5 Steps to Finding Your Perfect Career

As a young adult, your world is filled with opportunities, but that does not make it any easier for you to find your niche and land your perfect career. Indecisiveness, in the earlier stages of adulthood, is a common trait and you may not yet know exactly where you want your career path to lead. To help you find your ideal career path choice, there are five steps of action that could get you going in the right direction.

1. Evaluate your personal strengths and skill sets.

Grab a notebook and think candidly about your personal strengths and skill sets. Try to find answers to the following questions and jot down your findings:

• What do you feel your personal strengths are? (For example, are you a good listener or do you work well independently?)
• What subjects and activities have you always excelled in? (Were there subjects in school you preferred or found easy?)
• What have people told you about your personal strengths? (Do others often tell you that you are a great role model or highly empathetic?)
• Are there skill sets you possess that could be valuable in a career? (Can you easily operate heavy machinery or have knowledge of electronic operations?)

2. Get to know your passions and consider how they fit into career opportunities.

Every person has interests which they consider their passions. It could be anything from being passionate about civil rights to really having a deep-seated desire to help impoverished children. Whatever your passions, it might be good to get more familiar with them and learn how they can fit in with some career paths. For example, if you are passionate about wildlife preservation, you may want to consider looking for employment with wildlife reserves or national parks.

3. Think about the lifestyle you want for the future.

Do you plan to have children? Are you okay with traveling? What kind of income would you eventually like to achieve? All of these are questions you should be asking yourself when you are trying to find your ideal career.

4. Do your career homework.

Once you have narrowed down your focus and found a career you believe will be a good fit, do your homework. Research the career field, the industry, the requirements, and what may be available in your area. At this point, you may find after researching that a career may not be as good of a fit as you thought, and that’s okay as this is what will help you eliminate the wrong career paths and find the right ones.

5. Arrange face-to-face time with someone already in a field you think you’re interested in.

After you are fairly confident you have found the ideal career choice, don’t disregard the fact that an insider can give you a wealth of information. Track down someone who works in your career field of choice and try to arrange a sit-down with them – even if it is just a casual meeting over a cup of coffee. Someone already in the field can give you a lot of great tips and information to help you get on the right path.