Cracking The Career Code: Tips To Choose The Right Career For Yourself
In India, the most appropriate time for you to decide what career pathway you need to tread on is usually in your 8th or 9th grade. Needless to say, you need to make up your mind over a field in the 10th grade so as to pick a stream that you’d want to make your career flourish in, but it should always be something that is appropriate for you and your abilities. It is obvious for you to be confused and troubled by what career you need to choose, and how to go on about it after you’ve made the choice, but we’re here to ease your worries in making the choice.
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Along with appropriate career guidance at every stage of your journey towards success, we also help you possibly choosing what may suit you the best, and here’s how you can get a good headstart on how to choose your career!
Take and Aptitude Test
Readily available at any career guidance counselor or educational institute, an aptitude test considers both: Your Intelligence as well as Emotional quotients- leading to an assessment by the counselor in figuring out what career might best suit you according to your skill and performance in the test. A career aptitude test is a short, objective career explorer quiz that includes several multiple-choice questions.
It’s a simple but powerful way to dig deep enough to find out your personality and interests, and then use that data to find out a list of careers that would be the best match.
The best time to take a career aptitude test is before the 10th and 12th grade before you’ve chosen your career. That’s when things are less messy and the field is wide open to choose the relevant stream (science, commerce, arts, business, etc) and right graduation degree.
Ask Yourself a Few Important Questions
There are a few questions you need to ask yourself first, before randomly choosing a career pathway of your choice. These include:
- What are you good at, and what do you love?
Your skills inventory could take the form of a checklist, a mock resume, or interviews with friends, family members, mentors, and former employers who can provide an outside perspective. You can then return to a tool like the one provided above and more carefully match your skills and interests to job titles, narrowing in on those that are both best suited to you and have the best prospects for growth.
- What is the best environment for your personality type?
It’s often helpful to take even deeper personality tests like the Myers-Briggs. This will help you further pinpoint just what you need in your work environment to thrive. Particularly important is determining whether you’re more of an introvert or an extrovert, as the two personality types differ widely in their needs. An introvert, for example, maybe more attracted to a quieter research role, while an extrovert will thrive in a busy, loud sales office. Public speaking, the amount of teamwork required and frequent contact with clients are also factors to consider.
- What kind of lifestyle do you want?
Most jobs start off with at least a few years of hard labor at lower pay than you’d like. What’s more important is looking ahead at people well into a career track to determine whether the lifestyle they lead is desirable to you. Some factors you might want to consider include the amount of control they have over their own time, their salary, and the amount of travel involved, among other factors.
Make A List
However bizarre or wide-ranged it may seem, draw up a list of careers you think you’d like to venture into, and then access yourself around each of the options by doing a deeper study and some introspection. First, look for careers that appear on multiple lists and copy them onto a blank page. Title it “Occupations to Explore.” Your self-assessments indicated they are a good fit for you based on several of your traits, so they’re definitely worth exploring.
Next, find any occupations on your lists that appeal to you. They may be careers you know a bit about and want to explore further. Also, include professions about which you don’t know much. You might learn something unexpected. At this point, you’ll be thrilled you managed to narrow your list down to only 10 to 20 options. Now you can get some basic information about each of the occupations on your list.
Find job descriptions and educational, training, and licensing requirements in published sources. Learn about advancement opportunities. Use government-produced labor market information to get data about earnings and job outlook. In the end, remove everything with duties that don’t appeal to you. Eliminate careers that have weak job outlooks. Get rid of any occupation if you are unable or unwilling to fulfill the educational or other requirements, or if you lack some of the soft skills necessary to succeed in it.
Connect With Professionals
Once you shortlist your career options, be sure to connect with individuals who have experience in the field. Schedule a Q&A session with them and write your questions in advance, so that you could be clear about everything during the interview. These people can provide firsthand knowledge about the careers on your short list. Access your network, including LinkedIn, or even people your parents and family might know, to find people with whom to have these informational interviews.
Do An Internship
If you want to get a first-hand experience at the career or careers you have shortlisted, be sure to sign-up for internships during your free time, holidays, or even alongside school or college hours. Companies are always looking for interns to work for them, and this could be a great opportunity for you to get an up, close and personal look at the career you want to take up for the rest of your life.
Analyze Your Choice Thoroughly
When it comes to choosing your career, there are no do-overs. This is why you need to think about all the aspects of the choice you have made. To get a better idea about whether a certain career might be a good fit for you, look into what the day-to-day responsibilities of each job look like. Get example job descriptions and common tasks and responsibilities. You might also consider asking shadow people in your network with jobs on your list.
Next up, learn about average compensation for the jobs you’ve identified. It is also important to know if there is an opportunity for growth in your chosen career. This means the availability you’ll have in the career to advance, gain skills, and take on more responsibility. Read job descriptions carefully to learn about job requirements and growth opportunities.
Another key piece of information is how your selected job stands in the labor market. This includes data like hiring trends and job growth. Search for news stories about the industry or job title that interests you. You will want to give preference to jobs that have steady hiring and growth.
In the end, it is important to pick the occupation that you think will bring you the most satisfaction based on all the information you have gathered. For more such informative and helpful content, visit our website and browse through our unique blogs to get all the help you need!