How to choose a job you’ll love

Unsure what jobs you can do? Finding your ideal career isn’t always an easy pursuit. Some people have always known what they want to do. Others are on a constant path of career discovery. And that’s OK.

Like many things in life, it’s often the journey rather than the destination that matters the most.

Here are our top tips on how to choose a career that’ll suit you and make the world of work easier to navigate.

We’ll cover why it’s good to:

• Make peace with imperfect choices
• Value your values
• Think about your skills
• Embrace feedback
• Remember the difference between ‘role’ and ‘sector’
• Consider company culture
• Be open-minded
• Network
• Look at how you spend your spare time
• Be patient

In a world of possibilities, making career decisions is the perfectionist’s nightmare. Having so many options is great if you’re a decisive person, but it’s overwhelming for those who aren’t sure what their ‘calling’ is.

If you don’t know what the ‘best’ choice is, the only way to find out is to make the best choice available to you at that time – whatever happens, you’ll learn from it.

Lots of people who are satisfied in their careers accept that few jobs are ‘perfect’ and that the key is to start making choices (about internships, work experience, jobs etc.) to gain a better insight into different roles. If you don’t try something, you’ll never know if you’ll like it.

If you're stuck, look at our graduate careers advice for those who have no idea what to do.

Values are personal and highly subjective – don’t ignore them. It’s important for your overall satisfaction that your chosen job is consistent with your values. No one is happy when doing things they don't believe in.

To understand what jobs will match your beliefs, you need to understand what motivates you. Ask yourself which three of these values are most important to you:

• Achievement
• Compassion
• Helping others
• Adventure
• Structure
• Routine
• Success
• Service
• Risk
• Excitement

A career at a high-growth business is great if you want risk and success, but not so good if you value ‘structure’ and ‘routine’ – two things rarely associated with startups! If ‘helping others’ is a key value to you, working for a profit-driven company will be less suitable than a people-oriented one. So, think about what your values are when you’re choosing a career. There are no right and wrong answers here.

Once you know your values and why they’re important, you’ll be able to assess potential roles and organisations against them.

We’re all naturally good at some things but not strong at others. A great sales executive is rarely good at analytics and an excellent software developer is likely not a great marketer. Exceptions do happen but knowing where your skills are and focusing on this area will usually progress your career quicker.

Most skills fit into a business function. For example, if you love processes and order then explore roles in operations departments. If your friends are always saying how great you are at meeting new people, it’s worth thinking about business development.

Ask the people around you for feedback about what they think you do well and what your strengths and weaknesses are.

Friends, family, teammates, society members and part-time colleagues will give you valuable insights into where you’d work best. Sometimes, you’ll be surprised how other people see you. Talking to others boosts your confidence. Plus, their advice and insights into what you’re good at will help you consider what type of role you’d enjoy.

A lot of people get stuck on the sector they want to work in eg. ‘finance’ or ‘marketing’, not the role they will do eg. ‘operations’ or ‘analyst’. By thinking about your skills and personal attributes, you’ll realise they apply to many different sectors.

There are marketing roles in finance businesses and analytical roles in marketing businesses. Being open-minded about sectors will get you a far broader choice of roles and make it more likely you’ll find a job that’s the right fit.

There’s every chance that the same ‘role’ will be perfect for you in one firm but a bad fit in another company.

Whether you want to work office-based, remotely or a mixture of the two is one factor to consider. Even if you’ll always be on-site, there are still lots of differences between companies. Some businesses expect (and even encourage) their employees to socialise; others want staff who’ll quietly crack on with their work. While some people find a chatty workplace distracting, others thrive on a buzzy atmosphere. Everyone likes different things, so a company culture oftens makes or breaks whether you like a job.

Before you accept a job, think about the organisation’s culture and if it matches with how (and where) you like to work. You won’t always be able to tell from a job advert so be sure to ask questions about company culture in any interviews.

New career options are cropping up all the time, so keep an open mind. Be creative in looking at how you can apply your skills to new areas you haven’t thought of before. It’s possible that your dream role doesn’t exist right now, but it will do in the very near future.

There are so many career events out there, full of people with a great understanding of what different jobs involve. Talk to these people and ask them questions like “What’s your favourite thing about the job?”, “What’s the worst thing?”, “What does this job lead to?” and “What skills do you need?”. They’ll be happy to answer your questions about what a job is really like.

Use all your contacts (and make new ones on LinkedIn) to find the people in the roles you want to learn more about. Networking – whether online or in real life – is a great way of discovering job opportunities and learning what you’d like by hearing other people’s stories.

Meet somebody who you look up to while networking? Here are our top career questions to ask someone you admire.

What do you do in ‘non-work’ time outside of uni? Do you volunteer for a charity or have a hobby? The things you willingly do are great indicators of what you enjoy, so see if there’s a way to turn your passion into a job.

Sometimes, it'll take a long time to find the right job but don’t fret. It’s a question of experimentation as you test your values and skills against different roles. Every experience is a chance to learn about what you like –and what you don’t. You can’t rush choosing a career, so don’t get too frustrated if it takes longer than planned. You’ll get there in the end.