Starting out in a new career can be exciting and frightening all at the same time. The time when each person stayed at one job until retirement has passed. Most people today have more than one career in a lifetime, so you don’t have to worry about staying in one place or feel bad because the time has come to move on.
Thousands of new careers are out there and new ones are emerging all the time. There are many variations of each and every one. To find a career that truly fits, start with carrying out a lot of research. Take a battery of career tests if you can, the more the better. A community college is a good place to get started. Many of their services are free, and if they aren’t, the cost is usually minimal. Your public library will also stock materials on a variety of careers. Ask the reference librarian for help locating them. That’s her job and she will be glad to help.
Here are 6 tips to find a career that you will enjoy:
- Career testing can point you in the right direction. Career tests give you a baseline of information that can point you toward the best areas of research for you personally. Start with a personality test, an interesting test and an aptitude test. These tests are important because they suggest a variety of career choices that match your skills based on your answers to the test. You can then look into each more carefully.
- Research each career thoroughly. Once receive the career test results and have identified several occupations that are right for you, you can start to research each one. The research may or may not tell you right away whether you would like that particular job, but it will give you a better idea. Check online with the Department of Labor and with the O*Net Directories for lists of these occupations.
- Interview people who work in each career. Once you have narrowed down your list of occupations and done your research on them, choose four or five of them and look for professionals in those fields to interview. Make a list of questions and ask for 20 minutes of each person’s time. Meet, ask your questions, and leave. You can always find people to interview by checking the yellow pages. Don’t forget to send a thank-you note.
- Check with continuing education or community centers. Both of these resources usually offer classes on specific careers. Taking a class is a great time to go and find out more about a possible direction and ask more questions about your potential career.
- Read as much as you can on your choices. Trade publications in any field will tell you more about the job you are interested in. Read popular career books like What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles. Barbara Sher writes great books on career placement as well. Lots of authors write different perspectives on how to find the career that suits you best and will make you happiest.
- Consider a creative or artistic career. If you are an artist or a writer and you want to use a natural talent to earn your living, there are many ways that you can do that. Talk to other professional artists and writers about how they got started.
Thorough research will get you started towards a career that you love, but the rest is up to you. Allow yourself to try lots of different things and to pick the one that you will love the most.
