“I Need Help Deciding What Career to Choose”
So many people believe that deciding what career to choose is a daunting task, but it’s not as complicated or confusing as you might think. In fact, according to Rosemary Davies-Janes, a personal branding expert and professional coach,
Finding out what career to choose is a question of determining your personal value proposition. If you need help deciding what career to choose, follow these simple steps to determine where your talents lie and how you can be doing what you enjoy while doing what you’re best suited for.
Step 1:
If you think “I need help deciding what career to choose” you should begin by listening to the feedback from others.
Here are the specific things to listen to:
* Pay attention to compliments and positive feedback.
* Hear specifically why others value you and note which of your skills, talents or personal qualities they find exceptional.
* Go through old performance reviews, letters of recommendation and other such documents, even thank-you notes that you have saved, and identify all of the points that others have found praise worthy.
WRITE DOWN WHY OTHERS VALUE YOU.
Step 2:
Identify 10 - 15 people whose opinions you respect and ask them:
“What is the single greatest value that I provide?”
CAPTURE THEIR RESPONSES.
Step 3:
Sort through all of the feedback you’ve received, identify common themes and write them down succinctly and clearly.
WRITE YOUR COMMON THEMES.
Step 4:
Ask the same, or another group of 10 - 15 people, whose opinions you respect to:
- review your common themes
- comment on their accuracy and…
- rank them in priority order
Instead of claiming “I need help deciding what career to choose” and feeling befuddled, you can actually begin to answer the question for yourself. When you review all your collected responses, your special skills will emerge. Be sure to WRITE YOUR FINAL VALUE PROPOSITION. Those who say “I need help deciding what career to choose” have never gone through this process and remain unclear about how people see them and what special talents they possess. With a final
Value proposition in front of you, you can see what will be the best professional fit.