Whether you're in middle school, high school, a preparatory school for the Grandes Écoles, or already employed, you've undoubtedly asked yourself this question. Some people find their path, have a vocation or passion from childhood, and have always known what they want to do with their professional lives. Their thinking will focus on very concrete things like the type of school to choose, the budget, the geographical location, the length of studies, etc.
Whether you're a professional or in development, opt for a skills assessment. !
But before we get to these practical questions, if you are among those who haven't yet had a career epiphany, you should definitely...
to ask:
- How do I choose the right career path?
- How can you choose a job that will both fulfill you and pay you well?
Key tools to help with your career guidance
Let me explore with you below some keys and tools that might help you start thinking about it.
Before we begin, the important thing is to’accept that the path of orientation begins through the exploration of one's own person. And this exploration requires opening up the field of possibilities as much as possible, freeing oneself from the constraints and limits set by oneself or one's environment.
In short, we take a magic wand and ask ourselves the question:
- What kind of person would I want to be able to afford to be in my ideal job?
- What would my identity be if everything were possible, in a world without constraints?
- Identity if everything were possible, in a world without constraints?
It is the funnel concept : we start by exploring all the possibilities in order to later refine and specify 2-3 possible professional projects, consistent with who we are and what is realistic on the market.
How can you know where to go if you can't put words to your tastes and needs?, Values, professional interests, motivations?
Personal exploration to avoid choosing the wrong direction
Do this personal exploration work will allow you to better target the areas
activities that truly match your personality. Therefore, this will allow you to choose the right training and then the right company and a position that aligns with your preferences and skills. In this context, the job you choose will be meaningful to you, it will motivate you, you will likely find it much easier to get up in the morning and dedicate yourself to it, and above all, you will naturally feel high-performing, This will give you a better chance of progressing and to be recognized for your achievements. Close your eyes and imagine yourself there. What sensations does it give you?
In addition, this will allow you to avoid making the wrong career choice and having to retrain around the age of 30 or 40, thus saving you time, energy, and your
money.
Current studies show that new generations will change 4 to 5 times
careers in their lives (Source: L'étudiant 30.06.2016). And it is clear that professional motivations and interests evolve over time. This reinforces the need to learn to know oneself well from the outset and to start on a solid foundation in order to then reorient oneself if necessary, always avoiding the pain of not feeling at home in a job or company and choosing a job solely with the intention of satisfying basic needs (namely food, housing, social connections, etc.).
«When Bérangère was in high school, she had no idea what she wanted to do for a living; she just knew she was good at English and math. Not good enough to choose a science track, though. She chose her path based on the circumstances that arose. After high school, she decided to study abroad and earned a degree in international management. Upon returning to France, she accepted the first job that came along and became a project manager by chance, then progressed in this type of role until she was 38. After the birth of her second child, she felt a loss of purpose. She underwent career coaching and realized that what she had wanted to do all along was work as an occupational psychologist. Perhaps she could have discovered this much sooner?»
Individual coaching to find your career path
What did career coaching bring to Bérangère? First of all A
personalized support, She received dedicated time tailored to her needs and personality, guided by a qualified, caring, and attentive professional. This was followed by powerful tools and questions that allowed her to truly reflect, structure, organize, and envision a concrete professional future she might not have considered on her own, and certainly not so quickly. Finally, she left with increased self-confidence and a renewed drive to take action, enabling her to decide with far less hesitation which training program to choose, which school, which internships, which funding options, and so on.
Okay, let's get down to specifics now. First, take a sheet of paper and...
What to write. Find a quiet place and take the time to reflect and feel your
emotions during this exercise. Draw 2 columns: one for professional interests And
the other for springs motivational keys. Start filling in the 2 columns.
Professional interests
Professional interests define the ideal content of the job(s) you are interested in. would you aspire to? For example: are you more attracted to an activity that requires the use of numbers, relationships, manual labor, being outdoors, creating, communicating, to analyze data, to care for animals, etc. etc.
Key drivers of motivation
The key drivers of motivation relate to the conditions under which one can perform their job effectively. What do you need to feel good at work? For example: having an office
closed, having supportive colleagues, traveling abroad regularly, being
autonomy, flexible hours, feeling useful, working in a large
business, in ecology or the arts etc. etc.
Once both columns are filled, highlight the 3-5 points that you consider the most
These points will become crucial for you. your selection criteria as for your future
Okay. Go ahead, take 5 minutes to do this exercise.
How are you feeling now? What have you learned about yourself and your situation? I invite you to read on now.
Finding energy is key to your motivation.
The combination of professional interests and key motivators indicates
your motivational state, This is the energy you have to get things done. This state is very
important to track throughout your career as it is a very good indicator of your
needs at work, in terms of content and context. This exercise comes from there MOTIVA® tool methodology, which I propose in career guidance coaching and which allows clearly define your motivations and criteria, and identify categories of jobs that most closely resemble the desired motivational state.
«"Motivation, a skill that can be developed: A guide to developing motivation and engagement at work"»
Once you have a list of crucial conditions to meet in your future profession
(professional interests and motivations), I invite you to prepare a research grid which
will allow you to rate the jobs that attract you and that you will explore based on
of these crucial criteria that you will have defined yourself. This will provide a filter
An additional step allowing you to reach the end of the funnel. Good exercise and above all
Listen to yourself!
How do you feel now that you've read this article and done it?
Do you feel a difference with these exercises?
If needed, don't hesitate to contact a career and educational guidance coach who
will be able to accompany you, ask you the right questions and guide you in the
A fantastic discovery of your future career path. See you soon!
