Discover what you are good at and what job you will enjoy.
Your ideal job is one that pays you to do the things you enjoy doing. Remember, you'll always be good at things you enjoy! The first step to discovering your career is to identify your interests, strengths, and values. Be aware of things you are not so good at or don't enjoy doing as well.
The best way to get started is to think about what you enjoy doing and what you good at.
Step 1: Identify the things you enjoy doing:
- What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
- What were your favourite subjects at school?
- What are you passionate about?
- What do you value?
- What topics do you talk about most of the time?
- What interests you?
- What motivates you?
- What would you enjoy doing every day?
- Do you like sports or being active?
- Do you prefer being indoors or outdoors?
- Do you like reading?
- Do you enjoy writing?
- Do you enjoy working with people (children or adults), animals, technology or food?
- Do you prefer working on a computer or directly with people?
Now think about what you don’t enjoy doing. For example, working in groups, talking in front of people, or writing long essays. Knowing what you don’t like can help you stay away from a job that will make you unhappy. It can also help you discover what you would rather do.
Step 2: Discover what you are good at doing:
What are your strengths?
- What are you good at doing?
- What skills do you have?
- In what subject/s did you achieve the highest marks?
- What do you find easy to do?
- What do other people think you are good at? If you don’t know, ask them!
- Are you creative?
- Do you write well?
- Are you good at organising things?
- Are you good at math?
- Are you good at creating or designing things?
- Are you good with managing people in teams?
What are your weaknesses?
- What do you struggle with?
- In what subject/s did you achieve the lowest marks?
- What activities or things do you stay away from or do not enjoy?
- Do you struggle with numbers??
- Do you dislike speaking in front of people?
- Does working with kids scare you?
Discovering your weaknesses is just as important as discovering your strengths.
Once you know your likes, dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, you can start to explore what jobs are out there that might match you. You might discover new things about yourself through this process. Remember, sometimes it takes time and experience to know all these things about yourself. If you feel unsure, the best way to find out is to involve yourself in as many things as possible in your community, at church, at school and home.
Step 3: The next step is to find out what jobs are out there and what the job involves. The idea is to match your strengths and the things you like, with a job that pays you to do those things. Search for jobs descriptions online to find out more about those jobs. Search for terms such as “jobs for people who enjoy writing” for example. Click here to find some job descriptions.
- Use your human resources and talk to people. Ask a friend, parent, teacher, neighbour or anyone with a job for advice. The more you talk about it, the clearer the answer will become. But remember, it's completely fine and natural not to be 100% sure!
- Try searching for a free online “career quiz” or “strengths finder quiz” on Google that could help you discover more about your career and yourself.
- Read more about how job shadowing and volunteering can help you make a decision, while you gain valuable work experience.
Remember, to get your ideal job and be happy, you need to be able to identify what you are good at, and what you enjoy doing. And then find someone who will pay you to do those things!