Finding a suitable career can be an unforgivable maze at times. With the vast array of careers to choose from in the modern world, finding the right career path will be one of the most important decisions of your life. Along the process, you will find a number of career guides, self-help books and blogs that help guide you, yet, one of the most overlooked factors is the value of self-discovery. Before you begin any career, it is paramount that you introspect and discover what job profile suits you best. Career counselors and business experts are a dime-a-dozen, but there can be no better guru than you yourself. Here are some important things you need to consider before you set out on finding the most suitable career:

Know thyself

The first obvious step during deciding on a career is self assessment. Individuals should be able to measure, evaluate and test their strengths and capacities. In other words, self-assessment is a process by which you uncover more about yourself—what you like, what you don’t like, and how you tend to react to certain situations. Self assessment helps in learning about how well a variety of careers might suit you. Typically, an assessment asks you to answer questions about what your skills, interests and strengths are. Before making any decision, it is always advisable to take more than one assessment to broaden your ideas. It will also help in identifying your skill sets and will compel you to think about careers you may have previously overlooked.

The roads not taken

Climbing the career ladder can be an exhilarating but oftentimes an overwhelming ride. For a majority of professionals, the conclusion of academic study marks the onset of a professional working life in an entry-level position in their chosen field. For many, their sole ambition is to build a career on hard work, improving their skills and taking on possible opportunities to advance to the next level.

It takes time for any indicial or business to grow and develop. It is the same for a career journey. It is crucial that you remain patient and persistent in your efforts to identify the right opportunities yourself. So for this, you need to be forever on the lookout for new opportunities. The more you focus your attention towards it, the more opportunities seem to appear. You can jot down as many possible opportunities and later trim your list back to the most relevant and pertinent ones. At the same time it is important to understand the different variables that are important to your career and goals. These factors might include if the career matches your current life style, salary/compensation, job security, overall career and goals.

Plan of attack

After taking stock of the possible career opportunities available to you, it is necessary to devise strategies that ensure that you maximise those opportunities. This, however, does not mean that you need to stick to trial-and-tested methods; you also need to think out of the box. Convenient modern tools such as LinkedIn will help you further identify employment trends and help you network with those already involved in the career you desire. If you are not already an avid user, it could be a new channel worth checking out.

As you seek out opportunities, you need to understand what your strengths and weakness are. This will help identify opportunities that bare the most relevance for you. It will also help you understand which skills you need to work on. It is necessary to know the tasks and projects you enjoy and know your weakness as well. For example: It will be helpful if you can take stock of what tasks you do often avoid and the things you are not confident with. Once you have identified your strengths and weakness, you should think about whether you could turn any of these into opportunities. You can do this by taking advantage of your strengths, or by eliminating your weaknesses.

People are more likely to work with individuals they know or people that come with good recommendations. Let friends, family, classmates and professional contacts know that you’re looking for opportunities, and don’t be afraid to ask for their help in finding connections. You also have to develop a personality for yourself and create your own brand. The term branding has long been relegated to companies, but today almost every individual has a personal brand. You have to start thinking of yourself as a brand. You can also enhance your online presence and secure a personal website. Marketing yourself and your value is how you land jobs and advance in your profession. You can think of your outputs, like your scholarly papers, grant proposals, and job application materials such as your CV and cover letter as strategic means by which you can let the world know of your value.

The world’s your oyster

After identifying your strengths, interests, possible careers and the best strategies, you then need to be prepared for the profession you desire. You should be able to write a professional CV and prepare a good cover letter. You also should be well prepared for your interview. A job interview is one of the most drawn-out and intimidating steps to finding the right career, but it is also a crucial way of making a great first impression. Think of questions to ask your interviewer, practice with a friend, and anticipate questions from the interviewer. This will help you build your confidence level and ensure a good performance at the all-crucial interview.

But take heed, not all people are successful from the get go, you should learn from both acceptance and rejections. Should you face rejection having had given it your all, do not despair. Success is all about being persistent. A rejection, if anything, should be a great lesson about how you need to rethink and recalibrate your approach. Ask yourself: Did I do everything I could? What could I have done better? Is this the right career path? Once you have the answers to these questions, go at it again. Success comes to those who keep trying!

Kharel is the managing director of Kantipurjob.com