Are you wondering which career direction is right for you? Whether you're a college student preparing for graduation or an established professional unsure about a midlife change, deciding upon a career can be difficult. To select one, you must know something about yourself, the world of work and how to find occupations that are suitable for you -- this is no easy task.

Your decision may have lifelong ramifications; for example, your choice of career can play a major role in determining your income, status within your community, opportunities for success, circle of friends and even your choice of a spouse. The career you choose helps shape your identity and sense of self-worth.

One of the great benefits of life in America is the freedom to choose your line of work. To respond to this opportunity as well as the challenge it presents, many career guidance professionals have developed systems or programs for helping you select a career path.

After 30 years of counseling people in career planning, this is what I've come up with:

Begin with a Thorough Self-Assessment
Through the use of personal-awareness techniques, peer-assessment surveys, professional testing or counseling, your first objective should be to identify your interests, skills, values, needs and behavioral traits.

Time for Research
Using what you've learned about your interests, review various sources of occupational information to identify occupations you feel best match your interests. Many career "crosswalk" systems have been developed that identify occupations related to interest patterns. You will more than likely find several occupations that match your interests. Use these jobs to form your list of career possibilities.

Learn More
Now research job titles on your list to learn more about each option. Gather such information as duties, entrance qualifications, training options, salary and benefits, advancement opportunities, and positive and negative working conditions. This information can be obtained through printed literature or actual conversations with workers. Or check out

Make a Tentative Career Decision
Based upon what you know about your interests and matching occupations, select an occupation to pursue. Don't worry about making a bad or final decision at this point. Just make the best decision you can.

Test Out Your Decision
It's often impossible to determine if an occupation is right for you without trying it out, and there are several ways to do this. You could take a related course, work as a volunteer, shadow a professional worker for a day, interview several people working at the job or take a part-time job within your chosen field. Do something to get a feel for the real job. Test all your career options before moving onto the next step.

Make a Final Career Decision
Based upon what you know about your personality and the world of work, select an occupation you feel is the best match for you. If you experience difficulty with this step, consult a professional career counselor for assistance.

You're Almost Done.
Finally, if appropriate, complete any necessary training to develop the recommended qualifications. Upon completion of this step, you should be ready to seek a position in your chosen field.

Naturally, no short article, including this one, can truly take you through a complete career-planning program like the one illustrated above. But hopefully you'll be inspired to start the process.

Whatever career you elect to pursue, make sure you first give it careful consideration. Your future will thank you.

You feel so lost that you can't imagine how you're going to be able to choose a major. Or you feel so clueless that determining a career path seems next to impossible. Or you feel so iffy about the major or career path you have chosen that the thought of actually pursuing it gives you the willies.

In a nutshell, you just don't know what you'd be good at or what would make you happy when it comes to a major or -- more importantly -- a future career.

Sound familiar? If so, then you're a good candidate for career testing.

You've probably heard of career tests, and maybe you even took one in high school. Used wisely, though, career tests -- usually called inventories since they generally aren't tests with right or wrong answers -- can help you get a better sense of who you are and where you might best fit in the world of work.

Wisely is the key word, however. It's important to understand that no career test can pinpoint precisely what you should be. Rather, career test results merely give you some idea of careers you might want to explore, given your interests, your skills and abilities and your personality. That's all -- no more, no less.

Testing Options

But that alone is a pretty good benefit. So take a trip to your campus career center and see if the counselors there offer any of the following career tests:

(SII): The SII is all about your interests, or what you like to do. You answer questions about various activities, and then the test results suggest some general-interest areas and specific occupations you may want to consider. You also wind up with a sense of where your interests lie in six broad areas: social (helping, instructing), investigative (researching, analyzing), conventional (accounting, processing data), artistic (creating or enjoying art), enterprising (selling, managing) and realistic (building, repairing).
(SDS): Similar in scope to the SII but shorter and quicker, the SDS is another popular tool that measures your interests and points you toward -- or away from -- the six areas listed above.
(MBTI): The MBTI measures your personality -- in essence, what makes you tick. The first of its four scales tells you how you prefer to focus your attention -- whether you're extraverted or introverted. The other scales measure how you look at things (sensing vs. intuitive), how you generally make decisions (thinking vs. feeling) and how you deal with the world around you (judging vs. perceiving). Combined, this information can help you understand what type of work you'd like to do, with whom, how, why and even where.
(CAPS): The CAPS is one of the few career tests that does have right and wrong answers, and it is also timed. Essentially, you attempt to answer questions in eight different areas -- ranging from mechanical reasoning and spatial relations to verbal reasoning and language usage -- all in a predetermined amount of time. When you're done, you have a wonderful idea of where your natural abilities lie. You haven't just guessed about them, you've actually demonstrated them, if only on a test.
This tool, offered by Monster, allows you to evaluate your workplace personality and leadership styles to get an idea of how others see you. You can leverage this knowledge in your job search.

