What is a career?

How do you decide on a career?

• What kind of life do you genuinely desire, and how close are you to achieving that life?

• What are the values that are important for your career? Do these values correspond to your vision of a desirable life?

• Exploring interests

  • What fields am I interested in?

  • What kind of jobs am I interested in?

• Clarifying your values

  • What are the desires and motivations that make my life meaningful?

  • What are some specific values I am looking for in my career?

• Discovering your talents and capabilities (Exploring your aptitudes)

  • What abilities (strengths) do I have?

  • Language proficiency / numerical skills /reasoning /spatial perception/ object perception/situational judgment/mechanical skills/concentration/ color perception /fluency of thinking /coordination ability

• Understanding your personality

  • What is my personality like?

  • What kind of jobs fit well with my personality?

  • How has the background of upbringing shaped me?

  • What kind of jobs do my close family members and relatives have?

  • What are my parents’ expectations?

  • What are some of the practical conditions that I need to consider?

• Adapting to changes in occupations

  • What are current industrial trends?

  • What are the emerging and declining fields?

  • How has the occupational structure and environment changed recently?

  • What are the capabilities (talents) that are in demand on the job market?

• Understanding your field of major

  • What are the jobs that are related to my major?

  • What are the characteristics of the jobs available to people in my major?

• Research through printed media

• On-line research

• Research through career-related campus resources.

• Interviews with people currently in the profession.

• Visiting various job fairs and recruiting events.

1. Clarify your sense of purpose

   • What are the reasons for making this decision?

2. Collect relevant information

   • Research a wide range of information on available careers to give yourself a variety of alternatives.

3. List your available alternatives

   • Prepare lists of the respective alternatives.

   • Establish your own personalized set of criteria

4. Compare and evaluate your alternatives

   • Evaluate your alternatives based on your personalized criteria

5. Make a decision

   • Choose an alternative that is likely to yield the highest satisfaction and the best results

6. Evaluate your decision

   • Take the time to review whether your decision is reasonable

   • Allow yourself to re-assess your decision if you experience unanticipated obstacles

※ The process of choosing a career is easy to understand if you think of the analogous process of making a purchase in the market. 

• Setting up specific goals 

  • – What are the specific short term and long term goals that you must meet to pursue your chosen career or become employed at the company you want?

• Establish a strategy to achieve your goals

• Plan the actions that you will put into practice

• Mange your own behavior and actions