When we get to high school, we're asked to choose a path toward a professional specialization. Assuming we know this path and it suits us, we're then asked, between the ages of 16 and 23, to choose the next 2 to 10 years of our lives, which will in turn determine our career choice and therefore the following 10 to 20 years. A bit of a heavy decision to bear, isn't it? Especially when you know that 85% of the jobs in 2030 do not yet exist (Source : Job Centre)
First, rest assured, have confidence, this in no way diminishes your potential. Not everyone knows their path from birth!
I'd like to share a few ideas with you, which certainly won't be exhaustive, but will allow you to move forward on the path of discovering your future career, without necessarily needing that career to even exist yet. Let's get started!
You don't eat a mammoth all at once, you cut it into small pieces first.
Several of my professors were particularly fond of this metaphor. And I thank them for sharing it with me. It's especially apt when the jobs of the future are still unknown. In other words, it means that:
- Finding one's professional path can seem impossible. And focusing exclusively on this immeasurable end goal can lead to stagnation and stress.
- «"The goal is not the goal, it's the journey."» - Lao Tzu. If you don't know what your future job will be, it doesn't matter, what matters is the path that will lead you there.
- To discover your ideal career path, the key is to identify the steps you need to take to get there and plan them sequentially. This allows you to break down the work, make it manageable, and achieve immediate and rewarding results. You'll progress smoothly toward your final goal and enjoy the process!
What do you think? What does it make you want to do? Ready to give it a try?
What steps are we talking about here? Let me suggest a few that I myself have found inspiring. There are, of course, many others:
1. Explore your professional interests
Let's say the job you'll be doing doesn't exist yet, what's stopping you from starting by observing what motivates you?
Indeed, «"Successful employees are those who have a job that motivates them."» (Source (e.g., «Motivation, a skill that can be developed: A guide to developing motivation and engagement at work», Zwi Segal & Yves Duron, Pearson 2015).
You don't have to know THE job that suits you, you can start by understanding the fields of activity that interest and motivate you.
Make a list of activities that inspire you.. To do this, use your past experiences but also project yourself and imagine yourself in their context.
- Do you feel happy when you are helping others?
- Do you feel fulfilled when you explain the lessons to your classmates?
- Do you enjoy being outdoors, taking care of your garden or animals? Are you sensitive to the environment and its protection?
- Do you lose track of time when you're helping your parents take apart and repair their car, their computer, or the wall of their house?
- Are you passionate about the human body and science?
- Are you structured, organized, do you like to anticipate and plan, and ensure that the final result is of high quality? Do you like numbers?
- Do you spend your free time creating jewelry, clothing, or painting on real or virtual surfaces? Do you do theatre, dance, or play the piano?
- People tell you that you know how to negotiate, persuade, and that they follow your ideas?
If you answer yes to one or more of these questions, it can help you define the necessary higher education and/or the preferred sector of activity to pursue a career you will enjoy. For example, if you are passionate about improving people's well-being, if ecology is fundamental to you, and if you want to create practical solutions to preserve the environment, training in sustainable land-use planning or CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility – could be options.
This exercise is based on the methodology of the tool MOTIVA® offered in school and career coaching which allows you to clearly put words to your professional interests and the training/careers that most closely match your aspirations.
2. Define your areas of expertise
Now that you can verbalize what you enjoy, let's look at what you feel capable of doing and learning to do: your skills. Just like fields of activity, it's important to know the knowledge (theoretical knowledge), know-how (practical knowledge) and interpersonal skills (relational behaviors) as well as the physical abilities necessary for learning the chosen field.
Indeed, even if you are attracted to the workings of the human body, if you do not have good results in chemistry and biology, it will be difficult to pursue training as a doctor or dentist, for example.
An exercise that can help you identify your existing skills and those you feel capable of developing is the mapping of areas of competence.
First, take a sheet of paper and a pen. List the skills that seem relevant to you. For my part, I use the following:
- Help, Interact, Debate, Cooperate
- Calculate, Investigate, Analyze, Evaluate, Decide, Learn, Spatial Perception
- To train, to communicate orally and in writing, in a foreign language
- Manager, Organizer
- Develop, create, produce, use tools and machines, master IT and digital skills, repair
- Artistic expression
- Physical abilities, use of the 5 senses
Once your list is ready, go through each skill one by one:
- Note your interest in each one: low, high
- Note how often you use them or would like to use them: rarely, frequently
Record the skills and their ratings in the following table:
The skills located in the comfort zone These are the skills you enjoy and have mastered, or are in the process of mastering. Using them will energize you and bring you pleasure. You would benefit from developing them and seeking out areas of activity that require them.
The skills located in the effort zone These are the tasks you already know how to do or will easily learn to do, but they don't necessarily hold much interest for you and can therefore consume a lot of energy and provide little satisfaction. It's in your best interest to use them sparingly.
The skills located in the development zone These are skills that greatly appeal to you, but which you need to acquire. They deserve the time to be trained so that you can use them and integrate them into your comfort zone.
As you've probably gathered, choose a career path or field of activity that will allow you to primarily use the skills within your comfort and development zone.
How are you feeling now? What are the key takeaways so far? What will you be using?
3. Work on yourself
Granted, we don't know what the job market will offer in the coming years. In the meantime, nothing prevents us from learning more about ourselves and turning that into a real asset. In the digital age we live in, many agree that emotional intelligence This is what will set us apart from artificial intelligence. «Self-confidence, empathy, emotional intelligence, and problem-solving skills will allow humans to maintain their place in the face of machines and AI.» Bruno Sola, president of Bizness.
So don't hesitate, because acquiring a keen awareness of self-perception, relationships, stress management and decision-making skills will make all the difference in the world of work and will allow you to gain confidence and improve your quality of life.
The MBTI® personality and EQ-I 2.0® emotional intelligence questionnaires are tools that allow for genuine self-reflection, highlighting strengths and areas for improvement across multiple dimensions. Don't hesitate to ask to use them!
4. And again!
Other exercises can also guide you toward discovering your career path, even if the job doesn't yet exist. I'll briefly mention them here, although each could be described in more detail. I would be happy to explain the process in more detail if you'd like.
- You can discover your "life's mission" with the«Ikigai, a Japanese personal development tool. There are several books on the subject. One that I particularly like: «"The Ikigai Method – Discover your life's mission"» – Hector Garcia, Francesc Miralles. Clarify your Ikigai in 35 steps:
- Remember What was your childhood dream? As children, almost all of us had an idea of what we wanted to do later in life. Often, this idea is close to what we should do to be happy.
- Create : Invest in an artistic activity that will inspire you and teach you a lot about yourself, your professional needs and desires.
- Investigate Explore databases of future jobs, read, listen and observe around you, travel!
- Experiment Ask about short introductory internships, career surveys, and school visits. Indeed, field visits can sometimes spark career aspirations. National youth days exist in various countries that facilitate connections between schools and businesses.
- Share : Join groups on the topic of career guidance and exchange your questions, ideas, solutions…
- Listen to yourself Meditate, write down your dreams, pay attention to your intuition, and feel the lightness or heaviness in your body when you imagine yourself in a situation. All these practices can be valuable aids in decision-making.
So, what about now? What do you think of all these avenues? How can you use them while waiting for the job you'll do to be created, or until you create it yourself?
And don't forget: No matter what profession you choose, you are unique and the way you practice it will be unique too!
If you would like to benefit from the expertise of a career and educational guidance coach, Write to us now via our contact form for a free initial exchange.
