How can you be sure that the career you choose is the one you want?

Answer 1

On average, most adults today end up working in 4 or 5 careers during their lifetimes. This is due, in part, to the changes that have occurred in workplaces. In other circumstances, an employee may simply choose to change careers. They, like you, may not have been sure about their first choice.

Students can make the decision-making process about choosing a career easier by:

1. Doing an honest inventory of your likes AND dislikes on one piece of paper.
2. List your general skills on a second paper. For example, a general skill might be "good with math", or "like to write".
3. List on a third piece of paper activities you absolutely hate or think you'd hate, and things that just do not interest you. For example, I'd hate to be on a road construction crew, holding up "Stop" and "Slow" signs for oncoming traffic, especially in winter or summer. Or, I'd hate a job in which I had to add or multiply numbers all day.
4. Ask your Guidance Counselor where you can take an "Interests" inventories. These have no right or wrong answers; it just helps to categorize your interest areas.
5. Talk to your guidance counselor or counselor at Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation about what mini-tests can help you determine your best job choices.
6. Don't feel pressured to enter one specific college! Unless you are on a Scholarship, you can take a year or two after high school to figure out what you want to do.
7. Call to ask if you can visit a college campus, and a technical school as well. Sit in on a class. See what you think.
8. Talk to persons in the areas of interest to you. For example, if you want to be a teacher, talk to a few teachers about what the career is like.
9. Find a summer Internship (most are unpaid positions). You'll get a good idea within 3 months whether you like or dislike that career or job.
10. After doing the above things, take another piece of paper. Pretend you are now 20 years older, and describe the "Perfect Job I've Had for the last 10 to 20 Years". Describe a usual day in this "perfect job". Describe what you do each day. Do you work FOR someone or do people work for YOU? Be as detailed as possible. Then, fold the paper and put it inside a book. Read it over in a week or two.
11. Remember, even while in college, you can change your mind-- but you may need to pay for extra courses to switch majors.
12. Remember my first sentence: Few adults now keep the same career or job throughout life; most working adults have 4 or 5 different careers between age 20 and retirement.

Answer 2

You have to try not to let your dreams take you to far and you must use your common sense.