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Live
Up To Your Full Potential:
Five
Principles For Guiding Your Career Exploration
John
F. Kennedy defined happiness as "The full use of your
powers along lines of excellence." To find happiness
it is important to combine your mental, physical and spiritual
energies. As over 90,000 hours of your lifetime is spent working,
a lot of your happiness will be derived from the pleasure
you take in your career. You should therefore take a number
of things into consideration before making an informed decision
about your future career.
If
you have taken or are considering taking the JVIS, then you
must be taking your search for a rewarding career seriously.
The JVIS is a career interest measure that helps guide career
planning for both adults and students. The JVIS matches your
own personal interests with related occupations, making your
decision easier. You must, however, interpret your JVIS report
with caution. A career decision should not be solely based
on your interests. Career exploration requires information
from a variety of sources. For example, if your JVIS report
states that you would enjoy a career in a health profession,
yet you cannot stand the sight of blood, focus less on the
applied, 'hands-on' health careers such as a nurse or a doctor.
Although your interests may indicate one career, other aspects
of your personality may indicate another. There are a number
of factors like this that may determine your future job satisfaction,
success, and happiness. The value and weight placed on each
of these factors, however, will differ for each individual.
To help you in making the best decision possible, listed below
are five important factors that may influence your choice
of career.
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Your
own personality will directly influence the amount of
satisfaction that you will derive from your job. If
you are shy a career in dramatic arts, despite what
your interests indicate, will not make you happy. You
will have to make a compromise between your interests
and personality characteristics. For example, if your
interests indicate that you would enjoy a career in
business, but your personality scales indicate that
you are low on risk-taking, it would be best to rule
out a career in stock trading. However, a job as a banker
could satisfy both your interests and personality.
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Everyone's
decisions are guided by their own religious, cultural,
and family values. A strong family attachment, for example,
may limit your possibilities of career movements, physically
and financially. You may choose to devote less time
to your work and more time to your family, which may
result in fewer opportunities for promotion. In addition,
you may not be able to relocate for a job because of
your family members' current attachments, such as a
spouse's job or a child's school. It is best to find
a balance between maintaining your values and achieving
success.
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Often a career choice is driven by extrinsic rewards,
such as money, power, and prestige. Some occupations
will offer several rewards, whereas other jobs may necessitate
a tradeoff. For example, a job as a minister might offer
respect and power, but not wealth. Although the possession
of many of these factors may be gratifying, they must
be balanced with job satisfaction.
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When
choosing a career you should also take your own abilities
into consideration. For example, if you do not perform
well in an academic setting, it would be best to avoid
hierarchical occupations where continuing education
is essential to success. Seek a career that will maximize
your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.
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Finally,
your own personal interests play a large part in determining
which career you select. Many newer jobs combine interests
once considered opposites. Web-designers, for example,
combine artistic and technical interests. When examining
your JVIS results, combine your interests and then compare
them to these important factors to decide which career
meets all your needs.
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Choosing
the right career is dependent on hard work and good decisions.
Making your career decisions based on the satisfaction of
these factors should lead to happiness and prosperity inside
and outside of your job.
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