Remember: That old admonition you often hear on TV, "This is a test. This is only a test," applies here as well. Your career test results aren't going to tell you anything. But they will point you in some specific and potentially fruitful directions, one of which may well be the major or career you confidently decide to pursue.

If you are just starting your career, you need to maximize your experiences and develop your skills. Remember: In this employment environment, you are expected to manage your own career. That may sound like a daunting task in this brave new world, but there are road signs that may help you navigate, advance your career development and find satisfaction in your first job.

Many life considerations will contribute to your happiness as a new graduate entering the workforce, such as job location, cost of living, community and the opportunity to connect with people of similar ages and interests. Ask the following questions to determine your priorities and what you expect from your first job.

Job Training

Will you receive the training you need soon after being hired and in the first year or two with the organization? The type of training varies with each job, so during the recruiting process, you should ask about the initial and ongoing training. Are you comfortable with the offering? Does it seem there will be additional opportunities for learning beyond day-to-day experience?/p>

Career Clarity

Does the employer provide a clear picture of the career paths and opportunities available to new hires? This may become more important once you have completed a training program. How long are you expected to remain in the first assignment?

Work Autonomy

Each new hire comes with a different set of experiences and learning curves. Discussions with supervisors should include assessments of your skill level and your desire for appropriate autonomous work. Once you have completed a training program, can you work independent of close supervision?

Work Tasks

Is there opportunity for clearly defined work assignments that are interesting, satisfying and challenging? Satisfaction often comes with accomplishing assignments that stretch you. Are you able to share in decisions about your work assignments?

Supervisors as Coaches

Is your supervisor capable of establishing a coaching relationship with you? Supervisors who can provide direct performance feedback and career advice contribute to greater retention of new hires. Does your supervisor help you acclimate to the company culture and assist you in meeting staff from other departments?

Career Development

Does your job open you to diverse learning experiences that help develop your career? Are you heading in the direction agreed upon when you were hired? Are there opportunities to move in different directions as your interests change and you develop new skills?

Employers have the responsibility to provide a safe working environment and to compensate you for your contributions. And remember that you have obligations too.

Ang Lee, the Oscar-winning filmmaker, addressed a university commencement by saying, "I learned to stay forever hungry to learn more. To not be afraid to try and to fail. I learned to appreciate that collaboration is as important as genius. I learned how much there was I didn't know. I learned to enjoy the pleasure of asking, trying and testing."

Not everyone will successfully navigate these uncertain times. You may find yourself caught in a company's struggle to maintain its course, or you may voluntarily choose another direction. Regardless, it's important for you to continually acquire new skills, knowledge and experience to prepare you for the challenges and opportunities ahead.

One day you're interested in philosophy, and the next day you think a career in journalism would be cool. The following day you lean towards a major in finance, and the day after that you swing way back to your fascination with archaeology. Eventually, you'll start the circle all over again, perhaps with four other interests. In short, you like everything so much -- or so it seems -- to the point that you're practically immobilized when it comes to choosing just one major or career to pursue.

You aren't alone. In fact, campus career counselors often meet with students, and even graduates, who are in your shoes. With all of the career possibilities you can explore, it's easy to do nothing, because you're trying to keep your options open. This may result in drifting from interest to interest without doing anything to explore each area or plot a career direction.

Getting your career bearings when you have too many interests isn't as difficult as you might think. Here's a four-step approach you can use:

Rule Out What You Clearly Don't Like: You may think you enjoy everything, but you really don't. We all have dislikes and even hates. So work on identifying what you don't like and what you don't see yourself pursuing as a major or career. If you're iffy about a particular major or career at this point, keep it under consideration. For now, rule out only those possibilities that are definitely not for you.
Prioritize What You Want to Explore Further: Once you've eliminated the don't likes from your list of possibilities, take the majors and careers remaining and prioritize them as best you can, given what you know about each one, which may be very little in some cases. Which three or four areas are you most interested in exploring further, and which can go on the back burner?
Start Exploring: This is a critical step, because in order to explore majors and careers, you have to start somewhere. I know that sounds simplistic, but you may have to remind yourself of this concept. By prioritizing what you should explore and then starting your exploration, you move closer to figuring out your career direction one small step at a time.

