How to Choose a Lifetime Career

There are so many jobs, vocations and career paths out there. Settling on just one can seem impossible, especially if you are looking to move beyond "just a job" and find the career of a lifetime. Here are some steps for launching yourself into your life's work.

Instructions

1. Start with what's important to you. Make a list of your values and beliefs. Use them to discover what it is you feel destined to do. Imagine the career that would make you feel as though you have made a difference in the world.

2. List your talents and skills. Talents are those that showcase your natural ability. Skills are abilities you can learn. Think about how you can use your particular talents and gifts in a lifetime career.

3. Select one or more possibilities that best suit your values, gifts and interests. Narrow your search by researching your chosen careers or industries to learn more about their history, present status and future prospects. Find out what education or other qualifications your chosen fields require. The more educated you are about your career choice, the better chance you have of making it successful.

4. Get an internship or starter job in your chosen field field to gain experience and perspective. Careers and industries look much different from the inside than they do from the outside. Observe the functions and responsibilities of your job and those with which it interacts. Talk to coworkers to get additional information about other positions.

5. Stay open minded and permit yourself to adapt and expand. Try different tasks or positions within the workplace. Learning to be flexible and watching for creative solutions to job problems will help you adapt to the inevitable changes you will encounter in a lifetime career.

6. Set short-term objectives as well as long-term career goals. Take them one step at a time. You have a lifetime to make your chosen career exactly what you hope it will be.

Tips & Warnings

• If you need help focusing on a direction or matching your abilities with a lifetime career, seek career counseling from a school or college guidance counselor, a local government job placement center or a private career coach.

• Don't be discouraged if your first choice for a career turns out not to be the perfect match. You can have many "lifetime careers" in one lifetime.