You are either primarily Extraverted or Introverted You are either primarily Sensing or iNtuitive You are either primarily Thinking or Feeling You are either primarily Judging or Perceiving All possible combinations of these basic preferences form 16 different Personality Types. Other personality tests you may complete while choosing a career include John Holland's Self Directed Search. What Now?Congratulations! You have completed this 4-part assessment. It took time and some thinking, but the results will make finding the right career so much more possible. There is one last task though. Having all this wonderful self assessment information is useless unless you apply it. Take some time to review your skills, abilities and personality type. Try to align these to careers you have already researched. If you struggle to do this then start with your abilities and consider careers that naturally fit your abilities. Then align your skills with possible careers. Next, consider your personality type and any recommendations you received and align this with the career possibilities. Finally, consider your values. Which of the careers will allow you to live your values? 
Don't forget to get a copy of What Color Is Your Parachute if you are serious about finding the right career. This book is updated every year and will give you up to date practical examples, instructions, and advice for choosing a career.Finding the right career can be a confusing process. You might find yourself with a mind boggling array of skills, abilities, values, and a personality to match! If following the process outlined on this page has left you feeling more confused a professional career counsellor or a life coach will be able to help you gain perspective. Choosing a career, and more importantly finding the right career, is an essential process many people never take the time to do. Completing this process places you ahead of your competition and ensures that you will achieve success and a degree of contentment in your career. Return from Finding The Right Career to Changing Careers Or Return to the Homepage.
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