Every day, we come in contact with a number of people- teachers, doctors, lawyers, bankers, engineers; who all possessed different goals in their lives that was the initial starting point of their career. A career is not simply achieved for the love of money, but for the love and care for a certain type of work; not beneficial to self, but beneficial to others. A career path is rarely a path at all. A more interesting life is usually a more crooked, winding path of missteps, luck and vigorous work. It is almost always a clumsy balance between the things you try to make happen and the things that happen to you. Through a career, individuals obtain several skills that are helpful when serving people in their field of work. Of course, a career doesn’t just happen, or land in the palm of your hands in an instant, or even fall from the sky as a slap in the face. Instead, it is something we have to sit and plan for. Choosing a career path is one of the biggest choices one has to make for himself, though the easiest process to start- just simply think!
A career path can help you set professional goals and develop a strategy for getting where you want to be. Part of choosing an appropriate career path involves making an honest self-evaluation of your talents, abilities and interests. While elements of your path may change over time due to choice or circumstance, having an overall professional objective with which to guide yourself, will help you make critical decisions with greater clarity.
Choosing a career is one of the most important decisions a person has to make in their life. It is so important because that is what we will have to do to support ourselves throughout life. Imagine being stuck in a dead end job and having to go to work every morning and dreading it. It’s like wasting 50 years of your life watching re-runs of the same television show; it doesn’t excite us after a while. If a person likes the job they do then it is not work, because finding satisfaction out of a job can bring great happiness. Why not find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it!
In a perfect world, each person would know the right career for him and all the required elements would fall into place. Realistically, choosing a career can prove daunting. Anything from lack of awareness to fear can toss up a roadblock on the path to a career decision. The more you know about the pitfalls of choosing a career, the more prepared you’ll be when faced with the process.
Some people mistakenly believe that only one perfect career exists for each individual. However, there are many careers that share the same characteristics. Instead of seeking one work path that seems like a perfect fit, it’s important to investigate a variety of options that have features in common. In addition, the element of the unknown often rears its head in a search for the right career choice. A person may fear that he won’t like the career once he commits to it. He may fear that he won’t be good at it.
We can combat these and similar fears by thoroughly researching the job and its characteristics, talking to people who have held the same type of job for several years and spending some time as an observer at the desired place of employment. Our greatest weakness lies in giving up when we feel as though we’ve tried enough. However, the most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.
