What do you think of when you think of your ideal career? Do you have a clear image in your mind or do you draw a blank? Discovering your ideal career can be a challenge, but you are not alone. In fact, a recent nationwide Harris Interactive survey found that only 20% of participants feel very passionate about their jobs. How can you find your ideal career? While finding your ideal career is actually a complex process, there are three top tips that we share with our clients to get you started.
(Not sure if you’re in the right career? Take our quick Ideal Career quiz!)
Define Fulfillment. Fulfillment is essentially your passion, your sense of meaning, and what it means for you in a career setting. This is important to discover because it leads to a happier life, more success, and greater life balance. To define what fulfillment is to you, you must define your values. For help defining your values, try the following exercises:
- Think about a peak experience in life and write down what about it made you feel happy and successful.
- Write down what irritates you and what would be the contrast of that quality or situation.
- Think about things that are essential to your life and jot those down as well.
Action tip: Life changes can cause you to change your values, so make sure to reevaluate your values regularly. Think about how you can better honor your values at work this week, and put your plan to action!
Identify your strengths. Your strengths are based on your talents and skills. A talent is something that comes naturally, or something inherited and a skill is something that can be learned easily. It is important to define your strengths because utilizing them is related to fulfillment. Think about your current career:
- Does it require a talent that you don’t have or skills that can be learned?
- Are the talents and skills that you use at your job things that you enjoy doing?
If you want to implement new skills at your job, consider changing roles at your company or taking on a part-time job in a new industry to gain experience.
Action tip: To identify your strengths, review your resume. What things stand out in your resume? Ask a trusted friend or family member what they would say your talents and skills are. You can also try a skills assessment online. All this will give you greater insight into what you are good at naturally.
Execute and implement changes. Any change has an element of risk, but the key is to minimize the risk involved. It is important to accept this and prepare yourself for it mentally. For example, if you are looking to reenter the workforce, review your resume with someone else to identify your transferable skills. Review LinkedIn profiles to get a feel of what you need to sell yourself long term in your industry.
Action tip: Identify your goals and consider practical ways to implement them. Create a plan and stick to it.
If you need more assistance to find your ideal career, consider our Ideal Career Workbook.
