Dr. Radhika 
How to Choose a
Suitable Career
Everything You Need to Know
Choosing a suitable career has to be one of the toughest decisions we are asked to make during our teenage years. Even in your twenties, how do we know if we are on the right path?
This guide will help you understanding how to choose the right career for you. With a focus on understanding yourself and finding a career that matches that.
This post has you covered:
From book recommendations, how to research a career, what to look for, and what you don’t realise you NEED from a career!
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission for purchases made through the amazon links in this post.
Contents
- Choosing a career in 2023
- Find your WHY
- Figure out Your Values
- Your Personality
- What do you enjoy?
- Goal
- Career Change
Choosing a Career in 2023
Unfortunately, we are left to our own devices and spend hours searching through TikTok and Youtube to find out what a career entails. You watch the ‘Get ready with me’ or ‘A Day in The Life of A XYZ’ videos, but these typically romanticise the professions.
Choosing a career has never been more difficult than in 2023.
Many companies refuse to take on students for work experience, so you are left choosing the unknown. Committing to a degree or path you know very little about brings anxiety, self-doubt, and many days of overthinking.
In my experience, I was sixteen years old and was entirely undecided on a job. But I knew that healthcare was the path for me.
Why did I choose Healthcare?
Well, I didn’t really know much beyond healthcare. I had volunteered in a care home and with St. John Ambulance. I really enjoyed the idea of becoming a paramedic. Still, I was advised against this due to the long hours, odd shift patterns, and I was severely anaemic and already fatigued.
So what did I choose instead?
DENTISTRY…
The bane of my life. Now hear me out, this wasn’t the best choice and in hindsight, very few people would be right for this career.
Mainly because of the high-stress environment and the need for very good practical, leadership, teamwork skills and an insane amount of resilience. Just imagine the stress you are experiencing with your GSCEs or A levels, times that by TEN.
The thing is, the stress never ends in dentistry. Even post-graduation, you know dentistry but aren’t taught how to be a dentist. You are forced into self-learning, the financial burden of endless courses, and more. I will expand on this in another blog post, as opening up on this topic will be a can of worms.
To summarise, what I realise now, is that I value my sleep over anything, flexibility, the opportunities to travel, not be tied down, and to help people.
Choose a suitable career path by Finding Your Why
Realising my WHY was the key that I needed to help me figure everything out. I suddenly found a purpose and recognised the parts of dentistry I truly enjoyed, and now happily practise part-time while also helping others find their ‘WHY’.
Reading ‘Find Your Why’ by Simon Sinek changed my entire outlook. I now focus my job around making sure I am fulfilled by helping others to get into their dream courses.
It is perfect for those struggling to figure out their purpose and a source of huge inspiration for those searching for a career change.
Figure out Your Values
Your values are what matter to you most. In the context of a job, this means your values within a professional environment.
Read more below:
Career Values: How To Identify Yours and Cultivate Success as a Professional | Indeed.com
Your Personality is Everything
Choose a suitable career path that aligns with your personality. We are all so different yet we can be categorised into specific groups based on our personalities.
Reading this bestselling classic book “Do What You Are” moved me to the next chapter of my life. I went from being a dentist to a writer, teacher, and coach.
This book helped me to determine my personality type, and what roles would work for me! I highly recommend it for teenagers, millennials, those searching for a career change, or even those looking for opportunities to find fulfilment during their retirement.
What do you Enjoy?
- Do you enjoy working with the public, meeting their demands, and going out of your way to support them?
- Are you looking for fulfilment? Something which makes you feel rewarded at the end of the day?
- Do you prefer to work closely with others in a team?
- Do you prefer to be independent?
- Are your more introverted or extroverted?
People say this isn’t important, but it is a huge dealbreaker in your happiness. If you are very introverted and thrive off being independent and spending hours alone, then working in healthcare doing 12-hour shifts dealing with patients won’t be for you.
- Are you happy to be given instruction and guided through a project?
- Or do you prefer to delegate roles or tell other people what needs to be done?
