How to Determine Your Career Path (Pt 1. Research Job Opportunities)

Here at The Postgrad, we are going to start an extensive series on how to determine your career path. Determining your career path can be a challenge, so we will do multiple posts covering all aspects of this reality and help by giving you some practical advice and tools necessary for you to find a career that suits you. Whether you have a job now and you hate it, or you’re not working and are struggling month to month, this series is for you. If you want to check other posts we have on this topic go to our career series link.

When I first graduated from college, I had genuinely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. How do you determine something so drastic? So immense? So life-defining? It felt like no matter what I decided on, I would regret it. As a matter of fact, the only things that I actually felt would be worthwhile and meaningful were the things that “everyone” wants to do upon graduation. You know, become a celebrity, write screenplays, join a rock band. Unfortunately, all those ideas did not pan out so well.

Reality set in and I knew that I had to begin taking this area of my life seriously. So I went out and started researching different jobs/opportunities until I found something that best suited me. Because I did something about it, not only do I have a successful business now (a tutoring center/music academy I started one year ago), but I’m also building up other areas of my life in order to attain that “success” that I desired. Here’s how you can do the same:

1. Be proactive about researching your future career. You cannot expect someone to magically come down and tell you what to do with your life. No one can tell you that! In this society that so values independence and self-motivation, not being proactive can profoundly limit you. You have to be proactive about pursuing your career.

2. Determine how important money is to you. Not everyone is the same when it comes to how much money they want to make. Some people are happy making a very little amount, and working minimal hours. Others, however, have a thirst and ambition for making large sums of money. Before you can effectively research a job that fits your needs, you need to figure out how much you want to make. For instance, if you have hopes of one day banking in on a six figure salary, teaching is probably not the best course of action. Find jobs that have the potential to meet your financial goals, but also realize that if you’re looking to make a lot of money, it usually comes with sacrifices in other areas of your life.

3. Create and research a list of jobs that you could see yourself doing. There are so many jobs in this world; most of us have a much too limited scope. If you’re anything like me, I used to think that if you weren’t a lawyer, doctor, or engineer, you basically had to be a teacher. It was not until I started looking around online and asking my friends that I started realizing there’s so many cool jobs out there. For instance, the site www.coolworks.com provides a listing of over 75,000 jobs that are in unique environments all across the world. If you’re looking for something more practical (and not a job at a ski resort in Sweden), then the site http://www.collegegrad.com/careers/all.shtml has a pretty extensive list of job opportunities that may interest you. There’s really a lot you can do with your life, if you know where to look. Rather, if you actually care to do a little work and research.

4. Use your network. Honestly, nothing will help you more in this area of looking for a job than simply asking the people you know to help! A lot of your friends are probably working in different areas, and some of them may be doing something that suits you. Ask them about their work experience, and if they enjoy it. Tap into your network, and utilize it. I love that line in the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, “no man is a failure who has friends.” Our relationships with each other are what make this world a meaningful place, so don’t be afraid to use your network.

Therefore, if you’re thinking about being a teacher, talk to someone who’s teaching. If you are thinking about going into business, talk to people who are already in the business field. If you are looking to be an accountant…prepare for a very exciting life of crunching numbers and drinking diet coke/starbucks.

5. Balance idealism and pragmatism. Sometimes you just gotta take on a job that isn’t ideal to get where you want to go. Sometimes, god forbid, you have to take on a job to just pay the bills. It goes back to my first post, “How To Attain Success”. Far too often we let our idealism run the show, but pragmatism is not a bad thing, and it definitely comes in handy when determining a career. In our economic situation, it might even be as practical as “take what you can get for now!” Don’t forget, every job you do well is another job you can use to strengthen your resume.

Therefore, when you create a list of possible job opportunities, don’t make the list unrealistic. Being an artist would be nice, but realistically speaking, it’s something you do on the side and develop while making real money from another job. I love blogging and writing. However, I’m not going to close my business (where I’m actually making money) and start a full time career in blogging until I see that it is actually profitable. In that same wavelength, if you enjoy art as a hobby and could possibly even see yourself doing it for a living, find a job that pays the bills and do art when you get home everyday from work. Once you actually make a good living off of doing art, then switch to art full time.

This post is simply the first step to get you started thinking about your career. Obviously, this is a big decision in your life and you don’t want to rush it. However, the best place to start when it comes to finding your career is being proactive about researching/thinking about different job opportunities. After reading this post check out part 2 because it is very important for you to learn how to build a solid resume.