Picking the right career is not easy and all those myths about choosing a career make this important decision even harder. A lot of people think that they’ve chosen the perfect career for themselves but after a while, they realize that their professional life is unsatisfying and they wonder what they did wrong. In this tough economy, a lot of occupations are disappearing and new ones are springing up, so it’s not enough anymore to just go to school, pick a major and get a job in that field. A lot of people have trouble deciding on careers and all those misconceptions about how you should pick the right occupation for you are not helping them at all. Here are 7 myths about choosing a career that aren’t true that you should consider:
This is one of the most common myths about choosing a career that is absolutely false. Picking the right career for you is actually an involved process and it usually takes a lot of time. Career-planning is a multi-step process during which you should learn a lot about yourself, your needs and the occupations you are considering so you can make an informed decision.
The truth is that anyone can find quite a wide variety of fulfilling careers. There isn’t only one job that is perfect for a certain individual. Also, in time, people’s interests change, so it’s not uncommon for someone to choose to work in a one field, even though they got a degree in a different field. Just keep in mind that the perfect job today may not be the perfect job tomorrow.
Nobody can tell you what career is best for you, not even a career counselor or any other career development professional. They can provide you with guidance in choosing a career and they can also facilitate your decision but they can’t tell you what you should do in your professional life.
Even if you choose a career that will allow you to earn a lot of money, this won’t guarantee your happiness. There are a lot of studies on millionaires that have shown that money does not have a direct correlation to happiness. Your personal fulfillment and satisfaction is the direct result of who you are and what are you doing to be happy, not how much money you make.
Whatever career you end up choosing, you should enjoy what you are doing, so it makes perfect sense to pick something that is related to those things that you love doing in your spare time. There are a lot of people who become very skilled in their hobbies and they even manage to make a living by doing those things that they love.
Your skills won’t be wasted if later in your life you decide to pick another career. Your skills are yours to keep, no matter what occupation you have. So you can take them from one job to another. You can also acquire new ones that will help you in the future and that will enrich your life experience.
First-hand experience is very useful, especially if you want to find out more about a certain field but there are a lot of other great ways to explore an occupation. You can read a lot of materials (books, articles, blog posts) about a certain career or you can even interview people who already work in that field who can tell you about their work experience, about their responsibilities and also about the benefits that job actually brings them.
Choosing a career that’s right for you is not an easy thing to do but if you have patience and if you persevere, you will make the right decision. Do you know any other myths about choosing a career that aren’t true? Please tell us about them in the comments section!
Sources:
careerplanning.about.com
luc.edu
careerprofiles.info
life-experience-degree-facts.com
northjersey.com