Choosing a career is a tricky business. Where do you start? Right here.

Is there just one career that would be the perfect match or are there dozens out there, waiting to be discovered? What if your initial feelings of passion and compatibility don’t survive some of the inevitable ups and downs? Should you regard it as a commitment for life or a short-term fling?

The best fit
Settling down with the right career can be as central to your happiness as choosing the right person to share your life with. But, as with any relationship, there are no right or wrong answers. Everyone is different, every situation unique. What works for one person may not work for another. What feels absolutely perfect now will change and develop, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. The information you’re working with when making major decisions about career choice is woefully incomplete. The world of work offers no long-term certainties – new jobs appear, established ones disappear. Professions change their focus, some skills become obsolete, while others develop a rarity value. The best you can do is make a series of educated guesses based on your understanding of yourself and how it matches what’s out there now.

Investigate yourself
Thinking about personal likes and dislikes is a good starting point. Do you want to spend your working life indoors/at sea/working at heights? Does the idea of giving a presentation fill you with excitement or dread? Would close contact with computers fulfil or frustrate you? Once you start asking and answering such questions you begin to eliminate the poor matches and start to focus on possibilities.

If you can’t think of the questions for yourself it’s easy to get help. Interest Inventories, which do the job for you will be available at your local Careers Centre. A common one is Adult Directions. It’s a CD-based package that asks roughly 100 questions about your likes and dislikes, then compares your answers to those given by people working in a wide range of jobs. You can choose four levels of work for comparison, from unskilled to graduate occupations.

Most careers centres offer these services. Access to them is usually free and gives you the chance to talk results over with a qualified adviser. You’ll find your nearest centre listed under Careers in the Yellow Pages.

Prepare for change
Results from Interest Inventories are a good starting point for exploring broad areas of work or specific careers that match your current preferences. They’re particularly valuable if you’ve no idea what you want, or you’re looking for a complete change of direction. They can also provide reassurance that the career you’re thinking of is a wise choice. Once you’ve done that you can move on to researching what’s realistic given the qualifications and experience you have and explore the availability of further training.

Whatever your feeling about other relationships, the career you choose now does not have to be for ever. Most people thrive on variety throughout their working lives, particularly if they choose to make those changes rather than have them imposed. It doesn’t do any harm to keep an eye out for new opportunities – it’s always easier to move on before you get tired and jaded. To maximise your choice of alternatives be sure to keep your skills up to date and in marketable condition.

Have some fun and try our Career Choice Quiz