Which Career Direction is Right for You?

It’s all well and good thinking about changing career, but what happens if you start a new job and find that it’s just as bad as the last one?

There’s no point jumping from job to job, just in case you find one that suits you, because it will be very hard to make your CV look appealing and the chances of finding your dream job that way is pretty small.

Rather than take that approach, why not allow yourself to understand your strengths and weaknesses, your dreams and aspirations and then come up with a potential career change that makes the most of your skills?

Think of this questionnaire as a meeting with the school careers officer, just without that ludicrous ‘computer’ that suggests the most inappropriate job imaginable. Read each question and note which answer best describes how you feel.

When to Work

• a. I love leaping up in the morning at the crack of dawn. I bound into the shower and pull on my suit and I’m ready for a day of corporate excellence
• b. I have to peel myself out of bed when the alarm goes, but then I’m OK. I am nearly always on time and I can turn it on when I need to
• c. I have never owned an alarm clock and I don’t intend to. I can’t bear being told what to do and what time to do it

Where to Work

• a. I love being in an office with other people, ideally an open plan office where people share thoughts about work
• b. I’m happy to spend time with my colleagues at work but I also like to have my own space
• c. I snap if anyone speaks to me before my third espresso of the day and prefer to be in my own little world as much as possible

What to Do at Work

• a. My perfect day involves meetings, phone calls, targets and presentations, with a boss breathing down my neck and telling me what to do at all times
• b. I like a bit of variety in my day, so I can go with my creative ebb and flow
• c. I want to respond to my moods and be in total control of what I do and when I do it

How to Work

• a. I like to be in a corporate environment that makes my decisions for me on a daily basis and requires me to be at the top of my game each and every day
• b. I like to be working on a variety of projects that test me some days, but not other days
• c. I like to get totally absorbed in a creative project, so much that I forget to eat, drink or see daylight for days at a time, then take a long break

If you have answered mostly (a), you may find that a corporate environment where your high motivation and ability to perform consistently at a high level will be generously rewarded.

If you have answered mostly (b), it is likely that you will flourish in a management role where you can be pushed, just not too hard, too often.

If you answered mostly (c), it is preferable that you become self-employed and launch your own business that plays to your obvious creative strengths but does not require you to deal with too many colleagues. Just don’t make your meetings too early!

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