How to choose the right career or profession for you

Choosing a career or profession is one of the most decisive moments in the life of every person who has had the opportunity to consider it and the possibility of training for it. Some of us dream of that moment since we were little; Others only think about it when they finish elementary school and are questioned everywhere. In reality, today's world offers many options and it is not easy to make a 100% satisfactory decision; In addition, there are social pressures on the subject that do not facilitate the process at all.

The ideal would always be to receive vocational guidance before making such an important decision; however, very few people manage to receive it and benefit from it sufficiently. Therefore, to help a little so that you or someone you know does not have to face such a moment alone, in this post we give you several practical tips to choose the right career or profession .

Practical tips for choosing a career or profession

Take into account your tastes and interests .

It is not true that your career or profession should be disconnected from your tastes and interests . Yes, you can dedicate your working life to something that you are passionate about, captivates you or at least makes you feel satisfied. To do this, you must recognize in your daily life those things, small or not, that excite you, make you feel fulfilled, make you grow, make you lose track of time and/or want more.

Identify your skills .

Very important. Although many will surely ask you what you are good at, we suggest you recognize more than one skill in yourself because we all have more than one. You don't necessarily have to choose an engineering because you do well with numbers, or a health science because you know how to take care of others. Likewise, combining this numeral with the previous one, it is likely that what you do best is not what you like the most or what you like the most is not what you do best .

Know the reality of the labor market .

It can be difficult for you to know the world of work without still exercising the careers or professions that are on your mind. However, pay attention to the day-to-day conversations, the news , and what other workers are saying; those are excellent and realistic ways to know how the labor market moves in the options you contemplate. By this we mean things like how (un)fair salaries are, the estimated proportion of graduates without a job , and some requirements that job vacancies usually have.

Recognize the pros and cons of each option.

With the elements described above plus other aspects that may be important to you, you will be able to list the pros and cons of each career or profession that catches your attention. It is important to be informed and to be honest , but it is not a question of simple arithmetic (the option whose difference between points for and against is the greatest will not win), but of opting for certain life projects with full awareness of the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly .

Solve a reliable vocational test .

If you want to take one, it never hurts, but make sure it is trustworthy and credible , so that don't end up confusing yourself. Do not trust those free ones on any internet page. Ask for good vocational tests in the educational institutions with which you have a relationship and request, if there is a possibility, that they apply one to you or guide you on how to access it.

Seek the advice of an expert .

Psychologists , educational psychologists , school counselors , among others, are some of the professionals who can advise you on vocational matters. With little room for doubt, they will do more than just tell you the names of careers or professions for you to study. They will be able to see a broad panorama of your vital situation , considering all the points mentioned here, and they will try to shed light on you so that you can choose your future autonomously; the best ones will let you talk so you can listen to yourself.

Get to know yourself and be aware of external pressures .

Fundamental. Sometimes this topic involves deep, very intimate and delicate issues of which it is convenient to be very aware in order to make a decision and face the associated consequences . The advice of the expert or expert is very useful here. You will notice that choosing a career or profession is a sign of autonomy , an exercise in freedom and one of the first great challenges of growing up or maturing .

Inquire about the training modalities and the offering institutions .

Parallel to the choice of a profession or career , you should also review and absorb the information available about the universities , institutes , centers and other educational institutions to which you can link to receive the necessary training. Along the way, you will have to search for data such as admission requirements , teaching-learning modalities , graduate profiles , emphasis and disciplinary insights . We cannot rule out that this information adds to the lists of pros and cons of number four of this article.

To close

Success is never assured; however, it is good that you follow these and other recommendations , as they are the fruit of the wisdom accumulated by other people before you and by scholars of the subject. After all, one thing is how you learn to see life and the future guided by social expectations and ideals , but another thing is what reality imposes on you and what you manage to conquer in it. Consequently, your projects may end up very differently than you planned. Or not.