Determining Your Ideal Career Fit

ideal career fit

Many workers go off to start careers that they never intended. This especially holds true for liberal arts majors with four-year college degrees. They are some of the most common, but when students graduate it’s difficult to have a clear direction. If you don’t know what kind of career you want, then how do you determine what to major in or where to apply for jobs? Luckily for them, the broad subject matter of a liberal arts major can open the door to a multitude of job opportunities that would not otherwise have been available. Use the following tips to determine your dream job!

Follow Your Passion

Don’t let your career choices be swayed by outside influence. People might have great recommendations, but if you don’t love the job you do it can make for a long and miserable career. If you are goal oriented and willing to strive for the things you want in life, then the career options will begin to present them selves. For students who are choosing a new college major, pick something you are truly interested in. Money isn’t an indicator of success, so don’t even let it factor in to your decision. Successful workers are those who love what they do and look forward to coming into work every day. The paycheck is secondary. If you hate what you do, money won’t fix it–although it surely helps.

Talk With an Advisor

An advisor from an educational or career training institution (high school, college, etc.) will be able to help identify potential careers fits by analyzing your interests and tracking your academic successes and failures. The way you perform in certain classes can be a big indicator of the jobs you will potentially succeed in. Some students are lucky enough to know exactly what they want to do for a career before they even step foot onto a college campus. It’s probably because they utilized the resources provided for them. But it’s rare that someone automatically knows exactly where they want to work. Advisors are there for a reason. They are trained to assist you, so take full advantage!

Internship 

Sometimes the only way to figure out if a job is a good fit is to get some real world experience. Internships are a great way to accomplish this. Look at it as a trial period for both parties. The employer gets to take a look at different candidates and see who will be a good career fit, and the employee gets a taste of day to day activities. A job might sound great on paper, but you won’t actually know what it’s like until you start working. Internships are great because they not only give you great work experience, but they also open the door to future opportunities. Companies favor candidates with this type of experience, and it’s usually a mandatory step in the application process, specifically for finance and investment banking jobs.

Ask Around

The best resource for finding out what a job is actually like is to speak to a current or former employee. Every job has it’s pros and cons, but only those with real life work experience can accurately describe them. You might fall in love with the idea of a certain career, but be turned off by the actual job responsibilities. However, know that there are always resources around you. If you need some help, start asking around!

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Matthew Welch

Jobdiagnosis blog author Matthew Welch is an SEO strategist and content marketer from Boston, MA. Read blog content relating to job search by Matthew Welch.

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