Step 3 Know yourself and what you want from a career

Step 3 Know yourself, your strengths and what you want from a career

Being self-aware, appreciating your strengths and interests, and being able to articulate these is key to finding a job or career that suits you and one that will keep you motivated and positive when applying for your next opportunity.

Your interests, drivers, and motivations

Your personal values and motivations are the drivers that give you purpose in life. Your beliefs that are important to you, and what you enjoy is invaluable for your future choices and finding satisfaction and success. What you hope for in a job and career will be intertwined with who you are as a person,

What do you want from a career?

You may want to do something that gives you real purpose, that means you are making a difference to others. Alternatively, earnings may be important to you, or both? These decisions will be rooted in your beliefs about what is important in life and linked to how you find satisfaction and success. It will help to spend some time to consider and write down: What do you enjoy doing most? When do you feel most successful? Why do you choose to do something? What keeps you motivated and on track? Lastly, what tasks do you dislike completing?

List your answers Answer 1 Answer 2 Answer 3

What you enjoy doing most?

When do you feel most successful?

Write down the reasons that you choose to do something? What keeps you motivated and on track?

What tasks do you dislike or avoid completing

Any comments or reasons why you made this choice?

Your strengths and skills

You already have some innate strengths and abilities, things that just come naturally to you and usually feel easy. You know that you are good with numbers, or you have excellent attention to detail, or you are clever with words and writing. Perhaps you easily establish relationships with others and know how to strike up a conversation and put people at ease? Are you the one who always organises a party, a social gathering and is organised and good at planning?

Your course has also given you additional skills and enhanced your expertise in your chosen course subject, you have also developed technical, specialist and transferable skills that will equip you for future work opportunities. Consider any volunteering, work, research, short training, presentations you have made, membership of a social group or a society, playing for a team, etc. Consider the skills you want to promote to an employer?

■ Research and analysing information and experiences ■ Evaluation and articulation of reasoned arguments ■ Organisation and time management, with the capacity to set goals and meet deadlines ■ Written and verbal communication and presentation of ideas, information or reports ■ Leadership and motivation or coaching of others ■ Problem solving, being creative and developing ideas

For applications and interviews you will be asked to provide relevant examples of skills and achievements gained from these activities, that will help you to stand out from the crowd.