Choosing a career can be overwhelming especially when you get a lot of advice from everywhere, which leads to one of the major things slipping away, introspection. So, how to go about deciding a career path for you?
In this article, I want to discuss things that a person should introspect and use to ensure that the career path chosen by them is the one that leads to contentment and makes them feel useful.
To select a great career path for yourself, one has to ask those hard-hitting cliched questions and find out the answers as well. Here are the questions which you should be asking yourself before dedicating your life (or at least 90,000 hours of your life) to a career path.
1. What are my passions?
The first thing to know while deciding a career path is to let your passion decide the career path and not the other way round. As cliche as it may seem, you have to like what you do. An adult spends 11 years of their life confined in an office and it is self-service to ensure that the time spent in the office makes you glad.
Find out what you’re good at and how happy that activity makes you feel. If you know this, you have solved one of the major questions you ask yourself while choosing your career path
It is never too late for experienced people as well. Here are 4 ways to take ownership of your career growth and not confuse it with a job.
2. What does ‘wealth’ mean to me?
As vague as the term ‘wealth’ might be, it is a very important thing to consider while choosing a career path. You have to decide whether the passion you are going for is lucrative and will provide the returns that you deserve.
To figure this out, you can simply check what the people are already getting paid in the sector. You can also check for big companies which provide services related to your passion and see how people are getting compensated for their work in those companies.
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3. What is the future of this career path?
Certain career choices start with a lot of challenges but overcoming those challenges lead to great success. And on the other hand, some careers mirage as smooth sailing but leads to stagnant waters. The key is to find where your passions lie.
To answer this question, a great deal of research is required. Peek at your future with:
- Internet Research– With the help of the internet, you can easily research where your career path is, in terms of technology and relevance. You can also check how the companies in the industry perform and what all they’re doing to adapt to change.
- Informational Interviews– Through websites like glassdoor and AmbitionBox, you can easily research what people in the industry are saying about the job and how much they get compensated for the work they do.
One has to figure out where their passion will lead them and whether there is even something to lead on to.
Source: Dice Insights
4. Will my career path fulfil my goal/s?
I understand that journey is more important than the destination. But to know the destination is bliss on its own. Your career path is only as good as where it is taking you.
This is a long term question that every person has to constantly introspect about. Putting together a career action plan will help you determine where your career path is headed and does it include the goals that you made for yourself.
Conclusion
As simple and cliched these steps may sound, the main part of it all is introspection. You have to realise that to make a career choice, you have to be holding the steering wheel. Knowing your passion and a detailed analysis of what that passion will amount to (both in monetary terms and emotional terms) will help you to go leaps and bounds ahead of others. Just remember, be decisive and passionate about what you are doing and nothing will stop you. EVER.
