Today we are going to begin placing all of the different pieces of the process together. Remember, I said at the beginning of the challenge that it was critically important for you to do each daily task. The reason being is that each tasks builds upon the next. If you are new to the challenge, then I strongly encourage you to start from the beginning.
Get a Better Job! 30 Day Challenge: Start Here
Here is a recap:
- Day 1: Decide on your Work Purpose Statement
- Day 2: Take a Job Satisfaction Survey
- Day 3: Uncover your natural strengths
- Day 4: Discover your passion & interests
- Day 5: Nail down your ideal work environment for your personality
Day 6: Putting it All Together – What Career Should I Choose?
Attending college for the first time can be a lot of pressure. I remember enrolling into school my freshman year and being faced with the question: “What career should I choose?” It was really a weighted question and one that I felt like I was all alone on to choose for myself. While there is a lot to be said for having a focus and clear direction in the beginning, here are some statistics to consider:
Today’s workplace professional is averaging 3 to 5 careers in their lifetime. What that means is that you are likely to make a career switch at some point. Sometimes it is out of necessity in order to survive the marketplace. Other times it is out of you discovering along the way what your real passions and interests are. Either way it is likely that you will make a career change.
Many people do not hold degrees in the current career they are working. I will be the first to admit that having a career in accounting is predicated on having a degree in accounting. Still, I am seeing a trend in the wider workforce. More and more companies are opting for the actual 4 year college degree as the basic requirement over a specialized degree. That doesn’t mean that a specialized degree is not important, just that the expectations are in certain industries.
What Career Should I Choose?
If you currently feel stuck, here are a questions I would like for you to answer.
What are your natural strengths? I talk about this a lot because I believe it is very important. Personal strengths elude people most of the time. Personal strengths oftentimes are things that are extremely easy for us. We often overlook these easy things because we don’t realize that others really struggle with them. Many people often have to ask someone else to clue them in on their personal strengths and talents.
What is your personality type? We often forget to take this into consideration. Too often we adopt the old “fake it till you make it.” We think that if we can just force ourselves to do the things that don’t come easy to us that we will eventually succeed. The truth is that you would be better off embracing how God made you and letting your unique personality shine instead of trying to change it. Oftentimes it is not so much what position you choose, but how you approach it with your personality type that makes a difference. Don’t try to be someone you are not. Just be you.
Where do your interests and passions lie? Are there certain interests that you cannot stop thinking about? Maybe you think about these things when you are lying in bed. If you have a few extra hours on a Saturday, this is how you would want to spend it. When you walk into a bookstore, what section do you gravitate toward? These can all be clues as to what your passions are. If when you walk into a bookstore, you head right for the computer tutorials, then maybe computers and information technology is the right career for you.
Your ability to answer the above questions and find where they meet will give you the sweet spot when it comes to choosing a career. Watch this helpful video on how you can align these three questions.
DO IT NOW Task – Putting it All Together
Sometimes it is helpful to write everything out. Today’s task will take a little bit of effort but it will yield massive results if you follow through.
1. Take out a piece of paper and draw 3 circles as seen in the video above.
2. At the top of the paper write down your purpose statement that you should have completed from Day 1.
3. In each circle, write one of these words: Passion, Strengths, Personality.
4. In the passion circle write down any of your passions and interests.
5. In the strengths circle, write down what you believe are your natural strengths.
6. In the personality circle, write down what you believe is your ideal work environment (working in groups, working alone, etc).
7. Begin to build an profile of your ideal job using the insights from above.
