How do i know which career is best for me?

This is an amazing but can definitely be a daunting question. When I entered college, I thought Engineering/Architecture was 100% me. After one semester, I dropped engineering as a whole and refocused on Psychology. A year later I went more specifically into Social and Industrial Psychology (How are industries setup from a people perspective, how the hierarchy within a company is created and maintained, optimizing a companies structure to utilize their talent the most effectively, etc). Once I graduated, being in the Bay Area, tech sales was an easy option to jump into but not related to my college degree. After a year within that world, the startup that I was at was acquired and I essentially lost my job. Feeling mixed about my last year in software sales, I wanted to connect with someone who knows me almost better than myself, my father, to help me with the question 'what next?'.

When speaking to my father, he was very excited to help me find a new career. He told me many great pieces of advice and luxuries that we have in todays working world that folks did not have 20-40 years ago. One of the pieces he mentioned was, try something new as the best way to learn about yourself is to try things. He told me a quote that I still use everyday in my life, and that being - "It's very important to know what you love and are good at doing, but it is just important to know what you don't love and what your not good at doing as that will help you find your path". Through this mentality I started creating lists of basic tasks/skills that I felt I had and enjoyed doing, and things that I knew I didn't have and hated doing. After doing this exercise for one day, it was clear that I loved selling but also love helping people. This pointed me in the general direction of what I am doing now and love doing, which is recruiting.

I work with unique people on a daily basis (something I listed I enjoyed) learning about their life stories and what is important and meaningful to them. From there I can match those individuals with teams and people within a company that matches the candidates. Furthermore, I discuss pain points in a persons career or situation and consistently try to better as much as I can there. The return I get from this fires me up every single day. I have helped give opportunities to parents who were traveling cross the country 5 days a week be closer to their kids. I have helped individuals who were undervalued at their current organization hit their true potential in stride. I have better myself and my company in each of these experiences.

It's a lot, but hope this helps!

Hi there,

My name is Cristin and I am a university recruiter and have run several internship programs. I think the best thing to do is set up informational interviews with professionals in the line of business you are considering. Talk to them about what an average day looks like. When they sit down at their desk at 8:00 AM what do they do until 5:00 PM when they leave? Talk to someone who is new in their career because if you are talking to a manager or someone with 15 years of experience that probably isn't going to be exactly what you'll be doing after you get out of school. You will want their answers to be more relevant to you entering the career. I would also take some career assessments that your school may offer for a jumping off point but know that even if you get a degree in psychology or Latin American Studies you may end up doing something in finance or marketing. Find out how people with those degrees are applying their skills and education in the professional world. Education may very well be a straight line and flexibility will be key.

Deciding what career to choose isn't easy to do. I wanted to be a professional baseball player and dentist. I did neither, but I've had a successful insurance career and now I'm thriving as a recruiting professional. I would recommend thinking about what you enjoy doing and what you're passionate about. What thing or things excite you? Is it making others feel good? Is it building something? Is it teaching or training someone? Think about your talents and how you might translate that into a career. Keep in mind, you might even have two or more careers in your lifetime...and that's okay.