The best way to choose your career/occupation (we’ll just use the word career from now on to refer to a career or occupation) is to start by looking at yourself and identifying your career preferences and needs. This means looking at your interests, personality preferences, values, skills, dreams, experiences and more.
We need to start here because there are way too many career options in the world to look at all of them (one career resource, the National Occupation Classification of Canada, has over 30,000 jobs listed!). You need to “narrow the field” to a more reasonable number. This is best done by looking at your career preferences and needs.  The Career Planning Workshop at the Student Counselling & Career Centre can help you begin this process.

Getting started by focusing on your career preferences and needs will help you get into a career that is rewarding and meaningful for you. It will also promote success, security and financial gain.

Your Career Preferences and Needs

You are the expert in what you need and want in your career! Only you will work in the career you choose so let’s make sure it’s something that’s “right” for you. Being “right” for you might include having your family or a partner be part of the planning but your career choice needs to be something that makes “sense” for you (e.g., a realistic option that you can be good at).

The topics we want you to think about are:

• Interests – not just school interests but life interests!
• Values – what will make your work meaningful and rewarding?
• Personality Preferences – does the career makes sense for your personality?
• Skills/aptitude – can you do what your choosing?
• Dreams & Thoughts – have you always thought about being in a particular career?
• Experiences – think about all your experiences (e.g., work, volunteer, school, recreation, etc.) and consider what you’ve liked and not liked.
• Life influences– what in your life (e.g., parents, family, friends) will impact your career planning?

Click on the above headings to get suggestions to help you!

The best way to pick your career is to look at job security, salary information and status.

Go to the Career Myth or Fact page to get our thoughts.