These days there seem to be countless options when it comes to choosing a career. Obviously, there are, and many of them offer a lucrative lifestyle! However, the best career won’t come down to just how much you can make off of it – even though that is a huge plus. That means the right career will come down to a mixture of features, things you must have, things you can’t have, and everything in between. Fortunately, I have a simple and effective process for you to follow in order to help you narrow down your options and find the right career for you and your goals.
The College Debate
For as long as most of us can remember, we were told that if we applied ourselves in school and went to college that we would be able to get a great job in a field that we love. While those with a bachelor’s degree do tend to out-earn those with just a high school diploma, that doesn’t make college a one-size-fits-all solution. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much of a difference in how much people genuinely enjoy their jobs between college graduates and high-school grads.
Before going to college, really ask yourself:
- Do I know what I want to do with my life?
- Do I need to go to college in order to get a job in the field I want?
- Would I rather use the money for a degree to start a business?
- Do I need a break from school to figure things out?
There Are Tons Of Great Careers That Don’t Require A Degree
Most people find it hard to make six figures, but it’s easier than ever before – with or without a degree. There are tons of extremely valuable skills that can propel your salary and career. Depending on what your goals are, and what you want to do for a living, pursuing a college degree may be right for you. However, for many, a college degree doesn’t offer them what them want or can be too expensive for entry. For more information, check out my article on 20 different ways to make money without a college degree.
Choosing To Round Yourself Out Or Specialize
I’ve said it before, but specializing is absolutely crucial for many types of careers. It usually comes with much higher pay and better opportunities. Even outside of your career, it is incredibly rewarding to focus on a specific skill and hone it until you can perform it at an abnormally high level. Likewise, it’s rewarding to accumulate a lot of specific knowledge on certain topics. So, if you really want to specialize in something, it’s perfectly normal and even ideal to drop some other things so that you have the time to focus on it.
IT is a common example I use (since I know it well). In the tech field it really helps to understand the fundamental concepts. The more you know about how everything works, the easier it is for you to do just about any job. Of course, it (literally) pays to specialize. So, learn the fundamentals, understand how things related to your job work, but finding your niche and focusing in on that until you become an expert can be a must if you want to rise to higher positions.
Rounding Out
With all of that said, there are certainly merits to being more well-rounded. I already mentioned how useful it is to have the fundamentals down. Well, if you’re well educated in several facets related to your job, that can also help you do your job better or open other doors. For example, in tech careers, if you’re a basic systems administrator, who then learns how to code and automate things, you can delve into the devops field – which pays quite well. It comes down to you and what your goals for your career are.
Get Introspective
Clearly, in order to figure out what type of career is a good fit for you, you’ll need to know what you want out of your job and your personal priorities. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for this, but it helps if you take the time to get to know your wants and needs well. You could always take an online career or personality test, but I would only do that help you brainstorm (in other words, take any results with a huge grain of salt).
Find where your interests and your talents overlap. Figure out what you want to learn. Set your personal and financial goals, so you know your absolute minimum requirements. When it comes to things like working remote, the number of hours you work per week, travel required, and anything like that, it’s best to make a list of your priorities. Carefully define your must-have items as well as your can’t-have (under any condition) items.
Create A List Of Jobs You’re Interested In
Now that you know what you want, need, and are interested in, it’s time to make a general list of careers or fields which you’d like to explore more. A good tactic for this is to base your initial search around your best or favorite skills and determine which hot industries they can be used in. For now, be pretty lenient about what careers you include in this list, as long as they meet your bare minimum requirements – you might be surprised about them once you do more research! If you decide you don’t like one, you can always remove it in the next step!
Research The Jobs And Narrow Them Down
Once you have you main list created, it’s time to do some research. At this stage you should do more research about the different professions you chose and consider how feasible they are for you. For example, if one job requires extensive education, and you hate schooling, it may not be the right choice for you. Alternatively, if don’t enjoy working with your hands you may start narrowing it down to only desk jobs.
