Choosing an occupation or career is as important as deciding the type of life you want to live. It is seen as a lifelong process where individuals' perceptions and motivations play a key role in determining the path they believe is the most fulfilling for them to take. Students experience pressure from society and their relatives on what type of career they will venture into. This often forces them to choose career paths as early as in high school when they have not explored all the available options. Students must be careful to choose the correct career path and realize that the process requires surveying the field of work, assessing one's competencies, understanding what brings them the most fulfillment, and then coming up with a decision on which path to venture in. When choosing a career path, individuals will assess their aspirations, create a list of careers that they believe are better suited for them then consider their short- and long-term goals to ensure that the career path they choose to follow will bring them fulfillment and a better quality of life.
Assess Yourself
It is important to be knowledgeable of one's strengths and weaknesses before choosing a career path. Individuals must have a concrete knowledge of their skills, incompetences, weaknesses, and strengths. These aspects help individuals not only identify what they are good at but also and ensures that students learn what they enjoy doing from their personal and school life (Kiziltepe, 2015). Individuals must also have an idea of their work skills as these are likely to guide them in choosing appropriate career paths. Studies show that individuals who have a clear self-concept can assess their relative abilities when making career choices (Schulz & Thoni, 2016). Being self-aware enables students to be confident in their skills and abilities, which helps them choose their career paths wisely. Individuals who choose careers that align with things they like or do well in are more likely to be successful in life and experience better life quality as compared to those who choose career paths that do not align with their capabilities.
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Create a List of Careers You Want to Learn About
After conducting a thorough self-assessment of one's abilities and weaknesses, it is important to develop a list of careers one is interested in. Everyone has an idea of what career path they will follow. Individuals who are self-aware of their abilities can think critically and assess whether the career paths they want to follow align with their strengths. Individuals must be open to multiple career paths as their different skill sets predispose them to numerous career options. Individuals who create lists of possible career options are more likely to research them to find their best fit. According to Hedge & Rineer (2017), various factors affect an individual's career development, such as employability, career success and growth, work-life factors, and career performance behaviors. Individuals who have a list of career paths that they wish to explore have the chance to consider each of these factors in their various career paths. They are then well informed on each of these factors to ensure that the path they choose to take will bring them the fulfillment and quality of life they anticipate when choosing their career.
Focus on Your Short-Term and Long-Term Goals
After researching the various career paths one listed, the next step is to focus on what they will do to achieve their career. Everyone has an idea of what career path is right for them. After going through the decision-making process, students must then focus on what they need to make their career a reality. Individuals are often keen on achieving their goals as this helps them get a sense of fulfillment. Students must, therefore, create smart short-term and long-term goals that they will focus on. Personal goal setting has been identified as a key factor in facilitating the achievement of desired careers (Sadowski, & Schrager, 2016). Students are often busy as most of their time is spent balancing their personal and school life. If they fail to create goals that will keep them focused on their dream career, they are likely to get confused and not prioritize specific actions to help them achieve their career (Sadowski, & Schrager, 2016). Goals help students identify the various changes they can integrate into their lives to augment their chances of realizing their dream job. These goals help individuals come up with achievable strategies that are beneficial to the realization of the desired career.
Conclusion
Choosing a career path is an important task that begins with assessing your capabilities, researching possible career paths to take, and ends with creating short-and long-term goals that will facilitate the realization of the career path chosen by the student. Making decisions on which career path to follow impacts significant aspects of people's lives. Choosing an occupation enhances the feeling of fulfillment in an individual while also ensuring that the person has a better life quality. Society and family members must not coerce students into choosing careers that they do not want as they may end up having a hard time getting fulfilled in their field of work. Students must be self-aware of their abilities and the best fit career paths that correspond to them so that they can take the necessary steps in realizing their career goals, even though it means prioritizing certain aspects of their school life above other personal life issues.
References
Hedge, J., W. & Rineer, J., R. (2017). Improving Career Development Opportunities Through Rigorous Career Pathways Research. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED582350.pdf
Kiziltepe, Z. (2015). Career Choice: Motivations and Perceptions of the Students of Education. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/295579604_Career_Choice_Motivations_and_Perceptionsof_the_Students_of_Education
Sadowski, E., & Schrager, S. (2016). Achieving Career Satisfaction: Personal Goal Setting and Prioritizing for the Clinician Educator. Journal of graduate medical education, 8(4), 494–497. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5061414/
Schulz, J., F. & Thoni, C. (2016). Overconfidence and Career Choice. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0145126
