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How did you know your career was the right one for you?

How did you know the job you were working was going to be your ultimate career?

business career-path career small-business administration
Thank you comment icon Good question to start with. You need to search out for joy, peace excitement, calmness, passion and satisfaction within you concerning a chosen career., the greatest of them all is joy. Once you find joy from the inside of you concerning your career,, it means you are on the right path. Patricia Okey-Ohuonu
Thank you comment icon Follow your heart and do what you will always love doing. Alice Mwangi
Thank you comment icon I would say you have to love what you do for your career to be right for you.. sometimes it takes years for someone to know if a career is right for them, but I would say if you love what you do and you are at piece with it.. then thats your answer.... jasmine mcmahan
Thank you comment icon I think you should consider the difference between a career and a profession. A profession is 1) something you enjoy, 2) that you are good at, and 3) that people will pay you for. If you have 1, that's a hobby. If you are 2, you have expertise. If you have 3, it's a job. But if you have all 3, that's a profession. Start with 1 and 2 and figure out a way to get people to pay you for it. Stephen Jenkins
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Brandy’s Answer

I wish I could provide an answer that would really tell you how however, it can vary. I can say that after almost 20 years with my career, I still consider a career change periodically. First, I will say that you have to be passionate about the type of work you do. Everyone has there own reason for being passionate about something. Next I will say that being happy with your employer is also important. Mine provides many opportunities and they stand behind a code of ethics that align with my own. Last, if you begin to consider a career change, think about what is driving that thought. Is it no longer challenging, is it a poor work/ life balance or are you unhappy with your coworker/ boss relationships. Many reasons that I have considered the change are not really related to the work itself but the factors of the environment. This may take periodic changes to refresh your passion in what you do but it is a controllable environment if you are aware of the drivers.
Thank you comment icon Your advice was so helpful! Katlin
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Chirayu’s Answer

You may find it quickly or you may never find it. What you end up doing may be completely different than what you may have studied, that is why getting experience is key or working hands on. You never know what you end up liking. Work towards something you have a passion for and you may just end up finding a career there.
Thank you comment icon I am really grateful you took the time to answer this question. Katlin
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Michel’s Answer

This is a great question.

I believe one of the biggest things to look for is what gives you joy. Create a list of things that make you happy and what you are looking for in life. When I did this a lot time ago I fell on the medical field. The reason I landed in the medical field is because I knew I loved science and I knew that I liked continued education and helping people. Once I found the medical field it came down to what my abilities were. I first started looking into nursing, but after time I realized it didn’t challenge me as much as I wanted so I moved to medicine to challenge myself. I love a challenge and that is what medicine has been for me. Difficult classes, but in things I love and enjoy.

Try multiple things out. I think something that can really help is look into volunteering or being able to shadow people that are in a field that you enjoy. If you are interested in business ask people what they do throughout the day and see if that is something that interests you. If you find something that you truly fall in love with things will feel right. That doesn’t mean that things won’t be difficult at times. But you will be able to look through those difficult times and see the end goal of becoming a business owner or a doctor and that will put things back into perspective.

Thank you comment icon Thank you for giving me advice. Katlin
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Lakita’s Answer

I knew my last semester in college, which had nothing to do with my major. I took a class in Human Resource Management and knew that's what I wanted to do because it peeked my interest more than the things I was studying for my major.
Thank you comment icon Thank you, Lakita! Katlin
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Candice’s Answer

Hi Katlin, great question!

Sometimes you know right away whether a career is right for you and sometimes, you do need to have some experience with it to make a decision if it's right for you. I am a big proponent of internships (paid and unpaid) as this will allow you to get a good feel for a particular job. I was very lost when it came to deciding what would be the right career for me, but taking advantage of the opportunities that were made available to me if they made sense for me was the best decision I could have made. The career path I've taken I would never have thought of on my own.
A great start would be taking a personality assessment. There are many out there, and they can help narrow what types of careers may be best for you.
Taking the time to learn about a career you may be interested in may help you determine if you should keep it as an option or move on to something else you may be interested in. Find people you know who may be in careers you're interested in or reach out to people in your area and ask if they would spend a few minutes telling you about their careers. You'd be surprised at how many will say yes!
If your chosen career requires a degree or certification, I encourage you to think about taking some of the steps above. Best of luck to you Katlin!
Thank you comment icon I'm excited to put your great advice to good use! Katlin
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Cassandra R’s Answer

I discovered my career based on my interest. For example, when I was in high-school, I was interested in Fashion. However, when I was looking at colleges, I wanted to attend a college that offered fashion as a major but also offer sports. I chose to attend NC State University where I was able to major in Textile and Apparel Management and offered sports (track). It gave me more business and technical experience in the industry and I graduated and worked in the industry (Sara Lee Corporation, which owned Coach and other apparel brands). Through my experience at Sara Lee Corporation, I worked a great deal with the marketing which sparked my interest. From there, I explored going back to school to transition to Marketing. I've been in Marketing ever since. So everything started with my initial interests. There is no one path so I encourage you to always do what you enjoy because your passion for that will shine through.
Thank you comment icon I will use this advice as I prepare for my career. Katlin
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Francne’s Answer

In all honesty, I am not sure we always know what career is right for us and for some choosing a career is something that comes with time. If you are working just for money, you have or are seeking a job. Jobs do have the capacity to turn into careers if you desire. If you are looking to work in and grow in an industry over time, you are seeking a career that just might be right for you. To find the "right career," I recommend you start with really understanding what you are interested in and have a passion to learn or do. I would love to tell you that it is as simple as identifying the ideal job that aligns with your passion, finding it and just doing it. Unfortunately, often times, identifying and creating a career path based on passion alone does not always net the "right career" or joy in doing what you love. You should take the time to identify the type job that would be a good fit for you, learn the industry you are considering and researching career possibilities. From there, understand the steps you need to take to grow your career. Know that it is okay to adjust career goals along the way. Good Luck!
Thank you comment icon This was super helpful, thank you! Katlin
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Gina’s Answer

