We all struggle with the question of what we are supposed to do in life. Some people know exactly what they want to do and who they want to work for before their school life ends. Others, figure it out in university and some finally get a grasp on their calling in their forties. That said, there must be a way to figure out what you want to do long before you reach middle age. We think the answer is to think about your skills and your personality traits. You need to focus on where you excel. Then and only then will you find the right career for you.
This isn’t a new concept. In school, you will often take a career test. This is supposed to measure who you are as a person and match you to the ideal career. However, most people find that the results of this test do not reveal the career that they end up following. We think it’s far better for to examine yourself as a person. Rather than let a machine do the work for you.
Are You A People Person?
What do we mean by a people person? Simply put we mean that you love a chat and perhaps the best part of your day is when you get to meet and greet different people. Perhaps you are the type of individual who goes out of their way to say hello to a stranger. Or, maybe when you sit on a train you’ll try and start up a conversation with whoever is next to you. As long as you don’t find that they try to cut the conversation short, you are almost certainly a people person. So what type of jobs are best suited to this personality trait?
Well, we think you would probably make an excellent journalist. A lot of people think that journalism is all to do with being a fantastic wordsmith. It’s a good start, but the truth is that anyone can learn to write in a journalistic way. It’s the basic who, what, why, where and when that you learn in school. You can buy a book on how to write like a journalist, but it’s a lot more complex to learn a skill like being good with people. If this comes naturally, you’ll be able to get people to talk and open up. They’ll open their doors to you, and that’s how you will obtain brilliant and exciting stories.
You might also want to consider working in customer service. In the customer service industry, you’ll be speaking to many different people every day of your life. Although you might think that just means a lot of slammed down phones, it’s not always the case. Some people are brilliant at communicating with customers and getting their point of view across. If you can do this, you will find great success on this career path, we guarantee it.
Can You Be Persuasive?
If you find that you can constantly win an argument without beating someone over the head with an idea, you might fit into this category quite nicely. What we mean is that you can get someone to believe and follow your point of view without forcing them to. They will accept it willingly because of your assertive power. If you can do this, there are a number of different careers that would be perfectly suited to you.
Often people think there are three main career paths for the professional. These are politics, law and medicine. If you have the power of persuasion, you can guess which two types you’ll be suited for. As a politician, you will constantly have to convince people that they can trust you. But also that your ideas are the ones that they should listen to. You will need to be charismatic as well and yes, it does require some skill with the public. But if you can get them to follow your idea, you are more than halfway to becoming a successful politician.
Or, you may want to become a lawyer. Lawyers do need to be able to persuade the jury or the judge of their point of view. Without this skill, they are going to lose a lot of their cases. While facts do come into play in law more often than not, a lawyer wins or loses based on how these facts are presented. You also need to be tenacious. It’s not enough to try and win. You must have a strong, surge of passion to succeed.
A job you would be perfect for, that is far more easy to obtain, would be a career in HR. HR workers often act as consultants to businesses and business owners. An HR consultancy will advise business owners on the difficult legal issues of their firm. They must be able to persuade them of their point of view on the matter. It is essential they can do this. Otherwise, a consultant is a fairly useless advisor.
Are You A Leader?
Not everyone has the necessary skills and traits to be a leader. Some people lack the charisma and others, the initiative. Some simply can’t get people to stand by them, and others would not know what to do once they did. But, if in life you have found yourself constantly being chosen for head positions, you can lead. That means you could perhaps think about starting your own business.
This is the career path of the entrepreneur. On this path, there is the chance to claim great success and profit but only if you can get people’s support. They must trust you and know that following you is in their best interest. You must also be quite innovative with a mind of new ideas and the determination to follow them. If you think this describes you, all it takes is that first step. Then, you can begin your journey to becoming a business entrepreneur.
By asking these questions of yourself, you can easily find what career you are perfectly suited for. You just need to be honest. Remember, there is no point convincing yourself you match a job description when in your heart, you know you don’t.
