It can feel incredibly daunting to understand where you fit in the world, what you can provide or change to make the world a better place, or find a career that not only pays well but will be something you are excited to do every day and be passionate about.
I was in the same situation, feeling lost and confused while trying to discover what to pursue as a career and in my life. In today's blog topic, we are going to explore different questions, suggestions, and ideas to leave you with a new perspective on finding the answers to your question.
Let's begin
1. What Are You Passionate About?
This may sound simple, but really dig deep to understand what you are passionate about and question it!
For example, for myself, this was a tough question because I had so many passions that excited me from cooking, arts, business, and psychology but when I stopped with that I didn't get any resolution of what this would mean as a career. So, diving deeper into why I love those things is key. Since I loved being creative and thinking outside the box, I realized that meant doing the same job day in would likely become very tedious for me because I would likely crave more variety in my career, that's when I discovered Marketing and realized I could mix creativity, psychology side, and business side together.
So push further into your passions and understand why those are important to you, this will begin the elimination of certain jobs that totally do not work for you.
2. Are You a People-Person or Do You Enjoy Working Alone?
Do you crave social interaction? Then working in an office cubical by yourself all day may not be up your alley. Introverts, extroverts, and ambiverts have their own specialties and disadvantages to certain professions, take some time to learn which you are.
3. Take The Time To Work And Volunteer At Different Jobs
After I graduated from high school with zero clue about what I should pursue, so I started working different part-time and full-time jobs. With each job, you gain you’ll learn something about yourself, what you like and dislike, what you are good at, and what you need extra time specializing in. Don’t dread working at different jobs during this stage each job you’ll be able to take away a skill and lesson that will help you realize what you want.
4. Figure Out What Are Your Naturally Strong Points and Weakness
Although, It's wise to work on your weakness, don’t ignore what you are naturally more inclined at, it's a strength for a reason, so find careers that need that strength. For instance, I have never been great with math, therefore, I knew I would never want to pursue a degree in something like accounting. Take a moment to think about what you have been able to pick up quickly whether a physical skill or technical specialization.
It’s also important to note that these strengths don’t have to be hard skills like coding, or being a personal trainer, but can be soft skills too. Business requires a strong aptitude for soft skills just if not more than hard skills. So don't discredit your soft skills either, especially if you're just starting out these are great additions to highlight on your resume.
5. Take Courses Online That You Think Could Be A Potential Career Pathway
Take advantage of free or affordable priced courses online in subjects that interest you, no matter your age you can always learn something new, and if you are stuck in finding a career pathway using these tools will give you a realistic idea of what the professionals in that field need to know and do in their work day.
6. You Don’t Have To Be Locked Down To One
A lot of the stress you gain from finding a career to pick is thinking that you stuck with that decision for the rest of your life but that simply isn’t the case, so don't fret you have unlimited opportunities if you look outside the box.
Don’t worry about being locked down to one career, many career pathways have educational requirements that can be used in different fields, also. For my marketing degree, I learned business, finances, economics, and more, all these specializations would allow me to go from a market focus job to somewhere in between.