What Job Should I Have How to Choose a Career in 8 Steps

What Job Should I Have How to Choose a Career in 8 Steps What job should I have?Youre lost.Youre in a maze, and not the fun kind from that movie Labyrinth.What career would make you happy? Which ones pay the most?What jobs are like a big jaw-trap to run away from, screaming?You need a job thats fun and challenging, with sky-high pay.Everything will be okay.Knowing how to choose a career is actually straightforward.But first you need to escape the swamp of options.This guide will show you:How to choose a career youll love.Why career quizzes and career aptitude tests will always steer you wrong.The best answer to, what job should I have you wont regret 3 years from now.Why what career is right for me might have an easier answer than you think.Theres no prefab career finder thatll pick your perfect career. The quick process in this guide will help you answer what should my career be on your own.1How to Choose a Career? Start with Your PassionsBoy, do I envy you.Youre learning how to choose a career. Youve got a clean slate.If I knew then what I know now, Id be a millionaire.Lucky you. Im about to light a klieg light on your path to riches.Ready?Start with PassionDoes that sound cliche?It is. But only because most people misuse it.So, dont listen to it.Waitwhat?The first step in answering what career is right for me is passion. But its just a step.Your passion might be knitting on a desert island. Maybe you can do that, write a book, and make a million bucks.But probably not.Sostart with passion, but dont stop there.Why Passion Makes a Great Career FinderEvery job has roadblocks. Passion slices through them like a lightsaber through ice cream.You can learn most things on the job, says Steve Dalton, author of The 2-Hour Job Search. The challenge is getting employers to want to do that with YOU.That means showing interest in the subject matterand that comes from passion.In the end, the heart wants what it wants, Dalton says. As a chemical engineer by training, it absolutely kills me to say that, but truth is truth.Do you k now your passions?Sit down and daydream. Grab a coffee or a Buddha bowl. Make it fun.List everything you love and all the things youd love to do.Then move on. In the next section well blow the doors off how to choose a career.Pro Tip: Do you already have a good job you dont like? Dont rush into massive changes. See if you can transform it into something better.Moving from a career you like to one you love? Turn your experience into a mile-long lever. See our guide: Career Change Resume: Sample and Complete Guide2Define Wealth to Duck the Biggest Blunder of Your LifeI wish I had a million dollars.You dont have to wish.As long as people need things, the world is a river of money.You just have to know where to dip your bucket in.When you ask, Which job should I have, or, what career should I pursue, wealth is a huge part of the answer.Do you want $200,000 a year? Is $100,000 enough?Or is wealth something else entirely?Some people make millions and theyre miserable.Sohow to choose a car eer that makes you happy?Wealth Might Be:$100,000 a yearWorking 20 hours a weekLiving in a fantastic locationCity livingLots of family timeWork you loveTravelCountry livingWorking with amazing peopleCould it be all of the above? Or something else?When choosing a career, be very clear at the beginning what you mean by wealth.Want more help defining wealth? Joel Litman and Mark Frigo wrote the book on it: Driven: Business Strategy, Human Actions, And The Creation Of WealthPro Tip: Will a career aptitude test answer what career should I have? No. A career quiz or job quiz will ignore your passions. Tests arent how to choose a career.Disney fired James Gunn for 10-year-old tweets. Its never too early to start cleaning up your online face. See our guide: How to Check Your Online Presence Before Recruiters Look You Up3Build a List of Jobs You Can LoveSo far, so good.Youve listed your passions.You know what wealth means to you.Youre well on your way to knowing how to choose a career.Next, you need a list of job titles.There are thousands.Did you ever think youd be a:Chick SexerAccent-Reduction SpecialistDirector of Sound DesignOrthoptistChief Storyteller?Those are all real jobs.Start with the biggest list that fits your goals.Start With a Master List of Job TitlesGoogle search list of jobs for + [YOUR PASSION].ExampleLets say writing is your passion.Do a Google search for list of jobs for writers.Youll find some big lists of all the careers you never heard of that relate to writing.Journalist, speech writer, technical writer, executive assistant, acquisitions editor...Scroll through five lists like that. Build your own mini-list of 10 jobs you think youd love.Then, move on to your next passion, and repeat.Do the same thing with each