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What is your Ideal Career Path? Use this Step-By-Step Guide To Help You Reach Your Professional Goals

You’ve been aimlessly floating from one job to the next for a while now, and you’re ready to settle down. The only problem is, that you’re not sure what you want from your career.

Not knowing where you’re headed can be confusing, but you’ve got this. Follow these steps to determine your professional goals and create an action plan to start making them happen.

Consider Your Skills and Interests

You have to work to pay the bills, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be doing something you enjoy. Find a job that actually makes you want to go to work each day by taking inventory of your top interests, skills, and personality traits. Turn these into search criteria to help you determine your ideal career.

Research Career Options

After you’ve made a list of your top career choices, conduct research to learn more about them. Some of the main features you’ll want to look for include daily responsibilities, career progression, and educational requirements. This will give you a better idea of what the job entails and what — if anything — you’ll need to do to break into the field.

Try Out Your Top Choices

It’s easy to envision what your life would be like in a certain job, but you can’t really know until you see for yourself. Immerse yourself in your top choices by working with a recruiter to find temporary jobs in the field, taking on an internship or seeking volunteer work in a similar role. This experience can open your eyes to issues you might not have considered, so the importance of this step cannot be emphasized enough.

Make a Decision

After conducting research and giving each of the jobs you’re most interested in a try, you should have all the information needed to make a final decision. Take as much time as you need, because this is a choice that will hugely impact your life.

Set SMART Goals

After taking your first step down your ideal career path — i.e., landing your first job in the field — you’ll want to create professional goals to help you get ahead. Vague objectives are meant to be broken, so make each one SMART — specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. This will help you hold yourself accountable, setting the stage for amazing career success.