In the early stages of navigating your career, it can be overwhelming and challenging to figure out which direction you want to go.
With almost endless possible career paths to consider, a crucial first step in the career navigation process is practicing introspection and figuring out your personal needs and desires — including what your values are, what motivates you, and what your ideal work environment is. While this may seem like a daunting challenge to tackle, this vital decision-making step can become much more manageable by breaking the process into smaller, more tangible steps.
Let’s dive into what those steps are, and how to successfully go about them!
A great place to start this process is
reflecting on your personal career values.
Values refer to the beliefs you hold that inform the actions you take.
By aligning your career direction with your values, you can launch a career path that you will enjoy and find fulfilling.
To evaluate your values, begin by listing all of the different beliefs you can think of that a person might hold regarding their career (write everything you come up with down, whether they are ones you actually subscribe to or not).
Next, personalize it by thinking about what you want to get out of the job you choose, how do you want it to make you feel, and what kinds of tasks are you aware of that usually make you feel that way.
To help get you started, here are some values to consider:
Creativity → you get to express your creativity in the work you do
Advancement → being able to move up the career ladder based on your performance or work
Self-Employment → being your own boss
Change & Variety → there is a high degree of change and variety in the work you do
Excitement → your job stimulates you
Fulfillment → doing work you believe is important
Financial Reward → monetary gain through wages or commissions
Competition → compete with others in your industry
Helping Others → your career involves helping people
Interaction with People → you have daily contact with other people, including those outside of your organization
Power → you exercise authority over others, you are a leader or boss in what you do
Stability → your job is secure (permanent) and involves a predictable routine
Work/Life Balance → your work life is not taking away time from your personal life
Travelling → your work allows you to travel regularly
Review this list of values, and think about which other values you would like to add.
Think about each one and then rate the values on a scale of 1-4.
This way, you will be able to visualize which values you hold as the highest priority. With this information, you can begin researching jobs in your area(s) of interest that satisfy those values.
To dig even deeper, reflect on how your top career values might have been influenced by certain experiences and people in your life.
Are there people who you find inspiring that also share your career values?
Do these people have careers that match your values?
Use this reflection to then explore these careers. You can also use this as a networking opportunity to connect with the people who inspire you and better understand how their careers have played out in terms of those values you're interested in. You may even learn that their career trajectory may not have been as intentional as you might have thought!
Another essential step in navigating your career direction is to understand the types of challenges that motivate you.
It is virtually impossible to find a career that does not contain any element of challenge. It is therefore important to know what kinds of challenges tend to motivate you to excel and what can dispirit you, so that you can feel fulfilled in your career even when hurdles arise.
Not only is this useful to help explore career options, it is also a great way to prepare for future interviews (as this is a common question employers ask when recruiting new employees).
Examples of challenges that some might find motivating include: achieving goals, collaborating as part of a team, problem solving, working with data, leading a team, meeting deadlines, protecting the environment/wildlife, creating art, giving back to the community, building things, working with machines or tools, and coaching other people.
Think about these challenges and reflect on whether or not you would enjoy having it be embedded into the work you do.
To evaluate what sort of challenge you would want in your career, ask yourself what you enjoy doing.
Next, reflect on your past jobs, internships, or volunteering experiences, if applicable.
Once you have determined what type of work is most important to you, you can begin researching different employment opportunities that revolve around those types of challenges.
Finally, recognizing your ideal work environment is another key to the journey of understanding where you want your career to blossom.
Your work environment is an extremely important part of your job, as you will be spending plenty of your time there — the average worker spends roughly 40–60 hours per week in their work environment.
It is thus essential that you know the type of environment in which you thrive and those that are not for you.
The “work environment” can be broken down into the following categories: (1) the organization itself; (2) the work culture; and (3) your role within the organization.
When thinking about the organization itself, consider its mission, the products or services it provides, its location, its size, the physical environment, and its reputation or ranking in the industry.
The culture of the job refers to the dynamics of the team, the organization’s level of diversity, the people themselves who are on the team, and the management style.
When thinking about your position within the organization, consider your salary and benefits, the opportunities for advancement and professional development, the hours you will work, the commute, and the amount of travel required for the job.
To determine what your ideal work environment looks like, try writing out exactly what you would like the organization, the work culture, and your role to look like using these guidelines. This will give you an idea of what to look for on your job search, and set the stage for what kinds of questions you'll want to ask in an interview (or informational interview).
Do not hesitate to ask your potential employer about the work culture and environment, so that you can assess if it aligns with your desires and needs!
Take the right action from the start with ACE!
Using these guiding steps, you will be able to navigate your career in a direction that will be fulfilling for you and will cater to your specific needs. Remember that while you are conducting your job exploration, it is important to do your research on the organization and people you will be working with, and to ask questions when necessary to gain a deeper understanding of whether it is the right fit for you.
To delve deeper into the entire job search process and get personalized support to dig deep, determine your values, what role you want to play in a new career, and identify your strengths be sure to enroll our ACE for Anthropologist program and sign up for our next ACE Action Seminars to master the process and get all the tools you need to navigate your career direction!
Bibliography
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Career Values: Reflection. (2022). Job Search Essentials PowerPoint at McMaster University.
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