Exploring career options

Visualisation

This is one of many ways to work out where you want to be. It involves picturing a goal as if you’d already achieved it. As you build that picture in your mind, you gradually add detail.

You do this by asking yourself questions like:

• What can I see, hear and feel?
• Where am I?
• Who else is there?
• What am I doing?
• How does this make me feel?

Other options

Don't worry if this isn't for you. There are other ideas to try.

Select each one to find out more.

Identify your skills and strengths

Ask yourself “What am I good at?” These are your skills and strengths – but what is the difference? If you didn’t have to learn it, it’s a strength. Things like empathy or being curious. A skill is something you learn. Like how to cook, code or play the guitar.

These don’t need to be about something you do at work. They could come from a hobby or something you’ve studied at school. For example, you may have learned to code at school or have enjoyed baking or playing five-a-side football.

Each of these involves skills and strengths. Coding means you’ve studied and learnt something over a period of time. It also needs logical thinking and problem solving. Baking involves following instructions, being methodical and there’s creativity there too. Your regular football practice shows your time management, reliability and team-working skills. Hopefully, this has given you a few ideas.

Write your list

Once you have an idea of how to break down tasks into skills and strengths, you can start listing them.

If you get stuck or can’t think of the skills you have, try these ideas:

The skills employers need

It’s worth checking what skills are popular with employers. Many job sites have the latest data on this. Some of the skills employers need will depend on the type of role. Others apply to a wide range of roles.

Learning or practising these skills could boost your chances when you start to look for work.  You may also want to update your list of skills, noting which ones employers value most.

Starting with a list of in-demand skills is one approach. Another is looking at your own skillset and finding out which careers need these.  This can be useful as you continue to explore your career options.

Your values

There are close links between personal strengths and values, so let’s look at these now. Your values and beliefs matter. It can be hard working in a job or for an employer that doesn’t live by or share your values. As you think about your values, you can start to add them to the picture of your ideal career.

Let’s look at some examples.

What to think about

At the start of this lesson, we asked you to think of your ideal job. You may have started this with the words ‘In an ideal world’, ‘If money was no object’ or ‘If I had no other commitments’. In the real world, we need enough money to feed our families and pay the bills. We have responsibilities to others. You need to think about all of these if you’re looking for a career that works for you.

In this chapter, we’ll look at your needs. You can then use this information to help refine your career choices. Start by asking yourself a few questions. Let’s take the examples of money and commitments first.

Money

When we look for work, we need to know what we need to cover our financial commitments. So, your first question may be ‘What are my regular outgoings?’

Be realistic and try to capture everything you might spend each week or month. Include things like rent or mortgage payments. Also consider food and bills. Don’t forget ongoing debt repayments. Include money you spend on subscriptions, hobbies and social events, clothes and holidays. Then you can answer your next question: ‘How much do I need to earn to cover these?’

Commitments

What will fit with your family and other caring commitments? Sometimes these responsibilities are long-term, for example if you have young children. These can be easier to plan for than unexpected situations like a family member suddenly becoming unwell and needing your care. It’s good to think about how your commitments may shape your career choices.

Questions to ask here include: ‘What do I need from a career to allow me to manage my caring commitments alongside it?’

Other needs

Each of us has different needs. These can be physical, mental and emotional. We need to consider these when making career choices.

Some questions to ask include:

• Is there a limit to where or how far you can travel for work?
• Would you be willing to move?
• Do you need a career where you can work from home?
• What adaptations do you need in a workplace?
• Are there time constraints, for example a maximum number of hours you can work each day?
• How do you feel about working overtime?
• Are there certain hours, days or times in the year when you can’t work?
• Do you thrive in fast-paced environments or do you need something that is more steady?
• Can you take time to train or return to study to pursue your career?
• Do you need a career that fits with your faith commitments?
• Do you have other responsibilities outside of work?

Looking for careers that fit

So far, you’ve seen how to assess your skills, strengths and needs. Now it’s time to look for career options that match these.

Your research

When you start researching, look at:

Research tools and resources

It’s good to use a range of different tools and resources. Some of these will give you a high-level overview, others will go into more detail. This mix of breadth and depth can help you understand the different options and decide where you want to find out more.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Your research will take time and effort. Don’t feel you need to achieve it all in one go. It’s worth planning some chunks of time that you can dedicate to this task.

Refining your choices

As you start to research career options, you may find that many of them appeal to you. Be aware of the work you’ve done so far on your own skills, strengths and needs.

These questions may help you refine your choices:

• Will I enjoy doing this job every day?
• Do I have the right skills? If not, how would I gain these?
• Does the job meet my needs?
• Does the company fit my values and beliefs?
• Can I work in that location?
• Is the pay enough to meet my outgoings?
• Do the hours work for me?

Tools to help you decide

Finding it hard to select? There are tools that can help. One option is simply to list the pros and cons of each career option.

Another way is SWOT analysis. Businesses use this to help them reflect, plan and decide on priorities. You can use it too, to do much the same thing. A personal SWOT analysis may help you clarify your career choices.

SWOT analysis

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

This is how it works:

Let’s look at the headings to see what you can list for each of them.

Setting career goals

Once you’ve identified possible career paths, use these to set your goals. You may find it easier to break these down into long and shorter-term goals. Then you can make a plan by writing down the steps you need to take to reach these goals. Your plan will show you how to get from where you are now to where you want to be.

Let's take an example. Say your goal is to work as a nurse in a children’s hospital. A shorter-term goal may be to gain the necessary qualifications. The steps you take to reach this first goal include exploring study options, finding the right one, completing your studies, and achieving your qualification. 

Another example: moving from a full-time role to starting your own business in the same industry. Your goal is to run a successful business. A goal that may help may be to make enough money to quit your current job or researching your market. 

Making a plan

Once you have your goals, it’s time to plan how you’ll reach them.