The best criteria to narrow down the list at this point are your minimum requirements in a career as well as how interested you are in it. If a job doesn’t meet a minimum requirement, or it includes a deal-breaker, then drop it. If you realize you have no interest in the day-to-day functions of the job after some basic research, drop it from the list too. By the end of this you should only have one or two dozen options left in your list at most.
Good Questions To Ask Yourself
I’ve touched on some of these points, but here are several good questions to make sure you ask yourself as you keep narrowing the list down:
- Is there anyone I can go to for more information on this field? If not, is there a reliable source online?
- How much would I actually enjoy most of the work that goes with this profession (not just the highlights)?
- Would I be good enough at it to be competitive with my peers?
- How much education does it require? In other words, how long would it take before I can start it and how much money would that cost upfront?
- What is the average salary for it? What are the salaries on the lower and higher end?
- Do I have to live in certain places in order to do this type of job? If so, it that something I’m okay with? If I’m okay with it, can I afford the cost of living in that place, given the salary?
- Does this career have the long-term stability I’m looking for?
Now, Identify Your Priorities And Narrow It Down Further
I’m glad you’ve thought long and hard about your potential options, and asked yourself some hard questions! Hopefully, most of the jobs left probably meet your minimum requirements. All that’s left is for you to make the list shorter is to prioritize your wants in a career. Once you do that, it becomes a lot easier to consider which jobs will be more enjoyable for you in the long run.
Remember, salary is only one component. There are a lot of factors at play when it comes to what you do with your life day-in and day-out. If you pick a job you hate, just because it pays slightly more, you’ll probably end up regretting it.
Do In-Depth Research – Volunteer, Intern, Or Talk With Professionals
You should only have a handful of options left from your original list. It’s great if you have a clear winner at this point, but in all likelihood it’s probably still a bit of a toss-up between a couple. At this stage, the best way to actually figure out what you like is to start getting some experience with it.
If possible, get as much first-hand experience as you can. If you have an opportunity to volunteer, intern, or job shadow – take it and learn as much as you can. If you find out you hate the idea of a job after that, it’s perfectly okay! If you can’t get first-hand experience, try to reach out to some professionals in that industry or go to a networking event for that field and try to learn more from them about the details of the job.
Make Your Choice
Finally, you should be ready to make your final choice. Make it based on what you think will satisfy you the most over a long period (given your already defined priorities and must-haves). Now you can get started working towards getting into the field and establishing yourself. Of course, tons of people change their careers multiples time throughout their life. You’re never completely “locked in” and you always have the option to change tracks and move to a different field. Even if you started working towards a certain field, if you realize you can’t do it long-term, don’t force yourself!
Create Specific Career Goals
Since you’ve already done some serious research for the career you’re interested in, you should know what you need in order to get into it. Take the time to create some short-term and long-term goals that will get you to where you want to be. An example of a short-term goal may be something like finishing your class (with a good grade), getting a certification, or learning a new skill. A long-term goal would be more along the lines of starting and finishing a degree or getting a certain promotion. Goals can be fluid, so be sure to change or update them as you need to.
Develop A Plan, But Don’t Be Afraid To Wing It
By setting your goals, it’s easier to come up with a plan to help you achieve them. It’s important to figure out what you want and to go for it. However, it’s also important to take opportunities as they present themselves – and risks, if you’re open to that. Don’t become so rigid with your goals and preset plan that you miss out on good opportunities that anyone else would take in a heartbeat. Follow your goals and desired career path, but just make sure you take the time to consider anything that comes your way as well (it may even help you achieve long-term goals faster)!
Conclusion
I hope this helped you figure out why type of career you want to go into, and the types of goals you need to reach in order to get there. If you have any tips for people picking a career, or any thoughts on your current process for choosing a career, share them with us in the comments! Of course, careers aren’t everything, so be sure to find a side hustle or an enjoyable hobby to fulfill you in other ways. Your career is just part of the picture!
For more content like this, and a free budgeting template and financial goals worksheet, be sure to sign up for the Bitter to Richer newsletter.