skill youre good at.Last, add some dream jobs.Youll soon have a big list of 2030 jobs that might just work.Put them in the first column of a spreadsheet. You can call it, How to Choose a Career, What Career is Right for Me, What Job Shoul d I Have, or just Career Finder.In column #2, rate each jobs passion on a scale of 110.Do the same with wealth in column #3.Pro Tip: It helps to look at the most popular careers. If youre wondering what job is best for me, see our list of resume guides for the most common professions.Need a big list of career choices? Weve got one here: 50 Job Titles that Work on a Resume Job Hunt [Current Desired!]4Look at Salaries to Dodge the Pauper ZoneWhen asking what job is right for me, dont say money doesnt matter.To quote Scholarships.com CEO Kevin Ladd, You cant buy happiness, but chicken breasts are $3.18 a pound.Find crossroads where your passion meets with piles of money.To do that, use:The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook. It lists salary data for hundreds of careers. Itll help you cross off low-paying jobs. (The data comes from U.S. Census surveys.)Glassdoor.com. Use the salary search feature to find how much each job title pays. (The data comes from mil lions of real employees around the world.)Both sites make great career finders.In column #4 of your spreadsheet, add the median salary for each of your 2030 job titles.Pro Tip: Use salary as a baseline in your how to choose a career search. But question it. Glassdoor says bloggers make $30,000, but trust me, some make a lot more.Wondering what major is right for me as well as what career should I have? See our guide: How to Choose a Major: A Complete Guide5Skip Dead Ends by Knowing Job OutlookCongratulations!You just spent 10 years becoming a master buggy-whip designer.Now youll make a million dollars. Right?Well, no.Two huge things to think about when asking, What career is right for me?How much training does the job need?How many jobs are there, and are they growing?Knowing how to choose a career means understanding job outlook.Respect Training or Itll Bite YouArchitects make $78,470 a year, on average. ButThey need 57 years of school, plus 5,600 hours of work experience.Most earn a lot less than the average.Is it worth it?For each job on your list, check how hard it is to get there.The best way? Google How to become a + [JOB TITLE].Are You Fighting to Get Into a Burning Building? You Might BeWhich would you rather be?An AI developer orA rotary phone maker?Hmmm...The Occupational Outlook Handbook says there are 1.25 million software developer jobs. Theyll grow at 24% in the next 10 years. (Much faster than average.)Gee, they also pay a median of $103,560 a year.Not bad.Now lets look up rotary phone makers...Hmm. No results.For each job on your list, write the years of training in column #5.Add the job outlook and growth in columns #6#7 in your How to Choose a Career spreadsheet.Pro Tip: If you dont find a job title in the Occupational Outlook Handbook, Google it. Chances are, someone else has done the research on salary and job growth.What job should I have? Your LinkedIn network makes a great career finder. Ill explain in a minute. For now, see our guide: H ow To Optimize Your LinkedIn Summary Profile To Get Jobs6The Fun Part: Make a Short List of Your Favorite 10 CareersHere comes the pot of gold.So far, youve:Listed your passionsDefined your wealth goalsWritten your favorite job titlesAdded salary data from Glassdoor and BLSIncluded job outlookNow its time to narrow down your list.Peek at your How to Choose a Career spreadsheet. Youve got 2030 jobs.Pick the 10 with the best passion, wealth, salary, and job outlook.Figure out where high pay, high demand, goals, and passion meet.But youre not done yet.What if you could ask your future self, Are you happy in this job?Well, you can.Ill show how next.Pro Tip: When you make your what should my career be spreadsheet, add columns for other criteria you rate highly. Youll get a better answer.As you zero in on what career is best for me, start networking. Does that sound boring? Read this amazing story: How to Network Your Way Into a $100,000 Job [Real-Life Story]7How to See the Future for a Job Youll Really LoveHeres the really fun part.For the next step in how to choose a careerPeek at your future with:RedditInformational InterviewsUse Reddit to See Who Loves Your ListFor each job on your short list of 10Google search:Whats it like to be a + [JOB TITLE] + redditDo you like being a + [JOB TITLE] + redditExampleLets say financial analyst is one of your dream jobs.Sosearch, Do you like being a financial analyst reddit.Youll get results like, Is anyone a financial analyst? and, What exactly do financial analysts do?You also get titles like, I want to be a financial analyst. Where do I start?Boom. Youve just opened a direct