How many times have you heard someone complain about their job over and over? How many times have you done it?
Choosing a career is one of the most important decisions you’ll make in your entire life. Especially if you don’t want to be a miserable person stuck in a dead end job that you hate.
Unfortunately, looking far into the future and choosing a career presents many challenges. However, if you take the time to really think about what career best aligns with your goals and ambitions you’ll have better success at choosing the right career for you.
Here are 4 tips to help you choose the right career:
You Have Objectives
When it comes to choosing a career there are usually two options.
Option A is choosing a career that you don’t necessarily enjoy but that brings in the big money. Option B is a career that you love and can see doing for the rest of your life.
Everybody is different. Some want to work for good money others want to follow their passions. There’s nothing wrong with either one of these choices. You just have to figure out what you really want.
You (At Least) Mildly Enjoy What You’re Doing
Have you ever heard the saying “passion turns into profit?” The statement isn’t always correct but it is true that if you hate your work others will outshine you.
Even if you choose money over passion you need to at least mildly enjoy your career. If you hate your chosen career then your work is not going to be up to par with that of your peers. However, when you enjoy what you’re doing you don’t mind spending time going the extra mile. Most of the time repeatedly going that extra mile is going to mean exponential career growth.
If you’re working primarily for money be sure to choose a career that at least somewhat excites you.
There’s Room for Growth
Nobody wants to work a dead end job. When choosing a career make sure there’s room for growth.
Can you move up in your company? If you’re self-employed is it feasible to expand your client base? These are very important questions to ask yourself before determining the right career path for you.
If you’re following your passion then career growth might not be on your agenda right now. Unfortunately in a few years from now that might change. You need to not only think about the present but also the future of your chosen career.
You’re Thinking Long Term
Finally, you need to think long term when choosing a career path.
Will there be jobs in this field ten, twenty, or thirty years from now? Will you still enjoy this career in a decade from now? Will you earn enough money to support your family? Will you earn enough money to save for retirement?
There are so many considerations to take in when you are choosing your career path. This shouldn’t be a ‘wing-it’ type decision.
You need to look at your current skill set, hobbies, and financial needs. Once you nail your objectives and take some time to figure out your calling you’ll be set to choose a career.
How did you go about choosing your career?
I knew my first job out of college was a dead end job when I didn’t know what to put on the self-evaluations for “5 Year Goals”. It wasn’t like I could move up, so my goal was always just to still be there 5 years later…until it wasn’t. When I realized that self-employment could be an actual reality, I was gone in 6 months.
Choosing a career can be extremely tough (it was for me). People struggle with it all the time and that’s why it’s so common these days to see people switching even when they’re older. Part of the challenge is thinking you’ll enjoy a career field and then finding out you don’t like it once you’re there! Really, the ideal career would capture both elements: pays well enough and is one you enjoy. Going to the extreme of all money or pure enjoyment (and little money) is usually not good.
I like your tips and I would like to mention another one.
The’re is good quote in the investing and trading world that is: “everyone gets from the market what he wants”. Of course this statement was made with the commodity or the stock market in mind, but I think this applies also to the “labor market”.
So, even if there are good rational points to follow to choose the right career, in my opinion, one should also be introspective enough to really understand his drivers and his irrational inner forces. Sometimes people just like to complain and choose the job that better let them to be able to complain. Others believe they don’t deserve to be rich, and unconsciously find a job that is not well paid. Human mind is very complex and also in apparently rational and “simple” choices may react based on inner, irrational forces.
Thank you for posting,
-Robert