Five-Step Career Decision-Making Process

The decision-making process of career advancement continues throughout your professional life. As your career develops, you may be returning to this process. Sometimes, you'll be frustrated, feeling like you're no further along in your career than when you began. If you can follow these steps and make progress, you're on the right track.
 

Step 1. Self-Assessment

Begin by assessing your interests, values, personality, and interests to determine your transferable and technical skills. Be aware of the factors that could influence your searches, like geographical preferences, an organization's culture, or the balance between work and life.

Be aware that tests cannot be a guideline or a way to determine what you must do. Instead, they offer places to investigate further and provide a good place to start your research. Also, career guidance can assist you in reflecting on your interests, goals as well as your qualifications, skills, and strengths.
 

Four Parts of Self-Assessment:

Skills: A lot of skills can be transferred, which means they can be utilized across many functional and specialized areas. For example, communication abilities are appreciated in all positions, which makes them highly adaptable. It's crucial to spend the time to assess your skills and the ways they can be connected to your career choices.

Interests: Your interests might change as you get introduced to new fields of study or new experiences. Reflection on your interests, personality, skills, and values is crucial to the self-assessment process. Utilize the following questions to start your reflection.
 

What kinds of activities do you tend to gravitate toward? What is it that draws you to the activities you enjoy?

What causes or issues matter to you?

What was the time you were most content in your life? What was it that you were doing?

What classes were your top picks, and what attracted you to those classes?

Who are the people you admire most, and what is the reason?

Personality: Your distinctive traits influence your thinking and actions, choices, and how you interact in the global world. One job perfect for one person could be completely wrong for someone else.
 

How much interaction with other people are you required to have for your job?

Do you like to think of possibilities and be creative, or do you like dealing with quantifiable practical issues, details, and work?

Values: Making decisions that are consistent with your values are a crucial element of a successful career. Make sure you know what values are important to you. For instance, the need to contribute to society is frequently cited as a defining characteristic of a successful career, but it may differ for each individual.
 

Step 2: Determinate And Research Options

Teachers and doctors are among the occupations we're familiar with; however, many other jobs are being developed as industries change. Explore the wide range of available careers, and don't restrict yourself to jobs you're familiar with.

Find out as much as possible about employers in your field of expertise and developments in the field. Learn about magazines, websites, and other sources used by professionals in the sector. This will aid you in making a list of your preferred employers and prepare you for interviews and networking.
 

Step 3: Evaluate And Prioritize

It is the next stage to think about. It's crucial to do an honest assessment for every career field you're interested in, evaluate your options, pros, and cons, and assess how it matches your personality and what you'd like to do. Consider these questions as a way to guide your thinking.

What's your first reaction to the field of career after you've done your study?

What attracted you to the field? What did you not like about the area? Consider the pros and cons

What skills, knowledge, or experience will you require to be competitive in this area? Are you sufficiently interested in the field to acquire these skills or acquire the knowledge?

How much adaptation is required to be successful in your chosen field? There is no perfect fit; however, are the less desirable components not too much?

If, after doing your research, you discover that a particular career isn't the right fit suitable for you, it's okay. In the end, the purpose of this research is to help you determine what's a good match.

Remember that entry-level jobs are often filled with lesser-appreciated elements, but they serve as a step towards the future. It is essential to consider more than only the initial job and think about the higher-level positions.

To successfully change your profession, you need to know which type of career suits your personality. Psychometric tests are a quick and convenient way to "type your personality" - to get an idea of which particular personality group you belong to in terms of a set of skills, ambitions and aspirations. Figuring out which group you belong to makes it easier to assess what type of career might suit you.

Psychometric personality tests should not be confused with psychometric tests that employers use to test candidates' abilities. They are usually conducted under exam-like conditions and include numerical and verbal reasoning exercises that assess the candidate's ability to do the job.

I recommend you visit career-toolbox where you can find many psychometric tests that are useful for career planning and career guidance.
 

Step 4: Take Action And Try Options

Now is the time to try different career options and gain experience. In addition, many novice specialists are afraid to perform the task incorrectly and as a result they lock themselves in and stop working altogether.

There is a wonderful phrase — who is not mistaken, he does not work. Any mistakes are experience, any experience will come in handy. Even negative experiences are useful. The question is whether lessons are learned from this, or the specialist continues to walk around the field with a rake and does not draw any conclusions for himself — does not change the approach to work, tools, methodology or information field.

If a specialist is not ready to rebuild and be flexible, doesn’t see the results of his own work, doesn’t understand the needs of the business, this can negatively affect the construction of any career.

To make life easier for yourself and to avoid many mistakes, you can use the services of a career counsellor. Career consultant and coach help clients to make their job search or career changes more successful. They have an academic degree, such as a master's degree in counseling. Typically, these people specialize in helping their clients identify suitable career paths or general strategies.

Career coaches pay more attention to specific steps to achieve a goal or improve certain skills, such as networking, interviewing or communication. Coaches are more purposeful than professional consultants. With the coach, you will look for solutions and strategies together.
 

Selection of a professional to your needs

Initially, you need to determine: would you like help with the entire job search process or with a certain skill? Signs of a good specialist:

- A career consultant will help you identify your unique skills and make the most of your assets when looking for a job
- The professional has experience working with people over 50 years old
- You and the career counselor are partners in determining the steps to achieve your goals
- The contract between you and the professional specifies the result of your consultation, the terms and the tools and materials that will be provided
- Leave immediately if you were promised a dream job, a high-paying job or a better lifestyle. No one can guarantee success

Manage your expectations

Career coaches are not magicians. If you just show up, pay and wait for the job to be at your feet, you will almost certainly be disappointed. On the other hand, if you're making a serious effort but haven't seen any changes for a month or so, it might be time to re-evaluate. And remember: success in getting a good job depends more on you.
 

Step 5: Reflect And Re-Evaluate

It is essential to take a moment to reflect.

What was fun? What wasn't?

Were there aspects of the experience that you found challenging?

Was it the work or something else to do with the people who contributed to the enjoyment?

If you're taking the time to reflect, you're discovering more about the kind of job and environment you'll find the most enjoyable.