Step 1: Find out about yourself
Many factors affect your career choices, including the people in your life and your circumstances. However, the best way to start thinking about your career is to narrow down the focus to you – your interests and experiences.
Think about your interests
You’ll need to think about more than just the subjects or activities that interest you. You should think about what you like doing, and what you are good at, what you hope for in the future as well as your work style and lifestyle needs. The things you can take into account as you explore your career include:
- Interests: what activities are you good at? What do you enjoy doing? What would you like to spend more time doing? What do you plan to do in the future?
- Work conditions: what are your preferred work conditions (indoors or outdoors)? How would you like to work (standing or sitting)? Where and when would you like to work (during the day, weekends, on call)?
- Location: where would you like to work and study?
- Knowledge: what would you like to learn about? What knowledge do you enjoy using?
- Life balance: how do you spend your time? How satisfied are you with your use of time? What changes could you make if needed?
- Work Values: what is important to you? What is the reason you work? What motivates you to study and work? What do you want work to provide you with?
- Aspirations: what are your hopes and visions for your future? What do they tell you about your career direction and work roles that might suit you?
- Skills: what skills do you enjoy using and what skills would you like to develop?
- Education: what qualifications do you have? What do you plan to study in the future?
Consider your experiences
To help you consider your interests, factor in all those experiences that might be your career building blocks. What have you learnt (or what could you learn) about yourself? What are you good at, what do you enjoy and what would you like to do? Use the following table as a guide.
|
Experience |
Description |
What did you learn about you? |
|
Work experience/ Structured Workplace Learning |
Arrangements between you and an employer where you carry out tasks in the workplace to gain experience in an area of interest. |
|
|
Community involvement |
School committees, sporting associations, youth organisations and other associations. |
|
|
Life roles |
Including being a family member, learner, worker, friend and citizen. |
|
|
Training |
Learning how to do new things, upgrading your skills and knowledge. |
|
|
Education |
Part of lifelong learning. Formal education includes school, Vocational Education and Training (including TAFE) and higher education. Informal education includes workshops, seminars, leisure courses, on-the-job training and workplace mentoring. |
|
|
Volunteer work |
Performing a task or supplying goods or services to a not-for-profit organisation or project without receiving payment, but gaining skills. |
|
|
Employment |
Working for a public or private organisation and getting paid. This includes full-time, part-time, permanent, casual, temporary, on call, flexible working hours, shift work, job sharing and contract work. |
Click here for a printer-friendly PDF of the Your Experiences chart.
TIP
Write down your experiences in each of the above areas when you’re thinking about career choices. Refer to them when you talk to employers about how you’ve got skills you can transfer from one job to another.
Remember that many of these interests and lifestyle considerations will change as your life circumstances change. Some people make radical changes in direction in their working lives. The following stories reflect these kinds of career changes: