What is the Perfect Career for Me?

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. While this may sound like a cliché, choosing the career that is best suited for you is probably one of the most critical decisions you will ever make in your life. It will not only determine your future financial success but will also affect your life satisfaction and happiness in the years to come.

For most people, choosing a career path can be an overwhelming and anxiety-riddled task. With tons of occupations to choose from, it becomes a challenge to pick one that will make you happy and suit you perfectly at the same time. In this article, we will give you a comprehensive guide on how to find the best job for you.

Landing the Best Job for Your Personality

When figuring out the job that is the best fit for you, you must first learn as much as you can about yourself. By doing an assessment of your work personality, you will better understand which jobs to pursue to enjoy your career and be successful.

After exploring and understanding your work personality, if you are still unsure which career options might be right for you, you can seek the help of a career development expert or a career counselor who can provide coaching based on what you’ve learned about yourself.

For those who can’t afford to hire career development professionals, some public libraries or local agencies provide career planning and counseling. Most universities also have a career services office that is open to those who are enrolled, the alumni of the university, or sometimes even other members of the community. These can be valuable resources to utilize as you carefully plan your next step.

Identifying Your Work Style

The question: “What job should you have?” can be more specifically answered by identifying your work personality style. This is different from an assessment of your personality in general, as it focuses specifically on who you are at work and how you work best. This assessment can be particularly helpful in identifying the right job that is in line with your strengths, determining areas of development, and ultimately in helping you focus on a career that will suit you best.

 Once you fully understand your own work style, you will be able to identify the type of work environment in which you will thrive, pinpoint your career needs, and discover options that would work for you.

Take a Career Test

Taking a career test is probably the easiest way to figure out the perfect job for you. There are a lot of career assessments that are readily available online and are intended to guide you in choosing a career path. It is important you understand which type of career test you are taking.

There are interest tests (which help you identify careers you may be interested in but do not necessarily assess if they are a good fit for you), aptitude tests (which assess which skills you currently have and how you could apply to them but do not assess if these applications would be a good fit for either, nor do they suggest alternate career paths), personality tests (which assess your personality in general and suggest careers that may fit your personality), and work personality career test assessments (which focus on your personality in the workplace and suggest careers that would be a good fit for your work personality).

The best thing about taking a career test or quiz over the Internet is that it is much more accessible and convenient (compared to taking a traditional pen-and-paper career test that can only be taken under the direction or administration of a career counselor or advisor).

These online assessments may be available at a low cost or even free of charge. When you take a free test, you will be provided with the results in the form of a report together with an analysis that will point you toward the most suitable jobs for you. Online career assessments, coupled with professional guidance from a career development expert or counselor, if necessary, will help you build a solid career roadmap.

The Best Time to Take a Career Test

There is no single answer to the question of when it’s time to take a career assessment. You may take it when you are deciding on what courses to take in college, thinking about your next move after you graduate, or even when you are considering making a career change. However, it is best to take a career test as soon as you can to eliminate any confusion you may be having about your career path.

Making a List of Possible Occupations

Your career assessment will most likely include several possible occupations that are suitable for you, depending on several factors such as your personality, work style, aptitude, or interests.

The good thing about career tests is that they not only help the test taker confirm career paths they may already be considering, but they may also offer suggestions of careers and jobs that may not have been considered but might be excellent choices. Hence, career assessments encourage greater flexibility of thought and help people have the courage to change jobs or move from one field to another suitable one with confidence. Doing a Job Search, as mentioned earlier, the results of your career test will provide you with a list of occupations that may be suitable for you. However, your journey in choosing to find the perfect career doesn’t quite end there.

Some of these jobs may be a better fit for you compared to others on your list, so you should do a job search (or some job research) to get an idea of what each of these occupations entails. By doing some quick job research, you will get an idea of the demand for the job, the average salary, as well as the responsibilities and required education or training required for the job. With that knowledge, you will be better able to decide which career to pursue.

There is no better way to make an informed decision than going the extra mile researching the occupations recommended to you during your career assessment and exploring the possible career paths to take. Even if you think you already know about a particular job, you should still research it and put aside your preconceived notions that may be inaccurate. Unless you have prior experience related to a particular job or someone you know has the same position, you should explore career research until you feel you have a very good sense of what the job requires and what it would be like on a day-to-day basis. 

The next step is to find out what you need to do in order to be qualified for these jobs.

• Is your education enough?
• Do you need to pursue another degree, undergo more training, or take additional courses to increase your chances of being considered for the position?
• Do you have the time and resources to commit to additional training or education required?

As part of exploring your career options, you should also look at a particular job’s demand. Before you decide to invest money and time to be qualified for a position, it is practical to find out if there are enough opportunities available. Knowing from the start that there are only limited opportunities for a particular job may redirect your career path, or conversely, if the demand is high, it may encourage you to pursue the career.

Pushing Yourself Towards Your Chosen Career

After you’ve discovered what you are truly passionate about, you must be ready to fully commit yourself to it and not settle for less. Start by taking the best career test to know which career direction point, take courses to gain more knowledge in the field, get certifications, network with other people with the same interests, find someone in that career that will let you job shadow them for a day, build the perfect resume, and start heading toward your dream job.  No matter how difficult it may be at first, you must be willing to move toward your desired path relentlessly, as this will be worth it in the end. Living a life that you would be proud of includes having a job that you love and at the same time, allows you to earn a decent living. Once you manage to balance passion and practicality, you will surely be able to achieve the highest level of life satisfaction, happiness, and success.

Final Thoughts

While your job is not the only thing that matters in life, it is no secret that you will spend a huge part of your daily life working. Given this, it is incredibly important to find a job that fits you, fulfills you, and meets your financial needs.

When choosing the perfect career, there are a lot of factors that you should consider, such as your interests, values, personality traits, competencies, skills, salary desires, the job’s duties and responsibilities, and job demands. By taking a career test, you will not only be able to make an informed decision about which career path to choose, but you will also be able to learn a little bit more about yourself.