(Updated July 2, 2020) If you’re trying to find the perfect career for you, it’s a good idea to take a step back and figure out an approach to find exactly what you really want. After all, the worst thing you can do is to settle for a mediocre job that will merely help you pay for the bills in the meantime or one that does not even interest you.
Here are three steps to help you get on the right career path almost immediately:
1. “Finding a Career that Fits Me?” Try a Career Test
This is the easiest and most obvious way to begin a job search. However, you have to be realistic as far as your skills and qualifications when you’re trying to match them to the career you desire while finding the right job. Remember, you can also push the envelope and reach for positions you believe you can handle even though you don’t technically have the required skill sets that meet a company’s criteria.
There are many free online tools that can help you decide what type of career path you should choose and one of these is called a “career test.” These tests can help you identify the right career paths for yourself based on your personality, and they are well worth the effort.
To find the right career, you can also focus on the many free and informative Internet sites all over the web. It’s better to spend a couple of days or even a week trying to find what you would like to target instead of boxing yourself into a career path you have always chosen or one that does not really interest you.
It’s also a great idea to talk with and get an opinion from your friends and family members and see if they can give you any helpful hints or tips on the types of jobs that may match you as a person.
Once you have at least an idea of the potential career paths you want to go after…..
2. List Your Qualifications, Skills, and Experience
While finding the right job it is important to be able to match your skill set to the job description and be able to prove that you’re qualified for the position through your accomplishments relating to those skills.
If you’re going after a career and you believe you fall short of the qualifications listed for that position, it’s time for two things; to figure out the skills you need and figure out if you have any transferable skills that you have acquired through your life experience that you can use for the career you are targeting.
Examples of transferable skills you may have acquired are leadership experience, communication, computer literacy, and conflict resolution. For example, you may have had a helping hand in organizing a food drive for the needy while attending high school (leadership skills) or you may have taken initiative in helping a good friend get through a difficult time in their life(communication skills).
The bottom line is; life’s experiences = transferable career skills when you are finding the right job for yourself.
3. “Find a Job That Fits Me” By Getting the Skills and Experience You Need
If you find you don’t have the necessary experience or transferable skills to get the career you so desire it may be time to switch gears into overdrive and get that experience or extra education you need. For example, you may be a high school graduate with a few college credits who finds the career path you have chosen requires a bachelors degree to get your foot in the door.
At this point it would make sense to try to land a lesser job with the promise of moving up the ladder of success once you obtain the necessary education to get hired to that position.
If you are someone who is qualified and has all the potential to immediately excel in a certain career because of your education and/or experience, challenge yourself to find the highest position possible with a certain company right off the bat! In other words, swing for the fences and try to hit a home run.
You will never know how far you can get unless you try. It’s kind of like over-pricing an item you want to sell through Craigslist; you set a price for an item and sometimes the buyer will talk you down in price and sometimes they won’t!
In this case you will be over-pricing yourself and hopefully, the employer will buy your services in the form of a great job with a high salary! Finding the right job takes perseverance and the ability to play it smart.
More importantly than anything else is the fact that you control your destiny. Once you find the career you really want, don’t let anyone discourage you regardless of your situation. No one can hold you back from accomplishing everything you so desire, except you! So, go for it, you future workhorse, you!
If you’re still asking “how to find a career that fits me,” here are a few entry-level careers you can check out right now:
