How to Find the Best Career Path

Direction sign and board with career choice way. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Finding the dream job has never been easy. While some people strike it lucky from the very first try, others struggle for years to find the best career path that would suit both their interests and their financial expectations. If you want to belong to the first category, you should know there are several things you can do about it and a series of factors to consider.

Think about your skills and passions

A dream job is often related to doing what you like. When you dread going to work, it is obvious you have stepped on the wrong path. Therefore, the first thing to consider when choosing a career path are your hobbies and your interest centers. What kind of work would you like to be doing every day? Which is your domain of expertise? Focus on your skills without losing sight of your passions. If you are not good in Math, there is no point to pick a career path that requires high level Math skills. However, if designing houses is your passion, it becomes obvious that architecture should be your career path choice.

Take the job’s earning potential into consideration

Doing what you like is great, but at the end of the day, we all work for the money. While the finances should not represent the job’s sole motivation, they play an important role within people’s satisfaction with their job. When planning what to do with your life and which career path to choose, think also money. How much is a guy performing that job making? Would that be enough to cover for the lifestyle you want to have? Would you feel frustrated you haven’t picked a different path? Answer these questions honestly before you make a decision.

Think about the technology and outlook

Does the career path you are looking at have a bright outlook? Look at jobs even 10-years back and you will see a large shift in careers to technology. You can get a sense of which jobs are in-demand in 2014 by viewing this U.S. News report here. As reported, tech jobs are hot, hot, hot! Even with Tech jobs in high-demand, there are plenty of careers that are growing outside of Technology that you should look at considering.

Think job prospects

You have chosen the career path that best suits your personality and it also has a good earning potential. Everything seems fine on paper, but is there a chance you will actually practice the job you are training for? Do your homework thoroughly and make sure there is an actual demand for this kind of job.

This does not mean only staying away from disappearing jobs like that of a typist or Dictaphone operator. It means checking the statistics, and trying to understand where things are heading to. For instance, get informed on New York demographics and compare the population’s growth rate with the number of doctors graduating medical school each year if this is your area of residence and you want to become a doctor.

Any opportunities for promotion?

The opportunities for career advancement represent yet another check point on the list. When entering a daily routine, people tend to get bored, frustrated and dissatisfied with their job. A career path needs to include a number of challenges and opportunities for promotion as they are the ones to provide the respective person with motivation. Professional advancement makes people feel more involved in their job and see their career as an integral part of their overall development. A career is a lifelong series of milestones one has to reach. If not planned like this, it will fill you with a lot of negative feelings. After all, a job is not just a job. It is a big part of our lives and it impacts all the other aspects of our daily routine.

Bio: Charlie has tremendous experience in the field of writing. In the past, he has written good articles on career, education and jobs. Through this article, he is focusing on availability of best career path for the youngsters.