I think that "right for you" is open to interpretation. I tried a few things and did them until I wasn't happy doing it anymore. My goal has always been to be happy with what I do and if I am not, figure out the path to change it so I can be happy. I have not always been happy with my past jobs, but they were a means to an end and that is okay too. Ultimately, I would say there is not right answer here. Just try to do what makes you happy as often as you can and hopefully, you can turn it into a career!!!
Thank you comment icon Thank you, this is really helpful. Katlin
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Jenny’s Answer

Seek out the job and career that you genuinely are interested in. If it's something that makes you curious and can get you up in the morning, then you're going down the right road. To get a better idea on whether the career is right for you, you have to go out and try different activities in those fields both direct and indirect. For example, if you were interested in potentially becoming a doctor, look for opportunities to shadow or chat with a doctor or medical student. This may even be one of your friend's parents. Within school, you could participate in school clubs or events honing in on this profession such as HOSA. You could even watch videos/blogs of individuals working in those fields giving their testimonials and walking through their day-to-day tasks. If by partaking in these activities you can see yourself doing similar tasks on a daily and still maintaining your enthusiasm for the field, then you found one career path you could potentially pursue. This is only one of many paths you can choose to go down and if you later realize your motivations have shifted, you can change to a different job within the same field or even in a completely different field. Afterall, the average person makes 3-7 career changes throughout their working life.
Thank you comment icon Thank you for the advice, Jenny. Katlin
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John’s Answer

I don't think there's one career for each person, in my opinion, many of us could do a bunch of different jobs, but we settle on a job that fits our life. For example, I really enjoy working from home, so I found a job that allowed me to do that. I would recommend thinking through what you want in a job to help determine a starting point for your job search.
Thank you comment icon I appreciate this, thank you for the advice. Katlin
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Ebony’s Answer

The one thing to always remember is that you should really enjoy what you do! If you find yourself unhappy, complacent and just "going to work for a check", you might need to reevaluate how passionate you are about your role or career. The other thing to remember is that the right career for you today might not be the right career for you in 3 years! It can always change and you have the capacity to pivot and do what makes you happy! I know my career is right for me because I LOVE showing up to work, I'm always looking for ways to progress and I fill fulfilled everyday.
Thank you comment icon Thank you, Ebony! Katlin
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Jackson’s Answer

Katlin: I recently delivered a talk at our company titled, Career Advice - Follow Your Passion.

Following your passion is one of the de facto pieces of advice for American careers. This is an appealing concept. Figure out what you love and match it to your work/ problem solved.

Steve Jobs talked about Passion at Work in his 2005 Standford University Commencement Speech. (see YouTube link below). He said, “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”

It turns out to follow your passion is a piece of bad career advice. There are two issues with this piece of career advice. First, following your passion means we all know what our passion is. Most young people don't have pre-existing passion. Second, matching your work to pre-existing passion will make you satisfied. There is no evidence that this is true or it works.

According to Cal Newport, author of the book - So Good They Can't Ignore You - Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love. The specific of work is not what's important. The specific is less important than the general traits. What we desire at work is autonomy, exercising creativity, making an impact, having respect, power, affluence, etc.. How do you obtain or acquire the desired general traits in what you do?

Workers need to build up rare and valuable skills. Exchange rare and valuable skills to gain roles with autonomy, creativity, impact, etc..

Start with your education. Figure out what rare and valuable skills you can and are willing to develop. Exchange your career capital (rare and valuable skills) for your career of choice. Steve Jobs said, "If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”

Jackson recommends the following next steps:

Watch Steve Jobs talks about Passion at Work YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXXwFG3_x2g
Watch Cal Newport talks about his book, So Good They Can't Ignore You, at Google. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwOdU02SE0w
Thank you comment icon Thank you so much, Jackson! Katlin
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Patti’s Answer

There isn't necessarily one perfect career. You may find that what feels right at one point in your career evolves as you decide to take on new challenges. And you may find that what you study in school can apply to several careers in which you can be successful. As an example, I studied journalism in college, but found early on my career within journalism that I was a better editor than reporter. Because of that discovery, I spent a large part of my career as a magazine editor. But as the job market changed, I applied my editing skills to other areas like editing marketing materials. Through that exploration into marketing, I found that I enjoyed the creativity of becoming a marketing copywriter. Now I've moved up to become a marketing manager in which I can help mentor younger colleagues on the skills I honed throughout my career. I've always found success when you are working in a job in which you continue to learn and grow from. And, it's always important to find a job in which you enjoy collaborating with your colleagues. If you do that, your work will be rewarding and won't feel so much like "work."
Thank you comment icon I appreciate this, thank you for the advice. Katlin
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David’s Answer

There isn't necessarily a career that's just right. You may never find the perfect one. A great skill to have that will serve you well is learning to enjoy what you are doing in the moment. If you can tolerate your work and feel fulfilled accomplishing your work, you've found a good career. Learn to love doing challenging work, by constantly challenging yourself. Each time you accomplish a difficult task, you are rewarding your brain with endorphins and eventually will learn to enjoy the tasks you are doing, even if you initially don't enjoy it.
Thank you comment icon Thank you, this is really helpful. Katlin
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