How to Find Your Dream Career

Before you can begin to find your dream career, you have to be able to define what it means to you. There is no "one-size-fits-all" dream career. Everyone looks for something different and thus the meaning of the perfect careeer will differ even among family members. It may even be different for you now than it will ten years from now. In short, the “dream career” is the one that offers what you want and gives you the satisfaction of feeling you accomplished something when you go home at the end of the day (unless, of course, your dream career is one you do from home.

For some people the dream career may be something that allows them to work a set work schedule very day while others may be looking for the convenience to telecommute one or more days a week. You want to identify what it means for you regardless of what it may mean to anyone else.

Here are 6 great ways to find your ideal, dream career:

1. Brainstorm on a sheet of paper. Yes, it may sound simplistic, but it really helps to get your thoughts down. 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. Consult with 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 even before you're aware of it.

3. Ask your coworkers. Much like your friends, your 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. Take a career assessment test. Career assessment tests help you pinpoint types of jobs you'd enjoy and types you would want to avoid. 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 may see some new exciting areas to explore.

5. Keep a journal. Another simple act that may help you see trends in your life. 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.

Synonyms:  Areer, acreer, ccareer, creer, craeer, caareer, caeer, caerer, carreer, carer, career, careeer, carer, carere, careeer, caree, and careerr are typos for career.