Making the right career choice

Making the right career choice can be a difficult process. By focusing first on what we value in life rather than on job specifications, our career choice will become much clearer.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that there is only one perfect job for them. They imagine that this job fits in all the right ways, ticks all the boxes and fulfils every need and desire.

However, the trend these days is for people to have multiple careers over their lifetime and each career can be completely different from the previous one. If that is true, how should we approach the search for work?

All work has specific characteristics or elements and each person has a preference for which ones they prefer. By understanding what these elements are and knowing your own preferences, you can evaluate any role in terms of its fit.

Below is a list of elements to consider when looking at your career choice:

Control: Do you want to be in charge or do you prefer to follow?

Time: How many hours are you happy devoting to your work?

Creativity: Do you like following the rules or do you want to colour outside the lines?

Managing: Do you enjoy looking after people and making things happen through them?

Location: Where do you want to live and work - the suburbs, city or country?

Responsibility: Do you want to be making the big decisions?

Specialisation: Do you want to be a specialist in a given field and be respected for that? Or do you want to be a generalist?

Flexibility: Do you require a 9 to 5 role or are you happy putting the hours in and taking them back as and when it suits?

Company: Do you want to associate with one company or with several types of companies? Or do you want to be a competely free agent?

Skills: Do you want to use your current skills or do you want to develop skills in a new area?

Belonging: Do you need to belong to a group and make connections with people? Or are you happy moving from project to project making little emotional attachment with the people and companies you work for?

Once you have answered these questions for yourself, some roles, industries and companies will be immediately ruled in or out.

Now take this one step further and rank the elements in order of priority for you. You are now in a powerful position, where you are only prepared to consider roles that meet your top five most important elements.

Choosing or changing careers is a significant decision and one that requires reflection. This simple exercise will help you with making the right career choice by focusing on what’s really important to you.

Megan Tough runs Complete Potential, a company that helps businesses solve their strategy and people problems. She loves being a solopreneur, and when she doesn't have her nose to the grindstone, is fulfilling her other passion of fitness and health.

22 Aug 07

Print this item

8 comments | Add your own 1 2 | Next» View all»

Hi Megan, if only career counsellors at schools and universities asked your questions of all students, they would learn to properly assess and value various opportunities correctly from the word go!
Also, I would like to provide a link which gives people a good opportunity to assess their answers to your list against the various fields that most interest them - http://jobguide.thegoodguides.com.au/search.cfm (yes, I know its about jobs, but the guidelines apply equally to soloists). Grant Hyman from Sydney | Read my articles
I've had a number of career changes in my 49 years working life Accounting, insurance,transport, , retail fashion, wholesale fashion, photographics, cleaning, carpet cleaning and now business consulting and training. I thought being a generalist would be great until i experienced the total satisfaction of becoming a specialist. I can now charge what Im worth patrick burgess from north ryde nsw
I have also had a number of career changes over the past 29 years and have recently finished a course with Megan.The knowledge Meagn provided was what I had known for a long time...however, it was the way that Megan re-introduced this knowledge...that motivated me to change my outlook on the way I choose to do business. Thank You King Floor Cleaning / Steve Welch from Avalon
I have to say this article has touched home. I am 22 and a mum of 2 and one on the way. I was deteremined to become a doctor, but falling pregnant young changed that as i couldnt leave the country to go to uni. So i settled on nursing/midwifery. A career i could gain without leaving, which was still in the medical field. I started a traineeship in aged care and the shift work was horrible. I couldnt handle being away from my daughter for as long as what i did, plus trying to sleeping in between when my dd wanted mummy time and hubby wanted to be with me. I then left and had my son. And started a finace traineeship. Which I loved. Though i hated the 9-5. Trying to juggle the house work, kids, career, study and cook dinner after work every night was too much. I had a falling out with my bosses and left. I resigned myself to the fact that despite my desire and need to work (i need mental stimulation and puzzles arnt enough)I will never be able to find a job that fit in to my families lifestlye and sporting events and my own interests. Unitl i came across the idea of WFH business in the finance sector. The biggest thing for anyone is first figure out what you want and need. I had issues with daycare (there isnt any here where i live), wanting to be a sahm and cook dinner everynight, but still be working and keeping myself active and giving my adult time to stay sane. To know that there was more to my day then dirty nappies and hi-5. I also needed to know that i could work a 8hr day one day and none the next. That i could take a day to look after a sick child or do my shopping without a cranky boss. So i decided to work from home. The next option was what. Theres no many net scams out there so it had to be something i did myself. I figured bookkeeping was the way to go.
But no matter how much you evaluate yourself and needs the options may change down the track as your life style changes, Kids for example can turn your entire career choices and goals upside down. Bec from SA
Thank you Steve, and to all others who have commented on this story. Life's too short to be unhappy and/or unfulfilled at work. I know I've been there. Here's to 2008 being a great year for discovering the things that give us greatest satisfaction, and making them happen. Megan from Sydney
can you put up on your site what career choices that we could make such aged care, chef, etc... heli from amercia

8 comments | Add your own 1 2 | Next» View all»

Add Your comments

Preview comment

Name

Website *

Town / city and country

Email (never sold, displayed or given away)

* This will link your name to your site. So please avoid self promotion elsewhere! We delete spam, disrespectful or off-topic comments.