Personality, interests and values guide career choice

Dear Workplace Expert

I will soon graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. Most of my colleagues seem to have decided what they want to do. How can I make the right career choice?

Making the choice can be a difficult process. But with some cajoling, you too can pick a career that excites you.

By focusing on what you like rather than on job specifications, your career choice will become much clearer.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that there is only one perfect career. They imagine that this career fits their every need and desire.

But the trend is for people to have multiple careers over time and each career can be different from the previous one.

While searching for work, bear in mind that all jobs have specific tasks and each person has a preference for what they like. By understanding the characteristics, you can choose the job you want.

Sample elements such as control, management, time, location, responsibility, flexibility, company, skills, development, belonging, creativity, and find out what you are good at.

Are you good at management? Are you comfortable working in urban or rural areas? Do you want to use your skills or do you want to develop skills in a new area? Do you want to be a specialist in a given field and be respected for that? Or do you want to be a generalist?

Once you have answered these questions and ranked the elements in order of priority, some careers will be ruled out.

Remember your personality, interests and values are the core factors in making a career choice.

This will also place you in a position, where you are only prepared to consider roles that meet your top five most important elements. Remember, you already possess academic papers and a clear view of what profession fits you should come automatically.

. By focusing on what’s really important to you, it will help you with making the right career choice.

jobs@eastandard.net