As a professional Career Counselor, I work daily with people “trying” to figure out a career that they will love for years to come. But, this can be a tricky situation if you haven’t done any self-exploration.

Self-exploration is simply getting to know yourself. 

Before even doing a career assessment or interest inventory, people should first sit with themselves and ask a few really good questions such as:

• What do I enjoy doing? 
• What are my strengths?
• What do I value?
• What situations, people, and places make me feel good?

With just a handful of questions like this, you can begin to narrow down an industry of interest. 

Do Your Research

Once you have a general idea of the industry, it’s time to do some research on what you can do with that industry or position. So many people skip this step and end up jumping into something that they end up being unhappy about. 

As you prepare for your research, write out some questions that you need answered, so that you aren’t wasting time and overwhelmed with all of the information that you find. Time is important and you don’t want to waste it. By having a list of questions, you can quickly pick out the information that you need to know. 

Questions to Guide Your Research 

A few questions to guide your research could include the following:

• What is a day like in this position?
• What are sample job titles or alternative job titles to this position?
• How much does this position make and does it align with my financial goals?
• How much education or specialized knowledge is required?
• What skills do I need to successfully do this job?
• What path did other people doing this take?

Here’s a Tip – Keep a notebook and/or folder dedicated solely to your career goals. Review it often and make notes in it often. 

How to Conduct Your Research

To get your questions answered, you will need to use multiple strategies. For example, you may choose to look up people who are already doing what you are wanting to do. A quick Google search will give you more than you want to know. 

From there you could potentially connect with people on LinkedIn and have conversations about their path and your career related goals. 

You could also watch a variety of YouTube videos and read some books on the industry or positions that you have in mind. 

These are just a few strategies to help you get started.

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Career Assessments and Interest Inventories

From here, I would recommend a career assessment or interest inventory to make sure that the work that you have done aligns closely with your results. By this time, you should have a more concise picture of what it is that you want to do for the next 5-10 years or so. 

An interest assessment can help you identify careers that meet your interests and a career assessment is a way to learn more about how well a variety of careers might suit you.

There are multiple assessments out there, some are free and others come at a cost.A few  popular career assessments include the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Strong Interest Inventory, and Careerscope. These are general assessments designed to be applied in virtually any market, but come at a cost. 

Here’s a Tip – If you want a free alternative, simply do a Google search for a free career assessment or interest inventory. Many career centers and community colleges offer these services for free.

How Much Time Are You Willing to Invest in Your Skills and Education?

After this, it’s important to identify how much time you are willing to invest in the education or specialized knowledge required to do the job.

Take Action. Put the Work In.

From there, you need to put the work in. Go to work learning what you need to learn so that you can walk into a career that you love and could see yourself doing for quite some time. 

Here’s the 30 Day Career Clarity Challenge!

Final Thoughts – But Keep Reading 

Choosing a career path that you love is important because the work that we do affects our overall life and well-being. This is career wellness. Therefore we want to choose something that we can see ourselves doing for quite some time. 

Here’s an example of the process.

I love to write, take photos, and can work independently and as a team. I am strong at writing and photography. I want to help people live their best lives possible. Being around people going after their dreams gets me excited. 

Knowing this, I would know to look in areas of writing and photography. I may find my ideal job and career at a magazine company, as a freelancer, or solopreneur. 

I would then do a career assessment or interest inventory to see what the results were. If the results were closely aligned, I would be given additional information on career paths for me and/or others to consider. 

From there, I would do some research and connect with people who are doing what I would ideally like to do. 

I would then make notes on important tips to get started such as education and skills, and get to work. While there are other steps involved, this is a great way to get started and get going. 

The bottom line is that you have to take action and put the work in. 

Don’t forget to check out this previous post, How to Make 2021 the Year Your Dreams Come True. 

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