How to Find the Right Career When You’re Undecided

Choosing the right career isn’t easy, especially when you’re just starting out or making a career switch.

Many people start their career, thinking it’s the best profession for them to follow. But after some time, they start feeling confused and disillusioned. This can demotivate them, lower their confidence, and hamper their overall personality and mental state.

That’s why it’s important for you to choose the right career even if it means a career switch. But sometimes, when you try to choose between careers, you might find yourself in the midst of confusion and uncertainty. Yet, you have to make a choice.

So how do you make the right decision when you’re undecided? Here are a few tips to help you choose the right career that offers job satisfaction and peace of mind.

1. Assess Yourself

The first step to choosing the right career when undecided is self-assessment. This helps you get clarity on your interests, skills, personality type, and values. In doing so, consider your life experiences too.

Many people think that their resume should consist of the details of their formal education, job experiences, skills, and achievements that they have attained so far. But you fail to realize that apart from that, you also have other life experiences. These experiences might appear to be insignificant, but they have taught you many skills that you have forgotten about.

For example, if you have lived in a different city, you probably must have learned a different language or something about its culture. Don’t ignore these experiences. The same is true for your hobbies too.

Take some time and think of any such noteworthy experience in your life. This process will give you better insight into yourself, and you’ll discover a new you that you were totally unaware of. It’s a very good way of knowing what you’re capable of doing.

2. List it Down

Now that you know your skills start making a list of the career options you have. This list can be a long one. But that’s okay. Once you have the final list, pick the most relevant options, and make another list.

In doing so, make sure you include only those career options that you’re truly interested in. Of course, you have to look at the financial benefits too. Consider both the aspects while making your list.

Now do your research and find detailed information about each of these career options.

You can easily find out details like job descriptions, average salary, skills, and qualifications required, etc., with a quick Google search. This can be tedious and time-consuming but don’t give up unless you have all the information in hand.

Your next task is to narrow down this list to 3-4 career options that you want to explore.

Now write down your expectations in terms of the job outlook, salary, position, etc. This will help you identify what you really want to achieve in your career and what jobs to look for.

So your final list will contain 3-4 career options, and next to each of these options, you’ll write down your salary expectations, job outlook, and job position that you are willing to take up.

3. Make a Choice

Now that you have all the details in hand, it’s time for you to make a choice. Don’t be too quick in choosing your career. Consider different factors and see if the option you pick will offer job satisfaction.

Don’t forget that switching careers too often isn’t possible. And you might have to stick to this career for a long time. You also need to consider your priorities in life.

For example, if you like spending time with your family, you may not want a job that involves a lot of traveling. So take some time and see how your career can affect your priorities.

It really matters if you’ll truly like your career. If you aren’t sure, you need to move on to the next option on your list. Go through all your options and pick the one that best meets your expectations.

Not everyone is fortunate enough to pursue their dream career. But that doesn’t mean you’ll give up. All you need to do is stay positive and keep looking.

Until then, try to make your current job more enjoyable. Try finding out the reasons why you dislike your current job. Once you identify the reason, you can make efforts to fix it.

For example, you may not have the skills for your current position, which is making your job more difficult for you. In that case, you might want to take a course and improve your skills. Or you may want to shift to another department in the office that lets you work with things you like. That way, even if you’re stuck with a job you dislike, you won’t feel demoralized.

Finding the perfect career can sometimes be difficult. But with the right plan of action and correct approach, you can easily find a job that you love.