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How do you know what career you will be good at and enjoy?
I know I want to be successful but I don’t know what career I want to have.
#career #college
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7 answers
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Tally’s Answer
It's so hard to think about what your career choice will be especially when technology and the world are changing quickly. The top two questions to honestly answer for yourself and think about, in my opinon, are: 1. What are you good at? and 2. Can I support myself and a future family with this career?
I know there's a lot of media push out there on "follow your passion", but a hobby you love may become tiresome if you do it everyday and it may stop being fun. If your passion is something really generic like "I love helping people" you might want to narrow that down a little. Helping people in what way? in person? where in the world is it important for you to help people? in what ways is it important to you to make people's life better?
I think you probably already know what you're good at: does writing come easily to you ? Maybe math is easy for you more than others? maybe building things? that's a great place to start because it's also easy to love and be passionate about something we're good at. Then you can start looking at college majors in the areas you're good at, and then jobs will follow.
It's not fun to think about supporting yourself, but someday you'll have to do it! The second most important thing to think about is how you're going to support yourself. Are you looking at career choices that pay well and have a clear path for growth? That's important.
I know there's a lot of media push out there on "follow your passion", but a hobby you love may become tiresome if you do it everyday and it may stop being fun. If your passion is something really generic like "I love helping people" you might want to narrow that down a little. Helping people in what way? in person? where in the world is it important for you to help people? in what ways is it important to you to make people's life better?
I think you probably already know what you're good at: does writing come easily to you ? Maybe math is easy for you more than others? maybe building things? that's a great place to start because it's also easy to love and be passionate about something we're good at. Then you can start looking at college majors in the areas you're good at, and then jobs will follow.
It's not fun to think about supporting yourself, but someday you'll have to do it! The second most important thing to think about is how you're going to support yourself. Are you looking at career choices that pay well and have a clear path for growth? That's important.
Updated
Rachid’s Answer
Hello Kaliyha,
The fact that you are asking that specific question shows that you are always halfway - before engaging in any activity it is important to be honest to yourself, think through and analyze what your purpose is in life? What impact do you want to make in your life, community and the world? What would want people to say about you? What do you cherish the most? Where are the areas you feel your wings are fully deployed?
In addition to your self-assessment it is important to test your purpose with loved one - somebody you trust and who can provide candid feedback.
Hope it helps. Good luck!!!
The fact that you are asking that specific question shows that you are always halfway - before engaging in any activity it is important to be honest to yourself, think through and analyze what your purpose is in life? What impact do you want to make in your life, community and the world? What would want people to say about you? What do you cherish the most? Where are the areas you feel your wings are fully deployed?
In addition to your self-assessment it is important to test your purpose with loved one - somebody you trust and who can provide candid feedback.
Hope it helps. Good luck!!!
Thank you , this was helpful
Kaliyha
Updated
Jason’s Answer
Hey Kaliyha,
You've got a wealth of sound advice here. I've got a couple things that may help:
Do you have anything you do that you get lost in? Something that you could do for hours, easily forgo sleep and forget to eat? That may help you get close to what you enjoy. And there's a good chance that the thing(s) you spend hours doing by choice is something you've gotten good at doing. (Man, is it easy to put Netflix here, but not that) It may not exactly translate into a career choice, but it can help highlight the things that are important to you, how you'd like to work and what you'd need from a career for it to be enjoyable. For me it was 3D animation. I would spend hours building 3D models in college. Now, I'm not a 3D animator. But working on things deeply and thinking through how you solve problems in a 3D space were deeply fulfilling. It also was isolating because I primarily did it by myself. So the take way was - I love thinking deeply. I love creativity. And I prefer to work with others rather than not. That eventually led me to Product Management, where I get to do all of those things.
The other thing: You likely will have many careers as you grow, each highlighting new strengths and skills that you develop over time. If you can identify the essence of what you love doing, then you'll see the careers that work best. Either that or invent ones that do.
Hope the above is helpful.
You've got this!
