4. Making the right choice
Now that you have identified some of your skills and the things that you love to do, it’s time to start thinking about how this could relate to work.
If you get badly sea-sick, a career in the Navy might not be the best choice
But if you’re determined to work at sea, read more here.
Exercise: Try to think of eight types of work that you can imagine doing. They might be specific jobs like “cleaner”, “mechanic”, “shop keeper”, or kinds of work like “caring for people” or “making things”. Type your answers in your worksheet.
If you need some ideas, try this personality test, and click the “career choices” link at the end. Don’t be daunted by the questions, the results are well worth it!
Not just a job - a career
Earlier in the course you thought about what you love doing. Now you need to start looking for jobs that will help you move towards loving the work you do.
It might be difficult to land the perfect job on your first attempt, especially if you have been out of work for a while. Your professional skills might have got rusty, or your qualification might be out of date. You might even consider having to do more training and perhaps going to college.
What is important is to look at job searching as a way to find something better in the future instead of just looking for a job. Remember, there are opportunities out there; the difficulty is how to get them. The next page will give you some ideas about how to do this.