Many people think that you need to decide your career early on in life. Sometimes, this works out well. If you leave school with the idea that you want to go into a specific career, you can get a head start with your education and work towards it.

But this doesn’t mean that you’re locked into a career path from the moment you turn sixteen. A lot of people have a more wobbly road to travel before they settle into a career, and many people change careers a few times in their lives.

Whether you’re just starting out or you're looking for a career change, here are some tips to help you find the right career for your skills and interests.

Finding Balance

With most careers, you end up spending most of your waking hours at work. Whether you work the classic nine-to-five (or more often eight-to-six), or you work different shifts at different times, you will have to dedicate a certain amount of your time to work. 

This is why it helps to find the right career for you. If you hate your job, you can’t possibly be happy during those hours that you spend at work. That means that you’re spending most of your day making yourself miserable, so you’re only really living for the few hours when you’re not working or sleeping.

Realistically, not everyone can love their jobs. We work to earn money and live, there’s nothing wrong with that. But you can find work that you find satisfying and that is worth the sacrifice of your time. 

In fact, there are some potential pitfalls to a career that really draws you in. It’s been said that if you love your job, you never work a day in your life. But this isn’t always the case. Sometimes, if you turn a hobby that you love into a career, you essentially rob yourself of the hobby. 

Writing a novel or poetry for the love of it is a very different beast to writing marketing copy for a business. Yes, you can enjoy both and find satisfaction in both, especially if you love writing, but it’s not relaxing or fun. Also, when you do try to sit down and write something just for yourself, you might inadvertently find yourself in “work mode”, or you might feel as though you’d rather do something else.

Another potential pitfall of loving your career is that you lose sight of the rest of your life. Your career shouldn’t necessarily be the most important thing in your life. This is a recipe for burnout and overworking yourself, and it can lead you to neglect other responsibilities such as your family or even your health.

Of course, burnout is also more likely in jobs that are stressful or that you dislike for some reason. This is often why some people decide to change careers, because they are burnt out from working in a job that isn’t right for them. 

Do Your Research

One of the most common reasons that people end up in careers that they’re unhappy with is that they didn’t know what they were going into. They might not have been sure what they wanted when they were younger, so they simply fell into a job that paid the bills and seemed okay.

There’s nothing wrong with work simply being work. But if you are really not suited for a certain career, you’ll find it hard to find satisfaction in your daily work and you might not progress as much as you could if you worked according to your talents and interests. If you’re going to spend most of your time at work, it might as well be doing something that you enjoy or at least find interesting.

So, do your research before you take the plunge. Research different career opportunities and what kinds of qualifications you might need, as well as what the job actually entails. Some people have a romantic view of certain careers that doesn’t mesh well with reality. More often than not, a certain job will be far less glamorous than you’d like to think.

As well as researching your potential careers, research yourself. Write down your skills, interests, and what you need out of your career. You might need a more flexible schedule to fit in with your circumstances, which means that some careers wouldn’t suit your needs. 

Use these parameters to create a shortlist of potential career opportunities.

Expanding Your Education

In most cases, people don’t walk into their dream careers right after leaving school. They might take on temporary jobs, they might go into further education, and some people might work for years before they find something they love. 

One thing that a lot of people have in common is that they end up furthering their education in some way. Sometimes this means training on the job, especially if you managed to find another job in the same industry that offers onsite training and advancement opportunities. Or this might mean taking night classes or online classes while juggling work and family responsibilities.

You can’t get away from the fact that education is investment. You spend time and often money to learn new skills, so it makes sense to know why you need certain qualifications and certifications to advance or change your career. It’s also a good idea to expand your education.

So-called “soft skills” can be incredibly helpful in any career. This might include communication skills, basic IT skills, and first aid skills. If you’re a good administrator, you might find a role in a lot of different careers and industries. Most offices benefit from someone who knows first aid or other skills that could be helpful in an emergency, and this might just set you apart from other applicants.

Switching Careers In Adulthood

Generally, the younger you are, the more flexible you are when it comes to finding and switching careers. As you get older and take on more responsibilities, you might have to think about your family and paying off bills like student loans and other financial obligations.

When you switch a career after establishing yourself for a few years in one line of work, it can feel like you’re taking a massive step back, especially if you have to go back into education to pick up certain skills and qualifications.

This is especially true if you were unable to go into your dream career when you were younger, perhaps because of insufficient qualifications or other responsibilities that meant you didn’t have the time or funds to establish yourself and get a certain level of education. You might not have had the opportunities you needed in your youth.

However, there are some benefits to switching careers later on. That time hasn’t gone to waste. While you’ve been in the workforce, you have also been picking up skills and learning how to communicate with other people. Most skills prove something about yourself.

Even if you worked in a shop and want to switch careers to become a doctor, you can use the skills you had to pick up. You know how to work with different people, including customers. You might have had to show some organizational skills. You’ve proven an ability to be reliable and on time. 

Making Connections

One common saying is that it’s not what you know that helps you get ahead, it’s who you know. This hits the nail on the head when it comes to forming professional relationships. 

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Think about it this way, if someone has a hundred applicants all with the same qualifications, but they know one of them already, they will be more tempted to hire the person they know. People don’t like uncertainty, and if they know they work well with someone already and can get on with them, it cuts out the awkwardness of getting used to a new worker.

Obviously, this has its pitfalls. It can lead to nepotism, where people get inflated positions due to their connections despite not having the skills to do the job properly. It can even lead to cases of abuse being swept underneath the rug because of a certain mentality in the office.

However, you can also capitalize on this by making connections as much as possible when building your career. When you’re in education, talk to other people about their career options and make friends. Build a reputation as much as you build your qualifications.

Applying For Jobs

When it comes to applying for jobs, make sure that you’re specific with your applications. Write your CV for each job in mind, and remember to take full advantage of your past experiences. 

It can be helpful to use a template according to the industry to help you with your CV, such as engineering resume templates to help you write your resume when looking for engineering jobs. Don’t limit yourself to jobs you know you’re perfectly qualified for, and don’t downplay your skills. 

Stretch for jobs you want to reach for, as well as jobs you know you can get.