Life is full of big decisions, and what you’ll choose to do with your life professionally is definitely among the biggest. After all, your profession of choice is so much more than just how you’ll be keeping the bills paid over the years. A person’s career eventually becomes a huge part of their identity and personal sense of self as well. Carefully considering the following factors when weighing your career path options can help ensure a decision you’ll be happy with for many years to come.
1. Passions and Interests
A truly fulfilling profession doesn’t just pay you well for your efforts. It allows you the chance to do work you love in an environment that’s well-suited to your personality and working style. Are you a people person who loves helping others, or are you an intellectual type who adores working with information, numbers, and ideas? A job that lets you be around what (or who) you’re passionate about is a job you’ll stay excited about over the years and continue to love even when the going gets rough.
Related: How to Find About What You Are Passionate?
2. Marketable Skills
While it’s definitely important to pick a field you know you’ll enjoy, it’s also prudent to leverage what you’re good at when making your choice. If you’re amazing with money, a career path in banking, accounting, or stock brokerage might be a possible fit. On the other hand, if you’re super creative and great at coming up with amazing ideas, advertising or web design could be your calling. A potential professional skill could be literally anything you’re great at though. Consider how your strengths could come in handy at a given job, or think back on compliments you’ve received from employers in the past for even more clues.
Related: 10 Reasons Being An Entrepreneur Is Better Than Employment
3. Desired Flexibility
Not everyone is able to commit to very rigid working hours or tons of overtime, while others simply may not want to. If that’s the case for you, research flexible careers that bless your life with meaningful work and solid pay while still allowing you the flexibility to raise your children, pursue productive hobbies, and more. Great options to consider include but are not limited to massage therapy, law, or consulting. If you’re good with your hands, there’s also wonderful earning potential out there for electricians, HVAC installation specialists, contractors, and similar types of professionals.
4. Job Availability for Your Career Path
Many people set their heart on a particular profession and even take the steps to start training only to find out that their options are slim when it comes to actually available positions. You could well wind up stuck at a job that doesn’t really fit you for years in hopes of eventually working your way up to where you want to be. Choose a professional field where there’s plenty of existing and potential demand for skilled, dedicated workers. Healthcare and medicine are great examples, as are computing and technology. If you’re desiring to get involved in the tech industry, you may find a tech job in San Francisco and apply to companies like Reddit or AcquireIQ. If you’re a self-starter, you may also want to consider being your own boss and putting your existing skills to good use as a freelancer.
5. Industry Culture
The culture attached to a given industry is a factor that can greatly influence a given person’s job satisfaction, but that many fail to consider beforehand. After all, it’s really not enough for the work itself to sound amazing or offer lots of potentials. If the value system attached to the field you’ve chosen isn’t really a fit for you, you may still wind up feeling unhappy, frustrated, and unfulfilled. Look into what the people and typical working environments in your field of choice are really like. Did what you learn to paint a picture you can truly see yourself fitting into, especially when you factor your desired lifestyle into the equation?
6. Definition of Success
Success isn’t necessarily something that looks the same to everyone, so it’s important to figure out what it really means to you. Does it look like a hefty paycheck and the potential for early retirement, or is it more about doing meaningful work that truly touches lives? There’s no wrong answer to that question, but you’ll definitely want to know what yours is before you commit to a career path. Your personal definition of success may differ drastically from society’s typical numbers-based approach, and that’s OK. Ultimately, it’s up to each individual to define success for themselves and plan their life accordingly.
