I wish that it was as effortless as, “Here are the 5 steps you need to take to find the right career choice for you.”
It isn’t.
It will require effort from you, but it is entirely achievable and well worth it when you are willing to explore your next steps, next level, or next chapter.
But it is easy, so to speak because the answer to this question already resides within you. You have far more power and influence over making the right career choice than you think you do; you just have to be willing to explore.
If there is one thing that you need to do to make the right career choice for you, it’s to find Clarity. Your kind of Clarity.
Get Curious.
“Head of remote work” is an emerging profession. New jobs and careers are created every year to address rapid technological change and social shifts. Take the example of the new title, “head of remote work,” which was invented during the coronavirus pandemic to address the new normal of a dispersed workforce. Other professionals, such as a growth hacker, digital marketer, and virtual assistant, are all products of Internet technologies, and none of them exist before the 2000s. To become curious means allowing yourself to explore different options, which can give you more answers to questions than getting hung up on looking for a purpose or ‘passion.’
Examine Your Past Work Experience.
This also includes being curious about previous roles. Maybe you were happy with an earlier role but wanted to work in a different department or industry. What is it you liked about that role? What didn’t you like? Take an inventory. Perhaps your skills were well suited to a previous position but felt unfulfilled by the company culture. Get clear on what it was about the culture that didn’t fit well with you.
Map Out the Career Experience You Really Want.
Write it out! Let it out! I find with my clients that they are far more focused on what they don’t want than what they do. Clients come to me because they feel a bit (or a lot) stuck and frustrated with their inability to see what is next. So I want to share a process to explore the career experience you are looking to achieve. It’s called Mind Mapping. A Mind Map is a diagram where different words or concepts are linked to and arranged around a central idea.
Imagine the drawing of the sun from when you were a little kid. The lines or rays of the sun extended out in every direction. In this case, the sun is your career, and the rays of the sun are all the things you want to brainstorm to get Clarity on the right career choice or move for you.
For instance, your core career values can help you find a field or a niche that you’re passionate about, and you can use your core values to find a company that shares those values. Put Career values as the sun. Now, spike out in every direction and list everything that you can think of that is essential to you in the context of your experience of career. If you get stuck, Google career values and see what resonates with you strongly. Be discerning.
Some other areas to Mind Map? Salary, the office environment you want, how your career interacts with family, and other important areas of life.
Consider Testing or Assessments.
I think testing and assessments are necessary tools for discovering information about yourself to make the right career choice for you. They are additional pieces of the puzzle that can give you information that you can’t find yourself. For instance, I use the Predictive Index Assessment with all of my clients because it helps them identify their personal motivations and needs in the workplace. It gives them feedback on how they are hardwired for work (PI is only focused on work) and, therefore, gives them additional information to make better decisions.
Take Action.
Sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees. We need to take steps in a direction, even if we aren’t sure it’s the right one. But here’s the caveat. Treat it like an experiment. You will take some steps in a chosen direction to see what is further down the road. You are looking for feedback as a result of taking those steps. Is this direction meeting your career values? Are you moving toward the vision of your deal career, or are you finding something better? Is something not an ideal fit? How can you make some adjustments? Every step you take yields new options, but you have to take action to unlock them.
If you’d like to explore some questions that will illuminate your way forward in your career, get your free copy of the 5 Day Career Clarity Workbook. Grab a journal, uncover your answers, and start getting the Clarity you deserve!