It’s incredibly common for a lot of people to feel as though they’re trapped in a dead-end job that they don’t care about, that doesn’t inspire them, and that leaves them feeling drained and miserable at the end of each day. This kind of feeling can often have a pretty serious impact on your day to day life, even outside of work. It can impact your desire to get involved in your hobbies, your social life, even your relationship with your partner can suffer because of it. The truth is that most of us are putting up with jobs that we don’t like because we’re not sure what other options we have. However, the truth is that if you really want to find a career that makes you happy, you’ve got to be willing to get out there and find it. Of course, that’s definitely a lot easier said than done. The truth is that finding your perfect career is incredibly difficult. Of course, difficult doesn’t mean impossible. The most important thing that you can do in order to find your perfect career is to ask yourself these five crucial questions. Until you’re able to answer these questions, then the search for your perfect career is always going to be a struggle.
1. What drives you?
The question of “who am I?” is one that often haunts a lot of people. This is because despite seeming very simple, it’s actually an incredibly complicated question. In terms of your career, the most important thing to ask about yourself is what is it that drives you. What gets you up in the morning? What is the one thing that you can see yourself doing every day no matter what? The answer to that question isn’t always what you think, and it’s incredibly important that you take a lot of time to think about it as carefully as possible. Think about the things that you love, the things that you’re truly passionate about. If you don’t care about what you’re doing on a day to day basis, then it’s only a matter of time before you starting to become bored and frustrated with it.
- What do you have to offer?
Of course, the other side of the coin of “what can I get out of this career?” is “what can I offer any potential employers?” After all, it’s never just a one-way street. If you want to be able to work a certain career, then you need to be able to show a certain level of skill and expertise. If you want to work as a lawyer, then you’ve got to have a strong attention to detail as well as the ability to understand a variety of incredibly complex concepts. Alternatively, if you look at a site like jobsatbelk.com, then you can see that a retail career requires a very different set of skills. Things like the ability to create strong interpersonal connections and an awareness of visual communication are much more important in that kind of sector. Of course, if you have a job that you want to do, but you don’t have the skills that you need then there are always options open to you in terms of training, from university to night classes.
- What are you willing to compromise?
Like it or not, just about every career option out there is going to involve some kind of compromise. The most important thing for you is to figure out what it is that you’re actually willing to compromise for the sake of your career. Are you willing to put up with a lower salary for the sake of working a job that you really care about or are you willing to work extra hours and sacrifice a hefty chunk of your private life for the sake of a higher pay grade? Unless you’re incredibly lucky, you’re pretty unlikely to find a job that ticks all of your boxes at once, so being aware of what it is that you’re willing to compromise on is one of the most important parts of finding the right career for you.
- Are you prepared to be patient?
One of the most common reasons that a lot of people end up feeling as though it’s impossible for them to find their perfect career is that their career is often at the very end of a very long path. Having to start at the beginning of a long road can be incredibly discouraging, but if you really want to find a career that you can be happy in for the rest of your life, then you’ve got to be willing to take that first step. Thinking long-term isn’t always each, but it’s one of the best ways to keep your motivation up during the long periods of time that you’ll spend working towards what you really want out of life.
- Are you willing to put in the work?
There’s a pretty persistent idea that if you find a job that you love, then you’ll never have to work a day in your life. Well, the truth is that that’s complete and utter nonsense. There’s a good reason why they call it “work.” No matter what, your job is always going to come with challenges and difficulties that you’re going to need to overcome. In fact, the journey towards your ideal career may well involve a great deal more hard work than if you decided to settle in a job that you didn’t really care about. It’s up to you to decide whether or not that tradeoff is worth it in the end.
Of course, just because you’ve been able to answer these questions doesn’t mean that you’re automatically in a position to finally get out there and find your perfect career. The reality is that it’s often a long and difficult road with a lot of roadblocks in the way. However, having the answers to these questions at your back can make all the difference in the world when it comes to trying to keep yourself motivated along the way.
