How to Choose a Career: 7 Ways to Narrow Your Options

A career is the sum of your professional journey. Many people embark on a career because it can help them achieve their goals, such as acquiring more knowledge and experience, taking on more responsibility, or earning higher salaries. 

But finding a career that best suits you takes time—and your career will likely shift throughout your working life. You may end up changing roles or industries as your interests, motivations, and needs change. Data from McKinsey Global Institute found that workers in India and the United States who switched to jobs with 30 to 40 per cent different required skills made more money throughout their lifetime compared to workers who switched roles where they were performing 20 to 30 per cent different skills [1].

In India, work experience can contribute to 58 per cent of your total salary on average, with a higher emphasis on experience in jobs that require less education. For example, work experience can influence 65 to 75 per cent of the total salary for a counter worker [1]. By changing roles, you can trade in the time you’ve spent learning in your current job for a pay based on a higher level of experience. 

Consider these seven ways to begin thinking about the best career options for you. These are tools and questions meant to structure your thought process, so you can determine what careers might suit you best—and help you achieve your goals. 

The average person spends around one-third of their life working, so it’s no surprise that many people want to find a career that will be a good fit for them. Choosing a career first means learning as much as you can about yourself, your goals, and the larger context of work. Use the list below to help you begin that process.

1. Examine yourself 

What you enjoy doing and what you value can be helpful indicators of how you’d like to spend your working time. Think over the following questions about your interests, values, and traits, and consider how you might answer them: 

Interest-based questions: 

• What do you enjoy learning about?

• How do you like to spend your time? 

• Do you enjoy manual labour or mental labour? 

• Do you enjoy working outside or inside? 

Value-based questions: 

• What is most important in your life? 

• What are your priorities in life? 

• Where do you find meaning? 

• What change would you like to be a part of?  

Trait-based questions:

• What does success mean to you? 

• What do you want more of?

• Which of your strengths do you enjoy the most?

• Which of your skills are you most proud of?  

2. Reflect on your motivations 

Once you’ve put together a list about yourself, turn to your motivations for working. Perhaps you want a career that will pay a higher entry-level salary than comparable occupations or one that promises more flexibility so you can work from anywhere. Understanding your priorities can help you choose a career that aligns with them. 

Explore the list of sample priorities below. Think over what you’d include on your list and how you’d organise your priorities.

• Salary  

• Benefits

• Autonomy

• Work/life balance

• Flexibility  

• Career growth  

3. Think about your long-term goals 

Make a list of your long-term goals, both personal and professional, to help you understand what it might take to reach them. For example: Do you want to rise past the managerial ranks and advance to the C-suite of a company? Do you want to own a house? Do you want to be able to travel—and how often? 

The list you put together can also help you approach a job search more specifically. For example, if you want to work in the same industry 10 years from now, research which industries are poised to continue growing over the next decade and which to possibly avoid due to increasing automation or other factors. 

4. Take different self-assessment tests

You can find various tests to evaluate everything from your personality to your strengths—and even what career might be a good fit. Use them to continue learning more about yourself and your underlying motivations. If they provide useful insights, integrate that knowledge into the broader context you are developing. 

5. Explore sectors 

Learning more about each sector and its respective goals may help you determine where you’d be a strong fit. Think about which goals sound most interesting to you.  

• Private: You’ll be employed through a privately owned company or corporation that typically aims to increase growth and revenue. 

• Public: You’ll be employed through a local, state, or federal government, which aims to keep public programmes and institutions operating.   

• Non-profit: You’ll be employed through an organisation not associated with private or public sectors, which is dedicated to addressing or fulfilling a public need. While it does not aim to make revenue the way private businesses do, it must earn enough to achieve its mission and cover overhead. 

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6. Explore industries

Along with sectors, researching different industries may help you identify a few that could be a good fit. Search for established industries to see if any seem worth investigating further. Make a list of any that sound interesting and conduct additional research to find out about major roles, career trajectories, and projected growth,  

7. Seek out professional resources 

In addition to thinking through the areas mentioned above on your own, you can also turn to various career resources for more guided help.

College career centre: If you’re still in college, take advantage of the career resources your college or university may offer. You may be able to meet with a counsellor or advisor trained to help you transition from college to a career. 

Career coach: You can find a career coach trained to help clients learn more about what kinds of work would best suit them. Career coaches are an additional expense, so make sure to research their credentials, experience, and background to make sure they will be a good fit for your needs. 

Researching career options 

You’ve likely gathered a lot of information by now. Once you have a bigger picture of yourself, start to conduct research on various career possibilities. You can use the list you made regarding your interests, values, and traits, combined with your top motivations, to begin looking for careers or industries that might be a good fit. 

For example, if you enjoy drawing, look into careers or industries requiring that talent to some extent. If the issue of income inequality interests you, research organisations that work to improve that issue and browse their job openings site. If one of your biggest strengths is creative problem-solving, look for careers and industries that need your skill set. 

Write down each option that interests you, and pay attention to the results that will help you achieve your biggest priorities. For example, if flexibility is important to you then focus on remote roles rather than ones that require you to be in an office. 

Explore career options on your list 

Once you’ve come up with some career ideas that sound interesting, follow the next steps to help you explore each option. 

1. Use job search sites. 

Naukri, LinkedIn, and Indeed all specialise in posting job openings. As you peruse roles available in your area, read more about the responsibilities for each one. Highlight the job titles that sound like a good fit. 

Helpful questions: 

• Does the job meet my needs and many of my preferences? 

• Does this career align with my values? 

• Will I accomplish one of my short-term or long-term goals with it? 

• What does it feel like to think about these career options?

2. Cross-reference company reviews. 

Use Glassdoor or other sites to learn more about a particular company you’re considering or conduct more general research on the industry in which they’re situated. Pay attention to any current issues being discussed in that industry. 

3. Set up informational interviews. 

If you’ve found a role at a specific company that sounds interesting, look to see if you have any connections you can ask for an informational interview. If you want to find more general information about a role, reach out to your connections—or connections of connections—who are currently working in that field. Asking about a career before you pursue one can help you gather useful information. 

Explore further

Thinking about your skills, strengths, and interests will help you start your career search while researching specific sectors, industries, and careers will help you narrow your choices further. You can discover more about your future career with the Career Discovery specialisation from the University System of Georgia. Over three classes, you will learn about exploring different career paths and planning your career. If you’d like to strengthen many transferable skills that can feed a successful career, try the specialisation Career Success from the UCI Division of Continuing Education, which covers project management, finance, and communication, among other subjects.