Have a Goal
Self-Employment versus Employment
Being self-employed was key for me to progress in my career. The hours chosen by an employer do not tie me down, I can work whenever and wherever I want. I can work until 3 am and sleep during the day if that is more productive.
Owning a business isn’t something that many people do right away, they usually build up their skills in a specific niche before they branch off and start their own business.
This can include businesses in healthcare, trade work like being an electrician or builder, being a nail technician, salon owner or online clothing store.
You rely on self-motivation but it means that no one can really tell you what to do once you have gained the skills to do this, you hire others and get them to do the labour.
It's never too late for a Career Change
Regardless of age, you must realise that career paths are not linear.
Things aren’t straightforward and everything can change once you start real-world work. Here is a number one selling book that has NEVER failed me.
Plenty of people reach out to me, desperately searching for hope. This book covers it all and is PERFECT for those changing direction.
What do we need from a career?
Here are the things you need to consider:
We’re humans and not robots, we need flexibility, time to spend outdoors, time off when we are sick, a supportive team, and money to meet our needs.
Some people say they want money. What they mean is financial stability. They don’t want to worry about money or paying the bills. They want to be comfortable and have enough not to stress about not being able to afford something.
To have that, you need a role where your pay increases in line with inflation.
What is Inflation
I will keep this as simple as possible!
Each year, the cost of everything increases. The value of money decreases.
E.g. Inflation might mean eggs cost £1.10 instead of £1.
Over time money is worth less and less. So you need to make sure your earnings match this.
If your salary is not increasing by 10% a year how will you afford anything?
The average earnings in 1908 was £70 for the YEAR
In 1990 was £13,760
In 2014 was £28,000
How to find a job that can give you financial stability?
Look through a few careers that interest you and answer these questions:
- Check the earnings on indeed, is there a variation in the pay?
- Does pay increase with experience?
- Is there a maximum salary within that field?
- Are there opportunities for you to get promoted?
- Is it a government-paidraises job?
- Is it within the NHS?
- Does the NHS offer pay rises, and how much is this?
Get Real-world Experience
What could you do day in and day out without getting bored after many years?
You cannot decide without immersing yourself in your hobbies, passions, and interests.
Volunteer, try working in different sectors, retail, healthcare, accounting agency, trade work and see what you like to do. Volunteering means that companies are getting free workers, and they are keen to have an extra hand. Shoot your shot and reach out to local stores.
Hobbies:
For example, a friend of mine was a keen piano player. She achieved grade 6 and thought of it as a hobby.
She soon became a primary school teacher but then created a teaching agency in the evenings. She taught piano for £30 an hour, which earned her far more than teaching did.
Some days she plays the piano at events, mainly weddings and scores a good wage of £100 an hour. The best part is that she chooses the events she wants to do and loves seeing her students learn and progress through the grades.
The Influence of Your Parents
Please do not listen to them. As someone with Asian parents, I fully understand the endless pressure, lecturing and advice that they have to offer.
They want to help. You, however, need to be very headstrong and choose what is right for you. Forget the money, security of a job, the length of a degree, and their happiness. You have to choose yourself.
You will work in this career for the rest of your life, you have to enjoy it and the roles have to align with your values. Money does not matter because there are many ways to make money and progress, regardless of your field.
Job security is always changing, there are plenty of jobs that will be taken over by AI or technological advances, making you redundant.
Likewise, there are plenty of jobs that will someday exist that we have yet to learn about today. Your parents don’t know what is best for you, things were different in their generation and hard work led to good pay. Nowadays, it isn’t as simple. Leave the emotional blackmail behind and do what will make you happy.
Still don’t know which career to pick?
Choose a degree, apprenticeship, or course that will allow you to gain transferable skills. Consider what skills you will gain, you can always retrain later but those skills are invaluable and many jobs are looking for someone with skills and experience. They often do not care what your degree title is, obviously, it depends- you can’t become a dentist solely with a degree in maths.
Volunteering in your local area
Contact me to help with your career change CV
More book recommendations below!
