If you have landed here, you have probably heard yourself say, “I don’t know what to do for a career!” I wish I had an immediate answer for you. While I can’t make it quite that easy and effortless, I can significantly reduce the anxiety, fear, and (let’s be honest) agony that comes with this big life decision. How do I do it? I begin by helping individuals build a list of criteria with which to measure career opportunities. From there, when students ask themselves, “Are these the best careers for me?” they can answer their own question by weighing the career opportunity against their personal criteria.
Resources to Help When You’re Thinking…
“I Don’t Know What to Do for a Career!”
That’s right; I’m sharing my secrets! Below are some of my favorite tools and exercises that help people evaluate their experiences and build a list of criteria with which to measure career options. Stop saying, “I don’t konw what to do for a career!” and start working through some of these exercises and building your career criteria!
Work Values
To experience lasting, career happiness, you need to be able to articulate what you value in your work and your work environment. I’m not talking job duties here, but characteristics of the work. Do you thrive on structure, or do you need variety? Are autonomy and freedom important to you, or do you want clear expectations and defined instructions? The website 123test.com has an excellent, free Work Values and Motivation resource to help you identify your top work values.
Strengths and Skills
This step is one of my favorites. Start by writing a list of your top skills and strengths (don’t skip this step!). Think about the jobs you’ve held, volunteer experiences, clubs, and organizations, etc. What skills and strengths did you develop or demonstrate in those situations?
Only after you have made your list, reach out to three people who know you well but are not family members or best friends. Ideally, these three people will have interacted with you in different capacities. A supervisor, former colleague, community member, mentor, or instructor are all great people to utilize for this exercise. Choose three people who will give you honest, detailed feedback. Then, ask them these two, simple questions:
What are my greatest strengths?
Describe a time you witnessed me at my best.
I suggest sending these in an email or text message to give the people time to think about them rather than just rattling off the first responses that come to mind. Once you have your answers, compare your list to the responses of the other people. Then, create a list of your most valuable skills and strengths that you want to see utilized in your work life. I promise this exercise will be a powerful one in helping you develop criteria to determine the best fit careers for you!
Personality and Career Fit
I am listing this resource last because we do not want the information from this step to influence the above two steps. Once you have identified your work values and your top skills and strengths, I want you to go online and take a personality assessment with a career component. Three popular tools you can use are My Next Move, Truity, or 16 Personalities. All three of these assessments will provide a “Best Careers for Me” section. While this list won’t be conclusive, the tool will give you additional criteria to consider based on your personality and then a list of best-fit careers you can consider.
Using Criteria to Determine Best Career Fit
Finally, after you have your criteria built out, you need to determine how well different career options fit your criteria. How present will your work values be in that career field? Will your best strengths and skills be utilized? How will your personality and natural abilities shine? Use online sources and professionals in your network to help give you perspective if you are unsure when trying to answer these questions. The biggest tip is, don’t rush the process. Look for answers, ponder the information, and allow time for reflection.
What’s next?
“I don’t know what to do for a career.” This statement is the number one cry for help I hear from students. Anxiety, uncertainty, and fear flood their minds when they think about the daunting life decision of choosing a career path for themselves. Thousands of dollars, hundreds of papers and college exams, and years of their lives depend on them making the right choice. Who wouldn’t feel pressure! The good news, I can help. While the exercises above are powerful, they are even more helpful when you have someone working through the process with you and helping you identify trends and opportunities. Learn more about me and my coaching style! Book a no-pressure consultation today to learn more about the career coaching process!
Want help finding your perfect career?
As an experienced educator and career coach, I sit down with students and young professionals one-on-one and assist them as they articulate their goals and develop a plan to gain career-relevant experience! I guide students through the internship search, application, and interview process, teaching them life-long skills for career success!
Book a free consultation today!
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Download my favorite tools and exercises that help you evaluate your experiences and build a list of criteria with which to measure career options.
