Choosing a Career
Important aspects you need to consider when choosing a career

Are you at the crossroads of choosing a career?
Is your mind bogged down because there are too many choices that come your way or simply because there is no alternative that seems right to you at the moment?



There is nothing wrong with asking yourself questions about where you are and where you want to get to. The time you spend reflecting on your future career is never a waste, it is rather the perfect context to analyze your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your opportunities and threats.

Before going on the market, make sure you interview yourself first and check your focus. Some things which you should take into consideration as you define your career choice are related to the type of focus you are having. Here are some essential focus points:

a. Focus on what you know about yourself.
The way you manage your activities, your time and your resources says a lot about the type of person you are. At the same time your personality type will also have a great influence on your work preferences, such as: working conditions, schedule, location, etc
Here are some guiding signs you need to be more aware of as you analyze yourself in the light of a future career:
- the desired work interactions - working alone or with a team
“Do you like working alone or with a team?”
- the preferred role within an organization - being a leader or a follower
“Do you prefer to be told what to do or to take on the initiative?”
- the desired focus in your activities - working with people, numbers, data etc
“Do you like working with people or with data?”
- the preferred working conditions and schedule - having flexibility or a more strict program
“Do you prefer having fixed or flexible working hours?”


b. Focus on what you want to achieve.
Analyzing yourself and your interests is necessary but is not enough. You are one of the many who are also trying to find their way and place in the job market. One of the ways in which you can distinguish yourself from the crowd is to get to know the job market. Pursuing a career without doing your research first and knowing what’s at stake is like trying to win a game without being properly equipped for it and without knowing who you play against.
As you focus your energy on understanding the job market requirements, also keep in mind:
- the expectations you have from a job
- the skills that are in high demand on the job market
- the career fields that are growing fast
- the openness you have to changing your current career



c. Focus on what motivates you most in your activities.
To make your decisions even more powerful and enriching, you may want to choose to go deeper into a detailed introspection of your motivations. At the root of your thoughts, experiences and career interests lie diverse motivations which represent the fuel that will keep you going on your journey.
When choosing a career you have the opportunity to shed more light upon what’s important:
- your motivations whether they are internal or external are crucial when making choices
- your natural talents are your most valued asset which you need to identify and build upon
- your experiences are unique and they contribute to your personal development
- your heroes say a lot about your values and the things which you want to pursue in life



Your potential is waiting to be unravelled. Give yourself the chance to explore what lies within you by mind mapping out your most ardent questions, experiences and desired results. The longer you wait, the longer your journey will take to get to the desired outcome. My advice is to make the best of what you know by starting to use a mind mapping app like Mindomo, which will offer you the right context for writing down and analyzing your thoughts and decision making processes.

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Naomi Mihut
Copywriter and Client Relations Manager at Mindomo
“Creativity is the gift that doesn’t have to be wrapped up in luxurious paper but has to be shared with others to make it valuable.”
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 19th, 2012 at 9:48 am and is filed under Career Coaching, Education, InfoGraphic, Job Search. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.