10 questions to identify your new career

Do you feel like like a square peg in a round hole? Are you wondering if you have been concentrating on the wrong career field? Or perhaps you have made redundant and now want to explore new ideas.

Below are some questions you can ask yourself to help explore your ambitions and gain more clarity on what you’d like to do.

1.    What are you passionate about? What passions have you lost touch with? What did you love doing at a younger age (for example ages 7/13/18). What passions would you like to be part of your career?

2.    Explore what motivates you. For some inspiration check out some of the options below.  Which are your biggest motivations? Which do you want to include within your career? 

3.    What would your friends or previous manager say you are good at? Have you asked them? What did they say?  How could you use these skills within your future career?

4.    What do you find easy or challenging and exciting in your everyday life? Would you like to make a career out of these activities?

5.    Name 10 things you like about yourself. How will these qualities help you in a career?

6.    What is the greatest achievement of your life so far? Why? What did you learn about yourself from that achievement?

7.    If you could make a huge contribution to life on the earth what would it be? How could that be part of your future?

8.    What has attracted you to each of the jobs you have done? What have you enjoyed about them? What have not enjoyed about them? (include Saturday jobs, work experience and volunteering). What would you like and what wouldn’t you like to replicate in future jobs?

9.    What is your ideal working day and environment to work in? For some ideas check out the options in the box below. These aren’t the only options you can also add your own:

10. When in your life were you most committed? What caused you to be committed?
How can you use that commitment in your career?

Write down a summary of what you’ve learned about yourself from the above questions. You’ve now got a check list about your strengths, interests, motivations and type of work, that will be a plumbline to compare against different career paths.

What is your next step? Decide what action you will take in the next week.

Having accountability can make a big difference to how fast you can move towards your goals. Career coaching gives accountability and space to consider options in more detail.

Contact us on 0203 303 0468 or email [email protected] to arrange a complimentary conversation with one of our career coaches. We have recently launched 'Your Nxt Step', a 6 session career coaching package which takes you from exploration to drawing up an action plan. Contact us for more details.

Rosalyn Clare is a career and youth coach with Striding Out - http://www.stridingout.co.uk/our-coaches/rosalyn-clare-youth-and-career-coach.html