Consider, for example, working with a campus career counselor to get a better sense of your skills, personality, values, likes and dislikes. In addition, find out whether or not those traits match up well with the majors and careers you're researching.

You can learn about the major or career through reading, talking to people who are in that major or career and, if possible, participating in an experiential activity -- an internship or a co-op -- to get a hands on sense of what the major or career is all about.
Use What You've Learned to Reprioritize and Eliminate: Once you have a better picture of yourself and the majors and careers you've explored, you'll more than likely change your list of initial priorities. Perhaps you'll even drop some of those options from consideration. It's unlikely that you'll be able to narrow your options to just one major or career at this point, but that's normal and for the best in many ways. The idea behind this process is not necessarily to eliminate all but one major or career, but rather to reduce your initial list to one you can more easily manage.

As you might guess, this process is neither quick nor easy -- at least not if you do it right. But if you're willing to invest some time and energy, you'll slowly be able to replace your debilitating confusion with action-oriented exploration that gets you moving toward an informed decision about your major or future career.

When you're a freshman, graduation seems light-years away, so you figure there's no need to start worrying about career plans yet. As a sophomore trying to decide on a major, you might get some inkling that you're going to have to make a career choice in the not-too-distant future, but it still doesn't seem like you really need to do anything about career planning or job hunting just yet. By junior year, reality starts to creep in, and you know you'll have to start thinking about your career fairly soon. But you decide to define "fairly soon" as at least a year away. Before you know it, senior year arrives, and you find yourself adrift in a sea of denial about the need to start your job search. At that point, you have two choices: Let panic set in and do nothing, or use those twinges of panic to motivate yourself to take action.

What's Wrong with Me?

How did you become a job-hunt procrastinator, and what can you do about it? The following are four typical excuses students give for putting off their job searches, along with a reality check for each excuse:

Excuse 1: Basically, I don't feel a sense of urgency. Graduation seems far away, and I have a roof over my head and food on my plate, so the need to earn a living doesn't seem so critical. I don't want to worry about job hunting yet.

Reality: The time will pass much more quickly than you expect it to! It's never too early to start making your career plans and laying the groundwork for a job hunt. The earlier you start, the easier the actual search will be.

Excuse 2: I don't know how to look for a job. The process is so overwhelming and confusing, to be honest, I'm a bit intimidated. Since I don't know where to begin, I'm going to opt to not begin at all.

Reality: It's normal to be somewhat overwhelmed by the thought of looking for a job, especially if you don't know how the process works. The reality, however, is that job-hunting methods aren't rocket science. Your campus career counselors as well as the many job-hunting guidebooks and online advice at your disposal can demystify the process for you in no time. Career counselors can also help boost your confidence, enabling you to see that you are employable.

Excuse 3: I just don't have time to look for a job. Between classes, homework, studying for exams, extracurriculars, socializing and maybe a part-time job or internship, I can't find the time to put together a resume, go on an informational interview or take any steps toward making some career plans. I'm just way too busy.

Reality: It's understandable that all those other activities have to take precedence over job hunting, especially before senior year when you really aren't urgently in need of a job. It's worth it, though, to carve out some time on a weekly or monthly basis to do your career planning and job hunting gradually. Doing so will help you avoid a last-minute crunch senior year and will actually make the search easier overall. Your campus career counselors can help you set some objectives for career-development activities you can take on little by little -- a kind of four-year plan regardless of which year you're starting it. You can begin tackling your career planning without making a huge dent in your already busy schedule.

Excuse 4: I don't have a clear job target. I don't know what kind of job to look for, so I don't do any looking at all.

Reality: It's true that you do need to know what you're looking for before you can embark on an actual job search, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be doing anything. Sitting back and waiting for some sort of revelation about your perfect career direction is not the right approach.

Instead, you need to realize that the process of choosing a future career field is actually a part of your job search. The same self-evaluation (of skills, abilities, interests and priorities) that goes into deciding on a career direction can help you prepare to market yourself to prospective employers. And the research you might do on what's out there in the world of work (researching professions and companies) to target a career direction serves a dual purpose of targeting potential employers and developing a network of contacts.

Whether you're a freshman or a final-semester senior, it's never too early or too late to get moving on your career planning and job search. You can overcome procrastination.

Egy-Jobs.info