connection to dozens of people already in your dream job. (Your very own career survey!)Holy cow, right?You can do the same trick with Quora.A word of warning: a lot of Redditors are disgruntled. If 10% of DevOps engineers hate their jobs, theyre all on Reddit.Sodont stop there.Use the magic of tiny informational interviews.Use Tiny Informational Interv iews to Grab the TreasureReady?Heres the last step in how to choose a career:Use your Reddit magic to narrow your list down to the top five jobs.Then, do informational interviews.Sound tough? Its not.Go to LinkedIn. In the search box, type your dream job.In the drop-down menu, click the people option.See where it says, DevOps in People in the image below?When you click it, youll get a million DevOps engineers (or any career you pick).Ask 23 what they think of their career. Send a short note like:Hi Santosh,Im interested in a career in DevOps.Could I ask a few questions about what you do?Best regards,Shmuel DelarosaHeres a career finder tip worth moneyYou might need to ping 10+ people to get 23 who say yes.When they do, ask:Do you love your job?Hows the money?Was it hard to get there?Would you do anything differently?Youll get an almost supernatural glimpse into your future.Youll also build great networking connections to start your new career.Pro Tip: If your LinkedIn interviews get really interesting, ask to switch to phone calls. Youll learn a lot more and built a deeper connection.Want to really nail your informational interviews? Weve got a guide for that: 15 Best Informational Interview Questions8BonusThe Problem With Career Tests and Career QuizzesDanger!Everybody loves career quizzes and career path tests.Half a million people a month search some variation of:Career aptitude testCareer quizJob quizCareer testsHow to choose a career testSowhy are they so popular?It sounds like a great idea! Answer a few questions and out pops your dream job.The problems?Job quizzes are incompletethey give a very narrow range of choices.Career finder tests ignore your life goals.Many have incomplete salary and job growth data.Career quizzes are based on skills and personality types, not passions. They cant help but overlook careers youd love.Yuck!Do you really want to trust your future to something with that many flaws?Remember:Only professionally developed career assessm ents can provide an objective view of your interests, abilities, or personality to help you decide on a career. They enable self-reflection and can give you a sense of direction when you are considering a career or career transition.In the hands of a trained counselor or coach, professional career tests can help you narrow your career options as you undergo career exploration. They are one piece of the puzzle as you make decisions about your careers and jobs.Dr. Janet WallCareer FacilitatorWant proof?I took one online test, and it told me I should be a mathematician, programmer, astronomer, or photonics engineer.It completely ignored my biggest passionwriting!Why not ask a psychic or a bartender, Hey, what career is best for me?Certainly, use career tests to see if fun ideas pop up.But please!Dont trust your future to an online job quiz. Go for professionally developed assessment tests instead.Pro Tip: Thinking about easy careers? Think again. According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a uthor of the bestseller Flow, the best moments of our lives are when were challenged.Once youve answered what career is right for me, youll need to find real jobs. See our guide: Job Sites: 15 Best Job Search Engines and How to Use Them PerfectlyKey TakeawayThis guide gives a quick, useful system to answer what job should I have?Heres a recap of how to choose a career:Start with passion. Answering what career is right for me is easier if you ask your heart first. Passion smashes through a million bolted doors.Define wealth. Do you want a six-figure job, or something else? Freedom? Flexible hours? Family time? Dont assume your happiness has a dollar figure.Build your list of job titles. Search list of jobs for + your passions and skills.Check salaries and job outlook. Use Glassdoor and the BLS.gov Occupational Outlook Handbook to see how much youll earn, and how hard it is to get a job.Dont rely on career aptitude tests. The best career test is one not taken. Don't believe in magicyo u won't learn what career is right for you just by filling in a questionnaire.Ask the people with that job. Go on Reddit and Quora to see if people love each job youre interested in. Last, do tiny informational interviews. They'll give you more hints as to what job you should really have than any test online.Do you have questions on what career is right for me? Still not sure how to choose a career that fits your skills and passions? Give us a shout in the comments! Wed be happy to reply.