Whether you are just starting out with your career plans or thinking about changing jobs, making decisions is not always easy. Anne Richardson from the Department’s Careers Service offers some advice
KNOWING what you enjoy (your hobbies and interests), what’s important to you (your values), what you are good at (your skills and abilities), and what you’re like as a person (personality traits) will help you determine potentially satisfying careers.
Take time to fully reflect on your strengths, weaknesses, qualities and what you would like from a career. There are tools available to help you build self-awareness: Go to www.nidirect.gov.uk/careers and use ‘Get Career Ideas’.
Gathering accurate information about careers is the next important step in the decision making process. Research courses and careers to discover what opportunities are available in education, training and employment. It is essential to explore occupational areas, what the jobs involve, entry criteria, personal qualities and skills, wages and training that may be required. You can start this process at www.nidirect.gov.uk/careers by using the A-Z of Careers.
Being aware of current and future growth areas as well as knowledge of the local job market is important at this stage. Information on all these areas is available in the Plan your Career section under job information on www.nidirect.gov.uk/careers.
After completing your research you will need to rank your options and decide which suits you best. When decided, plan how best to achieve your goal. This can include re-skilling or upskilling, gaining work experience or sharpening your interview skills.
It is important to manage your expectations and to make sure you have considered all your options, whether this is taking another route into your chosen job or considering a related career area. Your careers adviser can help you with this.
Building self awareness, keeping open minded about career areas and doing research on available options are key to career decision making. Remember, don’t make assumptions about jobs and evaluate all opportunities carefully.