Finding the Right Career: 8 Goal-Building QuestionsFinding the right career is a crucial undertaking that many of us unfortunately either give little attention to or downplay altogether. I want to make sure that you don't miss this important opportunity. Hello, my name is Eric Weir and welcome to my Career Planning Hub Page. As I explain on my homepage, I work day in and day out with people just like you - clients from all walks of life who struggle to get information they need to succeed in their careers. The most important bit of information is, of course, what is your goal? Before we can do anything else, we need to work hard at finding the right career. If we've already been successful at finding the right career then we tend to take the best possible attitude toward our work. When we're in the right career, payday always comes as somewhat of a surprise to us, rather than something we wait for. We don't pay much attention to it because we're so happily absorbed in our day-to-day work. We're not there for the money, we're there because we really want to me be there. We might say to ourselves with a deep sense of satisfaction, "WOW! I get to have fun, make a difference, AND they pay me for it!" On the other hand, if you “work to live” then you're likely in the wrong job or the wrong career, and would benefit from doing some career goal setting to start you on a more rewarding and healthy career path and help you in finding the right career, once and for all. Most people dislike their jobs, but you don’t have to be “most people” – you can find a great career, something that you enjoy and that gives you a good salary and rewarding feeling in exchange for your well-developed skills and devotion to higher service. Finding the Right Career: It All Starts with Career Goal Setting! Finding the right career isn't easy. So I strongly suggest that you focus as much as possible on one particular job role or title at a time until you find a suitable job (your short-term goal) and one specific career field at a time until you discover a fulfilling career path (your long-term goal). If you haven't got this far yet in your career planning and exploration or are feeling totally unsure where to start, you may want to review my related article titled college major quiz first (opens in new window). If you already have one particular short- and long-term career goal in mind, start to develop a clearer vision or picture of each by answering the what, where, when, why, who and how questions. You can develop your short and long-term goals very simply to start, in point form at first and then ideally in sentence or narrative format. Continue to develop and fine-tune your "goal statements" over time. Finding the Right Career: 8 Key Goal-Building Questions Take some time to really ponder the following important questions: 1) The specific general career field or job title that most interests you and 2) The specific/exact amount of money you intend to make. But be sure to add other important details over time, such as: 3) Exactly the kind of organization you work for – private or not-for-profit? Small, medium or large? Or will you be self-employed and working long yet rewarding hours at building your own thriving business? 4) What sort of physical work space or office do you see yourself working in? Describe it in as much detail as possible. 5) What are the people like? How many people are you working with? What professional values (such as harmony, professionalism, mutual respect) do you hold in common? What words best describe the essential nature of your team? 6) What city or town are you working in, and why do you choose that particular place? And how far away is the office from where you live? 7) What’s your boss like? Is she “over-the-shoulder,” “open-door” or “hands off?” :-) Are you close to your supervisor, or do you maintain a neutral professional distance from each other? 8) What do you spend most of your time doing in your job? Particularly important in finding the right career is to focus on the particular activities that give you the most satisfaction at the end of your work day. Or perhaps you prefer a variety of activities. In either case, be very clear and specific about exactly what those activities are. Write it All Down! Finding the right career requires considerable thought, and patience with yourself. Think about these questions long and hard over a period of days, weeks or even months. But don’t just think about it - write it all down to make it real and make it happen! As soon as you commit to your goals through writing them down, they will start to happen. You will move towards them through feeling naturally motivated to take action. Yes, it’s very important that you think about and actually write out your short-term job search and longer-term career goals to find the right career. Once you write your goals down, they become more real already – right away. You commit to them more and more. You start to build faith in them and in your ability to achieve them. And you start thinking more creatively about how you are going to achieve them. You start taking the first small steps, the first "positive actions" that move you toward your goals, and that move your goals toward you. Then you start attracting more of the right kinds of people and other resources to help you succeed, and you accept the help that is offered to you. Figuring Out What's Holding You Back Finding the right career requires this sort of rock-solid commitment to yourself. Have you actually committed to your goals or are you just thinking about committing to them? If you find yourself unwilling to write down your goals, it could indicated that you're not feeling ready, that you don’t think you can do it, or that you don’t really want to do it. Any doubts you have about the ability to meet your goals can also be addressed through writing. It’s very simple! Write out your thoughts, both positive and negative. Writing out your positive thoughts helps to create “space” for new things to happen to get the ball rolling toward your newly stated goals and aspirations. Write down all of your "brainstorming" - your fresh new ideas, however unusual they may seem - don't censor yourself. You can pick and choose from these ideas later when you're ready to take action. Writing down negative thoughts helps you to clear them away, clean them out – purify your mind and make room for new opportunities that couldn’t fit in there before. :-) Review Your Long-Term Career Goal Every 3-6 Months Once you get back into a full-time job, whether it’s the job you really want or merely a transitional or survival job, time will fly by as you try to fit your job in with all of your other family, personal and domestic responsibilities. If we assume for a moment that a long-term goal is typically 5 years in the making, then it’s sensible to review your progress in meeting your long-term goal every 3-6 months or 5-10% of that total time period. Whenever Necessary, Change Your Goals It’s not easy for most of us, this process of finding the right career. We need time and patience. We also need to freedom to change our mind, to make mistakes, and to continue our search for the right career fit. Of course, you can always modify or completely change your goals as your job search progresses and your career develops. Do this anytime if it isn't working out for you, but decide on something specific at least temporarily, and then see where it goes from there. Allow your career path to change as you get new information in the form of information, thoughts, feelings and intuitions. If you’re not able to decide among 2, 3 or more potential goals, then just jump into one of them for a week or a month, knowing that you can change it later. Give it a try out. Research it, talk to people, write about it and see how it feels for you. By jumping in to it in this way, you will learn much more than if you continue to stay in thought, to theorize about it, or to merely take a guess about which option is best. You'll start to receive valuable information, clues and insights from various sources which will lead you in a more definite direction to finding the right career.
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