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Choosing a career is no easy feat and no one is expecting you to know exactly what you want to do for the rest of your life. However, coming up with a career plan can help you form a career path that meets your current interests, goals and experience.
Career plans are strategies that you’ll continually amend throughout your working life formed around learning and career progression. They also help you pinpoint the actions you need to complete to achieve your career goals.
When you undertake a career plan, it helps you identify where you’re at, what you need to learn and when you’re ready to take on new roles and responsibilities.
Whether you’re a working professional, student or graduate, career planning can help you determine which career is right for you. Here are a few things you can do to answer the question, ‘What job should I do?’.
Thinking about what you enjoy doing and what your values are can help you figure out what job role or industry you may enjoy working in most. It’s understandable that you want to feel excited about what you’re working on, so if you can find a career that matches your interests and values, this could be a great start. To help you find what you would like to do you could ask yourself interest-based, value-based, and trait-based questions.
● What do I enjoy learning about?
● How do I like to spend my time?
● Do I prefer working inside or outside?
● What do I consider most important in my life?
● What are my priorities?
● How would I like to make a change?
● What do I consider as success?
● What do I want to do more of?
● What strengths do I enjoy most?
When reflecting on your interests, you’ll also want to take stock of your skills. Consider your educational background and any skills you may have acquired from the working world. This doesn’t mean you have to stick to a certain career or sector as a lot of skills are transferable, meaning they are applicable and useful in many roles.
When figuring out what you want your career to be, thinking about what motivates you can help you work out what type of role would best suit you. But remember, your job may not provide you with all the benefits you’re looking for, so it’s good to be flexible and know which are the most important or are your non-negotiables. For example, ou may be interested in things like:
● A higher salary
● Employee and personal benefits
● Work-life balance
● Flexibility
● Career growth.
Some jobs you look at may provide only two or three out of five of these things, so you need to decide which ones you’re willing to compromise on.
Making a list of both your personal and professional long-term goals can give you an idea of what job requirements you’re looking for to help you achieve your targets. Some long-term goals could include:
● Buying a house
● Travelling
● Buying a car
● Reaching a senior position in your job
You can use this list to refine your job search a bit more. For example, if you want to travel you could look for something that allows you to do so as a part of your role. Or if you want to climb the ladder and reach a senior position, look for roles that prioritise progression and investing in your development.
There are a multitude of self-assessment tools out there evaluating things like your personality and strengths or what career could be a good fit for you. Simply search ‘what career is right for me?’ and use these tests as guidance for what you could do, not as a definitive answer of what your career should be.
Start researching the job market and identify sectors you may like to work in. Identify key trends within these sectors by looking into the national, global, and local job markets. This means paying attention to patterns such as growing industries, in-demand skills, emerging technologies, and shifts in how and where people work (like remote or hybrid roles). For example, sectors like green energy, digital health, and AI are expanding rapidly, while others may be declining or transforming due to automation or economic shifts.
Understanding these trends can help you spot opportunities that align with your interests and strengths, and prepare for roles that are likely to be in demand in the future.
As a part of your research, you’ll want to consider the size of the company you may want to work in. For example, are your skills better suited to small or medium sized companies?
Now that you have conducted your research, you should be able to identify a career or careers you would like to pursue. If you have identified multiple careers, put them in order of which ones you would like to pursue the most. This can help you identify your most desired careers and any roles you can fall back on if you cannot or no longer want to pursue your first option. To help yourself make this decision, ask the following questions:
Will I enjoy doing this job?
Do I have enough of the right skills?
Does the company or sector align with my values?
Are there any limitations I need to take into account? This could be financial, skill or location-based limitations.
Does this role align with my salary expectations?
You can also list the pros and cons of the industries and job roles you have identified to see if they’re the right role for you.
Your career plan may work for you now, but you can amend it to suit how your life, aspirations and choices change over time. For guidance on how to change careers, read our blog.
While there’s lots of research you can do on your own to help you figure out your dream career, there are a lot of professionals out there who can help you as well.
The National Careers Service has lots of information to help you, and if you’re receiving support from a Jobcentre Plus Work Coach, you might be eligible for personalised support to help you on your employment journey. Read more about the employment support we provide today.
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