How to Choose a Career?

It has often been said that if you choose a job that you love, you will never work in a day in your life. For some, this path is easier than it is for others. Not everyone has the same opportunity when it comes to going to college or having guidance into finding the best path for choosing a career. So how do you find the career that best suits you?

Career exploration really starts in high school. High school counselors use data from different tests that students take in middle school and help guide students based on their interests along with their aptitudes  A lot of high schools across the country have Career Technical Education (CTE) pathways that give students the opportunity to seek out different career choices. This allows students an opportunity to get hands-on experience and explore different careers, to hopefully help them narrow their choices down before entering into college or the workforce.

If you’re an adult and you are seeking a new career choice, but you are not sure where to start, there are some great online tools to help you get started. These are also great tools for high school students as well.

Retrieved from https://www.truity.com/view/tests/personality-career This site matches your personality with specific careers. It is important to understand how personality and careers go together. If you are an introvert but you are working as a salesman, you may not be very successful or very happy in that career. You may want to seek a career more suited to working independently and that does not require a lot of interaction with people all day. 

Retrieved from https://www.123test.com/career-test/ This site looks at your aptitude. Aptitude is your ability to be able to perform certain tasks or the skills you already have. Examples are problem-solving, reasoning, numerical skills, etc. It is important to understand your aptitude when looking for a career. You may really want to be a doctor, but your aptitude may not match the criteria in order for you to be successful in that career path. That does not mean you can’t choose that career path, however, it will allow you to look at areas where you may need to really improve on if you seek that career.

Retrieved from https://www.assessment.com/ This site will match careers and give you an overview of your career motivations, along with the different vocational areas in which those careers lie.

If you take these assessments and you still are not sure of a clear path, you can always find a career counselor or life coach to help make this process a little bit easier.