If you are a student in Ireland then you will have gone through your entire education without having to make any major decisions.
The schooling system that you might have entered when you were around four or five years old will have been a linear passage that you didn’t have to give so much thought to.
You just had to wake up, get ready and put on your uniform head-on into school without giving much thought to the overarching goal. While it is important to be inquisitive, it certainly isn’t necessary at such a young age. After all, these are years to be enjoyed and free of the stresses of the working world.
The first big decision you will have been hit with is the subjects you opted to study for the leaving cert program.
For many, this was decided on what subjects they had performed well in for the junior certificate exams. Some might have begun to think about what subjects would suit their skills or the line of work they wanted to enter.
Selecting a college course or apprenticeship is probably the first major decision a student will remember making in their leaving cert education. For many, after they graduate from their leaving cert education they will have immediately started thinking about what career they are going to enter if not prior to this.
Those who decided to further pursue an education at university will have prolonged this decision for a few more years.
At one point or another, we will have to make the decision of what career path we will pursue. Given the amount of time that the average person spends working in their lifetime, it is important that we give this decision adequate consideration.
In this article, I will look at methods which you can employ so that you find a suitable career for you while also focusing on your professional development so that you can thrive in that role once you have found it.
Completing personality and competency tests
One way to find out what career is for you is in finding out more about yourself. With an enhanced sense of self-awareness, you will be able to select from a list of careers that align with your personality, competencies and qualifications.
Completing these tests might just help you find a career in which you are more fulfilled. This option is by no means exclusive to students. Many professionals that occupy more senior roles also find themselves changing careers or using the tests to gain more self-awareness.
If your results are reflective of who you are as a person, then you will inherently be able to arrive at a better understanding of who you are, and perhaps more importantly for some, what career or line of work you are suited to.
Once you have completed a series of personality tests and assessments, reflecting on your results and researching their potential implications will be of great benefit to you.
You will naturally be able to get a better knowledge of who you are and, perhaps more crucially for some, what profession or area of work you are most suited for if your findings are representative of who you are as a person.
Following a series of personality tests and evaluations, you will benefit greatly by thinking about your findings and investigating any potential ramifications.
These tests should spark all sorts of ideas and get you thinking critically about what career you are suited to.
You might even think that some of your personal development plan's components have been inspired as a result. Prior to taking these assessments, many students might construct their plan, and it is then instantly clear how different they are aware of where they are in their path.
Finding the right career can be difficult. To think that you will work a job until you are able to reach your financial goals and retire you will need to find one that you love and that matches your skills. Thankfully there are an array of tests that you can use to help inform your decision process. This is an important first step to finding out what skills you have.
Personality Tests can help you in your development see how!
Constructing a personal development plan
Regardless of your goals, you will likely need to have a structured plan for development if you are going to accomplish them.
By breaking the process down into small steps, creating a strategy for your personal and professional development will help you stay motivated to get better. Additionally, posting it on the wall in your kitchen or bedroom will serve as a reminder.
If you want to make your own personal development plan, you need first think about the abilities and skills you want to develop. The time frame within which you want to complete this change should then come into your mind.
Consider creating some metrics or measurable objectives that you may use to track your progress or determine whether you have achieved your goal.
When your individual chronology draws to a conclusion, you should consider who and where you want to be. Your ability to accomplish your goals and possibly find some encouragement along the road will be aided by having a clear picture of that individual in your mind.
If you think that this might be of interest then read more about what a personal development plan entails and how it can be used to better your career.
Career and personal development activities
When you are looking to find the right career for you, it isn’t always about finding an industry that you are interested in. Often the career that you desire is a number of levels above you.
You might already be in the line of work that you want, though find yourself stuck a few levels below where you would like to be.
To get the most out of your professional development, it's crucial to maintain the highest level of knowledge in your field of expertise at all times. This entails picking up new abilities and skills in order to improve your career. It also incorporates some elements of personal development.
Development typically refers to formalized education or training that ends with a credential pertaining to a specific profession. It can also include informal training and development programs that may be provided on the job in order to develop and improve abilities.
These abilities will enhance your resume and help you perform better at work. In the long term, both will support your job advancement!
You might have already drafted a personal development plan to fill some of the gaps in your resume, but what activities should you fill it with?
There are so many jobs out there for you to consider and choose from so. Why not choose a job that will make you happy? Finding the right work should be one of your main life goals and will help you a lot in the years to come. Try booking a consultation session with a careers coach on Superprof.
If you are curious about the different ways that you can improve your career then you have come to the right place.
Availing of a career guidance counsellor
The fastest way to get on the right track when it comes to finding the right career for you or simply progressing in your current role is to get the help of a careers coach. They will be able to tell you how to go about entering a specific industry or where you can attain the necessary qualification to progress.
Having a career guidance counsellor is always a great return on investment and will keep you from becoming stagnant in your respective career path. They will be able to work with you to find your strengths and weaknesses so you can improve and meet the requirements of an ever-evolving workplace.
While job coaching focuses on helping people advance professionally, it also connects to personal coaching because it helps people achieve their goals by helping them cultivate the right attitude.
For guidance on their own personal life, job aspirations, and structured personal growth, many people turn to professional career coaches.
Having an understanding of what your starting point is and perhaps even more importantly what the next steps are to improve is invaluable.
Your career guidance counsellor will be able to tell you exactly what you need to do and how you should go about accomplishing it. There are plenty of reasons you might want to visit a careers coach.
The service that they provide is by no means exclusive to those that are trying to get their foot in the door of a specific company but rather is implemented at all organisational levels.
Get started with your development today with one of the career guidance councillors on the Superprof learning platform!
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