You've got a wealth of sound advice here. I've got a couple things that may help:
Do you have anything you do that you get lost in? Something that you could do for hours, easily forgo sleep and forget to eat? That may help you get close to what you enjoy. And there's a good chance that the thing(s) you spend hours doing by choice is something you've gotten good at doing. (Man, is it easy to put Netflix here, but not that) It may not exactly translate into a career choice, but it can help highlight the things that are important to you, how you'd like to work and what you'd need from a career for it to be enjoyable. For me it was 3D animation. I would spend hours building 3D models in college. Now, I'm not a 3D animator. But working on things deeply and thinking through how you solve problems in a 3D space were deeply fulfilling. It also was isolating because I primarily did it by myself. So the take way was - I love thinking deeply. I love creativity. And I prefer to work with others rather than not. That eventually led me to Product Management, where I get to do all of those things.
The other thing: You likely will have many careers as you grow, each highlighting new strengths and skills that you develop over time. If you can identify the essence of what you love doing, then you'll see the careers that work best. Either that or invent ones that do.
Hope the above is helpful.
You've got this!
Updated
Rebecca’s Answer
Hi, you should ask this question yourself what is your strength and what do you like to do. You have to be honest to yourself.
You can think about what you have interest on , your hobbies, etc. Hence, you can identify what careers that may be related to your interest/hobbies. However, I would suggest you to explore more how the actual work would be. If there is an opportunity you can talk to someone who is working in that career or you can try to explore any part/intern opportunity as well. It is always a difference on what you think and the reality.
Bear in mind that choose to work on a career you have interested on. It is a pain to work on something 5 days a week which you have no interest.
Hope this helps! Good Luck!
You can think about what you have interest on , your hobbies, etc. Hence, you can identify what careers that may be related to your interest/hobbies. However, I would suggest you to explore more how the actual work would be. If there is an opportunity you can talk to someone who is working in that career or you can try to explore any part/intern opportunity as well. It is always a difference on what you think and the reality.
Bear in mind that choose to work on a career you have interested on. It is a pain to work on something 5 days a week which you have no interest.
Hope this helps! Good Luck!
Hi, thank you
Kaliyha
Updated
Romina’s Answer
You'll first have to figure out your passion. What do you enjoy doing? Narrow down the field such as Hospitality Industry, Medical field, History ... . Do you enjoy teaching? Are your a visual learner or do you prefer hands-on learning. Once you have figured it out, start looking at the need for that field. Don't look at the money. You want to know if your chosen occupation would still be needed in 10 years.
Thank you, this was very helpful
Kaliyha
Updated
Johanna’s Answer
The meaning of success for you right now can change as you grow older. I think the more important thing is to know what makes you happy? What is your passion? What problems do you like solving? What are your strengths? I think if you are lucky enough to find a career that meshes all of those together , then you have found your dream job.
Focus on what you love to do--- and with hard work and a bit of luck, success will follow!
Focus on what you love to do--- and with hard work and a bit of luck, success will follow!
Thank you for your advice
Kaliyha
Updated
Joseph’s Answer
Hi Kaliyha,
Thank you very much for you question. You've already had some great responses, I hope this helps.
I think you are on the right path in desiring to be successful, so now what? I started in the newspaper industry a long time ago, when there was a newspaper industry. I worked in advertising and I didn't like my job or the career path, but I stayed in the industry for over 12 years because, I was successful and the people I met and worked with were incredible. You'll know if you don't like your career, and if you don't, you have that drive to succeed and if you have a great team surrounding you, it could be worth sticking with - Good teams are hard to come by. Today, I'm in a totally different industry, (Payments/eCommerce) - it's hard, it hurts, but I love my clients, the organization I work for but most of all, the people I work with. Just some things to consider on your career path.
Best of luck and continue to strive for success!
Joseph M.
Thank you very much for you question. You've already had some great responses, I hope this helps.
I think you are on the right path in desiring to be successful, so now what? I started in the newspaper industry a long time ago, when there was a newspaper industry. I worked in advertising and I didn't like my job or the career path, but I stayed in the industry for over 12 years because, I was successful and the people I met and worked with were incredible. You'll know if you don't like your career, and if you don't, you have that drive to succeed and if you have a great team surrounding you, it could be worth sticking with - Good teams are hard to come by. Today, I'm in a totally different industry, (Payments/eCommerce) - it's hard, it hurts, but I love my clients, the organization I work for but most of all, the people I work with. Just some things to consider on your career path.
Best of luck and continue to strive for success!
Joseph M.
Thank you, this was very helpful
Kaliyha