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Many people go into careers and jobs without thinking if this is suited for me or 5 to 10 years later they realize this is not what I expected.

Many individuals spend months or even years not happy with their careers. Some may take any available job while others may follow in their parent’s footsteps. This may work out for some but many others never discover their true career skills and are dissatisfied with their jobs.

Careful career planning is essential in fulfilling one’s job search that will give years of work enjoyment and satisfaction. If you are going to work it might as well be something you like to do and skilled at doing. Knowing what your skills are and what you are good at is the starting point in choosing the right career. You will unlikely be completely satisfied in your career unless you use the skills you enjoy and are good at.

Ask yourself some questions such as: What interests do I have? What sorts of people would I like to work with?

Don’t confuse an ideal job with a job title. You might enjoy working in one place and hate working in another. Both could have the same job title but be entirely different jobs.

Let’s say you were looking for a job as a sales person or a teacher, these would be job titles. The ideal job within the salesperson category could be in retail sales, real estate, manufacturing sales representatives, car sales, etc. A teacher might teach kindergarten, elementary, middle, or high school students. Or a teacher might teach adults or special need individuals how to read and write. So don’t choose a job just by its title but by the different job areas under the title that fits your interests and skills. People are more likely to stay in a career and be successful if it suits their interest and skills.  http://www.careerberg.com

It would be wise to spend extra time thinking about what type of work you want to do. Some key factors to consider when planning a career is your skills, interests, earnings, location, work environment, kinds of people you like to work with, etc.

You may have to go back to school for more education, but don’t let that hold you back from that ideal job. Education and earnings go hand in hand. The more education you have the more money you are capable of earning. Although earnings are important, liking your work is equally important.

Having a college degree is definitely a plus in career planning, but many trade, technical and other schools offer similar opportunities to individuals without a college degree.

A well trained electrician, plumber, police officer, auto mechanic, computer repair technician, tool and die maker among many others can do very well in today’s economy. There are many jobs that only require one or two years of training. Many companies and organizations have on the job training while paying your salary. People in sales, small business, self employment and other job areas do quite well without a college degree, although for better positions more education is often required.

Your career will most likely change over the course of your life no matter how much career planning you do. That makes it important for you to recognize what you are good at and develop those skills throughout your life. As your interests change you may want to develop new skills.

Good career planning is very important, but it should be done in the context of what you want to do with your life.

Choosing a College Major: 
How to Chart Your Ideal Path

The most important piece of advice in this article follows this sentence, so please make note of it and repeat it to yourself as often as you need as you read this article and make decisions regarding choosing a major in college. Are you ready for it? The advice: Don’t panic.

I know it’s easier said than done, but I can’t tell you how many students I have advised since the time that I have been a professor that seem in a state of panic if they are uncertain of their major, let alone a career. Choosing a major, thinking about a career, getting an education -– these are the things college is all about. Yes, there are some students who arrive on campus and know exactly their major and career ambitions, but the majority of students do not, thus there is no need to rush into a decision about your major as soon as you step on campus.

And guess what? A majority of students in all colleges and universities change their major at least once in their college careers; and many change their major several times over the course of their college career.

This article is all about giving you some pointers and direction — some steps for you to take — in your journey toward discovering that ideal career path for you. But it is a journey, so make sure you spend some time thinking about it before making a decision. And don’t be discouraged if you still don’t have a major the first time you take this journey…your goal should be narrowing your focus from all possible majors to a few areas that you can then explore in greater depth.

Please also keep in mind that many schools have double majors, some triple majors, and most minors as well as majors. Way back when I was an undergraduate at ABC University, I was a dual major in marketing and magazine journalism. Today I am a college professor and Webmaster of a top career resources Website…which brings me to the last piece of general advice before you begin your journey: your major in college is important for your first job after graduation, but studies show that most people will change careers — yes, careers — about four or five times over the course of their lives -– and no major exists that can prepare you for that!

The first stop on your journey should be an examination or self-assessment of your interests. What types of things excite you? What types of jobs or careers appeal to you? Also, many, if not all, college career centers have a variety of self-tests you can take to help you answer some of these questions.

The second stop on your journey is an examination of your abilities. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What kind of skills do you have? You can begin this self-examination by looking at the courses you took in high school. What were your best subjects? Is there a pattern there? What kinds of extracurricular activities did you participate in while in high school? What kinds of things did you learn from part-time or summer jobs? While you can only do part of it now, you may want to skim through our article, Using a SWOT Analysis in Your Career Planning. See our section of SWOT analysis.

The third stop on your journey involves examining what you value in work. Examples of values include: helping society, working under pressure, group affiliation, stability, security, status, pacing, working alone or with groups, having a positive impact on others, and many others. Again, a visit to your college’s career center should help.

The fourth stop on your journey is career exploration. The University of California at Berkeley offers Career Exploration Links – Occupations, which allows you to explore a general list of occupations or search for a specific occupation and provides links to resources that give you lots of information about the occupation(s) you choose. There are many schools that offer similar “what can I do with a major in…?”

The fifth stop on your journey is the reality check. You need to honestly evaluate your options. Do you really value physicians and have an interest in being a doctor, but have little skills in science? Does your occupation require an advanced degree, but your future commitments preclude graduate study? Do you have a strong interest in the arts, but your family is convinced you will become a CPA like your father? There are often ways to get around some of the obstacles during the reality check, but it is still important to face these obstacles and be realistic about whether you can get around them.

The sixth and final stop on your journey is the task of narrowing your choices and focusing on choosing a major. Based on all your research and self-assessment of the first five stops on your journey, you should now have a better idea of the careers/majors you are not interested in pursuing as well as a handful of potential careers/majors that do interest you.