Who should read this article?

- If you are someone who feels that you have many options to be chosen as the career but confused which one to choose

- If you are someone who is expected to make a career choice but are unaware of the available options

If you don’t belong to both the above-mentioned categories but still would like to have a read, you are welcome too! :)

Well, before we start, I came across this brilliant quote recently through the tweet by Daisy Wright, a Certified Career Coach which said:




The opportunities are indeed many and possibilities are endless, but the most important decision that lay on our shoulders is the choice of our career Path, and most of the time, we find ourselves in this situation confused, unclear, and many times unaware too.

Have you been in that position before? What has been your experience? I would love to know them in the comments below.

Here are a few steps that you could take and it can help you decide on your career path.

1. Explore:

“Opportunities don’t happen, you create them.” — Chris Grosser

With the myriad of options available today for choosing the career path, it’s a by-gone era wherein you had to stick to the traditional career choices. Explore about as many career choices as possible, read about them. Gain knowledge about the various aspects like the skill sets required, experience required, the expected output, the nuances, stories of the people who have become successful in those fields; it will help you get clarity about what that career demands. Make a note of the careers of your interest. Don’t worry about the feeling that there are many. The further steps will help you filter out among those choices.

2. Experience:

"I want to look back on my career and be proud of the work, and be proud that I tried everything." —Jon Stewart
Once you have the options ready and have the knowledge, the most important step that you should take is to be able to experience those career choices. Either you intern with a company that is into the same field, volunteer with organizations, if you want to become an artist, join an artist, and learn from them. Don’t fear losing and don’t worry about how much you are getting paid. Practical execution and education are the best ways to weigh your choices.

Once you have had an experience of execution and have the knowledge about the intricacy of the work, you would in a much better position to filter out the ones; you didn’t seem to feel that you would love doing it further. The list of options will further narrow.

3. Take a Test:

With lesser options after having experienced, you are in a perfect position to give a test. No! I’m not talking about you giving a technical test on the subjects; rather I’m talking about taking a Personality Test or a Career Assessment Test. A Personality Test ascertains various aspects of your personality and helps you in arriving at the perfect choice of career depending on the results of the test. Career choices made as per the kind of personality you have will increase the chances of you being at your best in that.

4. Choose a Mentor:

With fewer choices in your kitty, it becomes utmost important that you get the guidance of a Mentor in making the perfect choice for your career. Mentors are those who can understand you and have sufficient experience to identify the career that will be best suited for you and guide you towards that. Make sure to choose a Mentor wisely. Find people who are successful in the fields you want to choose from; Network with them and request them to mentor you.

Through their experience and understanding, your mentor would not only help you narrow down on your choices but also give you more insights about the field.

With this guidance and with your experience that you have gathered thus far, you would be well informed to make your career choice.

5. Choose, Learn, Grow:

“You love something, do it, you don’t love, don’t do it, but when you are doing something, you better LOVE IT!” – Sujit Lalwani, Life Simplified!

Choose the career path you want to go ahead with and embark on your journey. In the initial phase, focus on learning more about the particular field and go into the depth of it. That is where the growth lies. Quite literally- Give It All! Remember the ‘OLI’ formula: Observe- Learn- Implement; the more you observe, the more you will be able to learn; the more you learn, the more you will be able to implement; the more you implement, the more you will be able to learn and the cycle continues. Ride this cycle in full momentum and you will see Growth soaring in your life.

6. Persevere and be Open-Minded:

“It's not what you achieve, it's what you overcome. That's what defines your career." —Carlton Fisk

In the journey of your Growth, you would certainly face many Challenges, none has been spared. It is when you don’t have challenges to fight, is when you need to reconsider and analyze if you are in your comfort zone. During those phases of Challenges, don’t lose motivation! Persevere! Don’t give Up! That’s where the actual Growth lies! And- the Challenges will be never-ending though the levels of the Challenges may differ.

Here is one more important point to note: By any chance, after doing enough in a particular field, you somehow have a feeling that you are at the wrong place or in the wrong profession, Be honest to yourself! (Don’t conclude early; give yourself enough time to observe your Feelings). Career Transition is more a taboo or considered to be a Failure in the first career.

It’s okay if you felt that the things didn’t go your way or you felt like a misfit for that career. There are many stories of people becoming Successful because of a transition in the Career they had to/wanted to make. Make a new Choice and Go for it!

Is Freelancing an Option?

Absolutely Yes!

The number of people opting to have a Freelance career rather than a full-time job has seen a surge in recent times. According to Statistics of October 2019, there are 57 million freelancers in the USA alone and according to a study of their income, 31% of them were making more than $75000 a year. There are several platforms like Fiverr or Upwork that companies use to scout for the Freelancers and there is certainly a huge scope too.
So, if you are someone who is interested in Designing like Graphic Designing or if you are someone who might love to be a Web Designer, if you are good at designing Logos or have a great skill of giving a Voice-over; these are just some of the options for which you could choose a freelance career.