How To Choose A Career That You Will Love

Finding a career that you will love and be passionate about is challenging to achieve. Not everyone gets a chance to enjoy what they have been dreaming of when they were younger, and only a few have succeeded in achieving their childhood career goals.

So, what do you need to do to make sure you hit your career goals and get a career that you’ll love? While there is no exact formula in landing to the perfect career you long have been dreaming of, there are proven ways to get there. Let’s take a look at the steps you need to take.

First Step: Consider the Things You Are Passionate About

Get a pen and a paper or grab your smartphone, and kickstart your dream career path. Write down all the things you love doing and would want to do in the future. Do you love writing or storytelling? Are you good at selling stuff online? Do you love talking to different people? Perhaps you love the outdoors or going on adventures, like hiking, mountain climbing, or bicycling. You’re probably interested in gardening or farming. Are you involved in sports?

Be free to write everything you want and love to do. No matter how long the list will be, allow yourself to discover what you’ve been interested in lately and in the future. Don’t hesitate to write anything you want to achieve, even though it may seem impossible. This step is the best time to explore your career desires. It’s a self-assessment tool that can help you achieve your short-term and long-term career goals.

It would be helpful to ask your family and friends, or other people’s idea of what they had always imagined that you would end up doing. By asking this question, you’ll have an idea or good insights into the key areas you might not have considered as your career. If you’re still in doubt about yourself, then this step would make things a lot clearer for you.

Second Step: Know Your Knowledge and Skill Level

After creating a master list of the things you want to achieve in your career, it’s time to assess your knowledge and skills. For example, if you want to become a manager someday, you have to ensure that you have management skills. Recruitment firms, like M&A Search, can help you assess your knowledge and skills if you’re ready to apply for a vacant position that would eventually lead you to your dream job.

Remember that you need to have the right knowledge and skills to match the job you love to do. Simply wanting to be “somebody” someday is not enough. But that doesn’t mean you should stop dreaming because you don’t have the technical know-how or skills yet. There are many ways to fill any gap between your career choice and your current knowledge and skills. Of course, you need to make sure that your educational qualification would fit your career choice, which will be further discussed below.

Third Step: Fill the Gap

One of the reasons why most people don’t pursue their dream career is a lack of educational qualifications. While other jobs would require a high school diploma as the minimum qualification, high-paying jobs would require a Masters or doctorate degree. Of course, you should not completely eliminate the money factor when choosing a career because you also need to be financially practical.

If you lack the educational qualifications, don’t ever think that it’s the end of your dream career. It’s actually just the start. Because of digital technology, learning and even gaining a diploma is possible online. There’s no reason not to get the course and credentials you need to fill in the gaps of your knowledge and skills.

Free online courses can help you access high-quality education in the comfort of your own home. These courses can even come with a certificate from the best academic institutions and universities worldwide. Now, it’s possible to advance your personal interests, education, and professional goals with online learning or e-learning.

Fourth: Start From the Bottom

Once you have gained the knowledge and skills you need for your dream job, it’s time to gain solid experience. Choosing a career you’ll love to do is an ongoing process. Sometimes, even if you have reached far, you’ll have a sudden change of plans. Starting from the bottom or the entry-level will give you an idea of the ins and outs of the bigger roles of your dream career.

Until you experience the job itself, you likely won’t make a final decision of what you really want to pursue. For example, if you want to be a sales manager someday or run your own car dealership, you have to start as a car salesman. In that way, you’ll be able to properly manage your staff in the future because you already have an idea of what it feels like to work as a frontline employee.

Depending on your dream job position, you need to gain a minimum of six months to a maximum of five years of experience. The longer, the better. Whether you’re just a new college graduate or you’ve been working for about one to three years, it’s important to earn solid experience to have an edge over other candidates.

Fifth: Make a Choice

After you have assessed yourself, your level of competence, and gained the credentials and experience that will help you attain your dream job, it’s now the perfect time to make a choice. You’re more confident to choose the best career – whether as an employee or an entrepreneur – that will change your life forever.

When making a choice, you have to make sure that it is realistic, attainable, and targeted. It means that you should be a hundred per cent sure that you’ll be able to achieve it within a given time frame, and with clear goals set in place.

Conclusion

What career should you pursue? At this point, you should be certain about your answer. Otherwise, you have to go back from the start. The roadmap to success in making a career choice should begin with thorough self-assessment. By knowing what you want, exploring your strengths and weaknesses, and working hard to meet the requirements of your dream career, you’ll make not only a great career choice, but you’ll also lead a happier life.