1. 6 Ways to Pinpoint Your Perfect Career
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www.GetPreparedForCollege.com
2. Table Of Contents:
- 6 Ways to Pinpoint Your Perfect Career
- Choosing A College; How To Start
- Finding College Scholarships
- Resources
6 Ways to Pinpoint Your Perfect Career
Have you ever felt stuck in your career? Employee stress
and burn out can account for a lot of dissatisfaction in your
life.
After all, you are at work some 8 hours a day or more.
That’s 1/3 of your day if you don’t count sleep. That’s a
long time to be dissatisfied.
If you feel stuck, here are 6 great ways to find your ideal
career:
1. Brainstorm on a sheet of paper - I’ve talked about this before and it’s a strategy I use all the
time. Take a pad of paper and write down at the top your objective in question form. Then, simply
list out 20 answers to your question.
For example, you could write “What should I be doing with my time and life?” Then stay seated
for a half hour to an hour coming up with answers to that question. The key to this exercise is
coming up with 20 answers - don’t quit until you have 20 answers. You can repeat every day until
you get the answer you seek.
2. Ask 3 close friends - Sometimes our friends know us better than ourselves. While meeting with
one of your friends, mention you are at a crossroads in your life and career. Ask what they think
you’d enjoy doing. You might be surprised at how easily they can zero in to your strengths and
abilities and report a perfect job area.
3. 3. Ask your boss and coworkers - much like your friends in the example above, your boss and
coworkers most likely see you in a way you do not see yourself. In fact, they are likely most
familiar with your strengths and weaknesses in the work environment. Compile all the answers you
get from them and see if there are any common threads you can explore.
4. Call a headhunter - If you are searching in your career, it’s likely you have a resume. Sometimes
you can catch a headhunter or recruiter during their slow times and meet with them to pick through
what you might be good at. I’ve done this at different times in my life and the people seem open to
talking with people. After all, if you don’t get paid, they don’t either. The ideas I get are usually
good.
5. Take a career assessment test - There are several sites on the Internet you might be able to take
one of these tests for a fee. But using my ‘headhunter’ tip above, many headhunters have this
software and don’t mind you taking the test in their office.
I’ve taken these tests two times in my life and they usually take an hour or two, but they are
thorough. They ask you to answer a series of questions about what you are good at, what you like
to do, what you prefer doing over what you don’t. If you take one, you will likely see some new
exciting areas to explore in your life.
6. Keep a journal - Do you keep a journal? If so, read through, looking for common threads in
your writing. Keep your eyes peeled for trends and activities you like as well as don’t like. In fact,
finding examples of what you don’t like and what frustrates you is almost as important as finding
what you do like. For example, if you hate an overwhelming boss, you’d probably like a self-
directed position. If you hate nosy coworkers you’d probably prefer your own office.
Discovering what you really want to do with your life is the most important decision you can make.
We spend 1/3 or more of our lives at work. So figuring out the right career is important to keeping
that 1/3 of our lives happy and productive.
Choosing A College; How To Start
With more than three thousand colleges and universities
from which to choose, every student who takes the time
to intelligently explore his or her educational options (and
adheres to application and financial aid deadlines) should
gain admission to at least three or four institutions in
which they are highly likely to be happy and successful.
Students and parents will therefore not find the college
application process an anxiety provoking experience if
they understand there is no single "right" college, if they
maintain reasonable expectations, do a little planning,
and take full advantage of the many informational resources available to them.
It is important to realize that only about five percent of the colleges and universities in the United
States deny admission to more than fifty percent of their applicants. Therefore, unless you plan to
apply to those highly selective institutions, the odds of your gaining admission to the colleges to
which you do apply are probably very strongly in your favor.
4. And, if your grades and SAT or ACT scores are high enough so that applying to the most selective
colleges is a reasonable and realistic option for you, you can almost be assured of admission to any
number of excellent but slightly less competitive institutions.
The extent to which a college can afford to be selective is a function of its perceived quality and/or
popularity. Thus, while it is true that the colleges and universities with the highest academic profiles
tend to be the most selective, many fine institutions do not enjoy the luxury of receiving
applications from a significantly greater number of students than they are able to admit, and are
therefore only moderately or even minimally selective.
Keeping in mind what we have just discussed, you are now ready to begin your college search.
Your first and most important step to identify at least a half dozen institutions which offer the
academic programs and co-curricular activities of interest to you, provide a campus environment in
which you will feel comfortable, and are likely to offer you admission. Begin by meeting with your
school counselor to:
1.solicit his or her college recommendations.
2.discuss the courses you plan to take in future years.
3.sign up for the SAT and ACT.
4.learn which college representatives will be visiting your school.
5.find out about upcoming college fairs in your area.
Don’t forget that the web is a great source of information. Do a few searches for terms like
colleges", "college scholarships", "financial aid" and "college admissions" to identify some good
online resources.
After completing the above steps, you’re off to a good start. Enjoy your search!
Finding College Scholarships
Whether you are a senior in high school or a parent whose teen is about to
graduate, there is no doubt that you are in the middle of the process of trying
to choose a college that is best.
Is the process overwhelming you and your family? Are you finding it hard to
find a school that fits all of the things you and your family are hoping for?
There are countless issues to consider when searching for colleges, not the
least of which is money. I'm confident that you are well aware that college is
going to be expensive no matter how you look at it, but have you taken the time to consider what
college scholarships might mean for you?
For many people, choosing the college they would like best is hindered simply by the expense of
going there. Life is expensive and sometimes parents and teens cannot come up with enough to
make it happen. College scholarships can be the answer for many families and they do not even
know it.
5. If you or your teen is in the midst of searching for colleges that might fit well, make search that
inquiring about college scholarships that are offered is a top priority in your search.
Most schools offer at least a few college scholarships each new year. Sometimes these scholarships
are based on a student's high school grades. But - fear not - not all college scholarships are based on
grades! You will be surprised at how many different kinds of college scholarships are given for a
variety of reasons.
So, your first step to finding financial relief from the huge expense of college is to research,
research, research. Take your time and be thorough. Call counselors at each prospective school and
see what college scholarships may not be advertised in their information.
Visit a local library or do an internet search and you will be shocked at the amount of information
that is available about college scholarships. College scholarships can be given through the college
or your choice of through a variety of other institutions and organizations, so do not be too
discouraged if your top choice does not have a lot to offer.
Look for ways to earn college scholarships from every source you can think of. There are often
local businesses that will partner with students in a work-and-study kind of deal. Some employeers
will even offer college scholarships to the children of their employees, so be sure to check that out.
In your search for the perfect college some schools may end up too expensive to consider. But, if
you take the time to really research college scholarships, you may be surprised at what kind of
school you can afford to attend. Your top choice might be just a couple of college scholarships
away!
If you want more information or would like to share ideas with us, you can “like my
page” on Facebook:
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You can read more articles and watch some educational videos on how to get
prepared for college by visiting our website:
- => College Preparation Website
Best Regards,
Nolleen Rowe.
