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How can I find what career I am interested in?
I don't know I want to do in the future so I am asking this question. #career
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3 answers
Updated
alexander’s Answer
Firstly do not worry about making a perfect choice, instead be willing to change your mind as you expereince careers. What you believe is likely not what you will come to know.
Secondly think about alignment -- interested in is not the same as good at and both matter.
Ideally you want to do something that engages you (interest) yet you can excel at (good at). You may not be good today, but able to and willing to get good at is key.
Why this matters:
You may love "X", but be terrible at it and suffer on the job, in performance reviews and ultimately at the end of the day you may feel like a failure doing what you love, which is terrible.
If you are good or can become good at something, you could be more successful at work and at the end of the day feel satisfaction in your daily accomplishments, yet might not be doing something you care about, equally disappointing.
The more you align the happier you will be.
So how then to find the career you are interested in? --> Get active in after school clubs, volunteer and entry level jobs (part time/ full time/internships)
These will inform you as to your alignment on customer facing, management, technical, etc. Listen to how you feel when doing different part time jobs and see where you feel comfortable and challenged as opposed to things like fear, avoidance and or floating.
Find what you like and see what fits your abilities today and what you feel you can become good at. Then look at the jobs in this direction on career sites. Here you will see what is required to help you focus on meeting those requirements and hopefully land a job.
Secondly think about alignment -- interested in is not the same as good at and both matter.
Ideally you want to do something that engages you (interest) yet you can excel at (good at). You may not be good today, but able to and willing to get good at is key.
Why this matters:
You may love "X", but be terrible at it and suffer on the job, in performance reviews and ultimately at the end of the day you may feel like a failure doing what you love, which is terrible.
If you are good or can become good at something, you could be more successful at work and at the end of the day feel satisfaction in your daily accomplishments, yet might not be doing something you care about, equally disappointing.
The more you align the happier you will be.
So how then to find the career you are interested in? --> Get active in after school clubs, volunteer and entry level jobs (part time/ full time/internships)
These will inform you as to your alignment on customer facing, management, technical, etc. Listen to how you feel when doing different part time jobs and see where you feel comfortable and challenged as opposed to things like fear, avoidance and or floating.
Find what you like and see what fits your abilities today and what you feel you can become good at. Then look at the jobs in this direction on career sites. Here you will see what is required to help you focus on meeting those requirements and hopefully land a job.
Updated
Alejandra’s Answer
Hi Shuk Man,
This is a great question to ask, and I'm going to give you a piece of advice that shaped both my education and career, and I'm so happy it did. It was the following...
"Follow your passion, and the money will follow."
I took this to heart, and now that I am into my career, I'm so happy I did. I was always interested in subtle behavioral influence; what makes people who they are? How do people choose to do things? Psychology was interesting, but I liked how neuroscience tackled questions like consciousness, reality, and more with actual science. After that, I knew my passion was working in building things that make people do things. I'm not creative enough to be a designer, but I knew I could study hard enough to learn any new skill after graduation. This was when I talked to mentors, I took internships, and I took information calls but only for careers or jobs that I felt PASSIONATE about.
Finally, I found my niche (which a lot of people told me didn't exist). Now I specialize in understanding culture and trends and seeing where they will go in the future, how it will shape thought and society's actions, ultimately consulting brands and strategy to ensure they're ahead of the curve.
When you follow your passion, there will be way more people telling you "you can't do it" or "that's not a thing" than I could have ever imagined. But now that I have put in the work both academically and professionally and have earned my own street cred, everyone wants to applaud and say they knew I would do it.
Lastly, I make enough money to be comfortable.. but the biggest prize was actually enjoying what I do every day. Think about what you want your life to look like, what sort of time you want to spend at a job, and make sure to factor that into your career decision. Pursuing both a passion for what you do and work/life balance is not a dream; it's actually what people have.. and so can you.
Find a mentor that wants you to succeed, even if it's not related to what they do
Reach out to "dream jobs" and call for information interviews.. ask how they figured out what they wanted to do? how they got their job? and what they recommend?
Take internships and jobs that you're excited about and not just that pay well.. that being said I NEVER took an unpaid internship
Speak to everyone about your passions, wether it's music, movies, traveling, etc... and tell them your looking for a job. You'll be surprised about the careers people will share that you've never heard about!
This is a great question to ask, and I'm going to give you a piece of advice that shaped both my education and career, and I'm so happy it did. It was the following...
"Follow your passion, and the money will follow."
I took this to heart, and now that I am into my career, I'm so happy I did. I was always interested in subtle behavioral influence; what makes people who they are? How do people choose to do things? Psychology was interesting, but I liked how neuroscience tackled questions like consciousness, reality, and more with actual science. After that, I knew my passion was working in building things that make people do things. I'm not creative enough to be a designer, but I knew I could study hard enough to learn any new skill after graduation. This was when I talked to mentors, I took internships, and I took information calls but only for careers or jobs that I felt PASSIONATE about.
Finally, I found my niche (which a lot of people told me didn't exist). Now I specialize in understanding culture and trends and seeing where they will go in the future, how it will shape thought and society's actions, ultimately consulting brands and strategy to ensure they're ahead of the curve.
When you follow your passion, there will be way more people telling you "you can't do it" or "that's not a thing" than I could have ever imagined. But now that I have put in the work both academically and professionally and have earned my own street cred, everyone wants to applaud and say they knew I would do it.
Lastly, I make enough money to be comfortable.. but the biggest prize was actually enjoying what I do every day. Think about what you want your life to look like, what sort of time you want to spend at a job, and make sure to factor that into your career decision. Pursuing both a passion for what you do and work/life balance is not a dream; it's actually what people have.. and so can you.
Alejandra recommends the following next steps:
Updated
Molly’s Answer
This helped me A LOT when I was deciding: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/home.htm
Provides information regarding salaries, job growth outlook, education requirements, etc.
Provides information regarding salaries, job growth outlook, education requirements, etc.