Planning for a Career

Planning Your Career

In many ways, making career plans is similar to planning a vacation. When you take a trip your first step is to choose a destination. Do you want to go skiing in the French Alps or see Mickey Mouse in Disneyworld? Perhaps a trip to New York City or a safari in Africa? Even if you know that a ski trip would be your perfect vacation, how do you decide on the best ski resort? Unless you do some "homework," your vacation may end up being less than you had hoped for.

Unlike a vacation, however, if you don't do your homework when planning your career, the result may be a little more devastating than just a couple of wasted weeks and a slightly lighter wallet. You might end up spending thousands of dollars and four years in university, only to find you don't like the career you chose on a whim. That's an expensive whim! Recall your results from the true colour exercise you completed in the previous lesson. Most people have certain amounts of each of the colours, similarly, most jobs use some of the attributes associated with each of the colours.

Consider your Attributes

The trick for you is to consider what personality attributes are your strongest and which attributes you wish to use. Once you have developed an understanding of your strengths and preferences, then you can being searching for jobs or careers that have a similar profile.

For example, people who are in the Blue area tend to fit well into professions which involve creativity and imagination. These occupations include various types of jobs (e.g., poet, actor, and musician). It is important to know what kind of personality types are strongest for you and how it may assist you in choosing a job that fits your strengths and avoid jobs that fit your weaknesses.

Another area to consider is what jobs might be in high demand in the future. Read this article for some ideas of what to do to prepare.