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Small Business Owner Careers | The Princeton Review

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So, you don’t want to work for the Man. In fact, you want to be the Man – or possibly the Woman. Then owning your own business is the career for you. The small business owner is the backbone of the American economy. Ninety-nine percent of all employers are small business owners. They provide 75% of the new jobs created every year, and they are responsible for 96% of all exported goods. Small business owners work out of garages, small stores on Main Streets, and huge corporate campuses. Before you begin selling t-shirts in Time Square or offering oranges in Orlando, you need a business plan. A business plan is your roadmap to success. It includes a description of your product or services, how you are going to finance your business (loans, investors, grandma), deadlines for your business and the ultimate goal. As a small business owner, you need to be aware of the six Ms: MISSION – you have to know exactly what your services will do for client. MARKET – you have to know who your client is and how you can find them. MESSAGE – your mission has to be clear enough that your market understands who you are and what you have to offer. MEDIA – This is the best way to get your message out there (radio, print, television, sky writers). METHOD – You know what to do, with whom, with what, when and how to do it. You’re in control of your business. MANAGEMENT – this is you, operating your business in such a way that your clients are completely satisfied. An ideal small business owner knows how to make plans, solve problems, hire, train, motivate, and lead employees. Being a small business owner is risky; it is probably the most risky legal career you can choose. But, with a lot of hard work – a lot of hard work – a dash of determination, and a dollop of luck, the rewards of starting your own business are excellent (think Bill Gates).

Paying Your Dues

Starting your own business is not easy. Some statistics show that small businesses will not see a significant profit for two years (although you do need to show a profit after the third year, or the IRS might think you are trying to hide something). Owning your own business is not a 9 to 5 job. Self-employed contract workers (writers, consultants) may work long hours under tight deadlines, while store owners spend anywhere from 80 to 120 hours or more a week maintaining their business. And then there are the regulations. Federal laws, state laws, city laws, all must be followed in order to remain in business. Small business owners have to adapt to the ever-fickle customer. Pet rocks may have been hot a few decades ago, but if you’re still trying to sell them today, you don’t have to look hard to see why your business is going under.

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Present and Future

The small business owner has been around since the days of bartering services. Throughout the years, small business owners have provided goods and services, employment, and government taxes. In a society based on capitalism, the small business owner can thrive, as long as they provide a product or a service that people need or just plain want. Today, over 66 percent of new businesses remained open 2 years, 49 percent at least 4 years, and 30 percent at least 6 years. In 1999 588,900 new small businesses opened their doors, while 528,600 closed up shop. However, of those that closed, over half said they were successful when they packed it in. Three percent of the self-employed own franchises, and over half work at home.

Quality of Life

PRESENT AND FUTURE

Long hours, little rest, meager amounts of money – all of this and more fill the first two years of being your own boss. This is the make or break time, when almost 40 percent of new businesses fold. But, if you’ve got the will, determination, and the means, making it over the two year hump can give you the confidence – and cash – to continue.

FIVE YEARS OUT

By now, the small business owner has been working long enough to get the kinks out. Problems like delinquent suppliers, lack of customers, and possible employee dissatisfaction have been meet and hopefully resolved in a way that prepare the small business owner to meet the challenges of some of the bigger bumps in the road (like say an global economic slowdown).

TEN YEARS OUT

Most small business owners still around after ten years find they have more time on their hands. If business is strong, employees are happy and productive, and customers are satisfied, the small business owner can take more time to ponder the possibilities of expansion. One word: Franchise.

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What is the Perfect Career For Me?

Choose a job you love, you will never have to work a day in your life. While this may sound like a cliché, choosing the career that is best suited for you is probably one of the most critical decisions you will ever make in your life. It will not only determine your future financial success but will also affect your life satisfaction and happiness in the years to come.
 

For most people, choosing a career path can be an overwhelming and anxiety-riddled task. With tons of occupations to choose from, it becomes a challenge to pick one that will make you happy and suit you perfectly at the same time. In this article, we will give you a comprehensive guide on how to find the best job for you.

Landing the Best Job for Your Personality

When figuring out the job that is the best fit for you, you must first learn as much as you can about yourself. By doing an assessment of your work personality, you will better understand which jobs to pursue to enjoy your career and be successful.
 

After exploring and understanding your work personality, if you are still unsure which career options might be right for you, you can seek the help of a career development expert or a career counselor who can provide coaching based on what you’ve learned about yourself.
 

For those who can’t afford to hire career development professionals, some public libraries or local agencies provide career planning and counseling. Most universities also have a career services office that is open to those who are enrolled, the alumni of the university, or sometimes even other members of the community. These can be valuable resources to utilize as you carefully plan your next step.

Identifying Your Work Style

The question: “What job should you have?” can be more specifically answered by identifying your work personality style. This is different from an assessment of your personality in general as it focuses specifically on who you are at work and how you work best. This assessment can be particularly helpful in identifying the right job that is in line with your strengths, determining areas of development, and ultimately in helping you focus on a career that will suit you best.
 

Once you fully understand your own work style, you will be able to identify the type of work environment in which you will thrive, pinpoint your career needs, and discover options that would work for you.

Take a Career Test

Taking a career test is probably the easiest way to figure out the perfect job for you. There are a lot of career assessments that are readily available online and are intended to guide you in choosing a career path. It is important you understand which type of career test you are taking.

There are interest tests (which help you identify careers you may be interested in, but do not necessarily assess if they are a good fit for you), aptitude tests (which assess which skills you currently have and how you could apply to them, but do not assess if these applications would be a good fit for either, nor do they suggest alternate career paths), personality tests (which assess your personality in general and suggest careers that may fit your personality), and work personality career test assessments (which focus on your personality in the workplace and suggest careers that would be a good fit for your work personality).
 

The best thing about taking a career test or quiz over the internet is that it is much more accessible and convenient (compared to taking a traditional pen-and-paper career test that can only be taken under the direction or administration of a career counselor or advisor).
 

These online assessments may be available at a low cost or even free of charge. When you take a free test, you will be provided with the results in the form of a report together with an analysis that will point you towards the most suitable jobs for you. Online career assessments coupled with professional guidance from a career development expert or counselor, if necessary, will help you build a solid career roadmap.

The Best Time to Take a Career Test

There is no single answer to the question of when it’s time to take a career assessment. You may take it when you are deciding on what courses to take in college, thinking about your next move after you graduate, or even when you are considering making a career change. However, it is best to take a career test as soon as you can to eliminate any confusion you may be having about your career path.

Making a List of Possible Occupations

Your career assessment will most likely include several possible occupations that are suitable for you, depending on several factors such as your personality, work style, aptitude, or interests.
 

The good thing about career tests is that they not only help the test taker confirm career paths they may already be considering, but they may also offer suggestions of careers and jobs that may not have been considered, but might be excellent choices. Hence, career assessments encourage greater flexibility of thought and help people have the courage to change jobs or move from one field to another suitable one with confidence. Doing a Job Search, as mentioned earlier, the results of your career test will provide you with a list of occupations that may be suitable for you. However, your journey in choosing the finding the perfect career doesn’t quite end there.

Some of these jobs may be a better fit for you compared to others on your list, so you should do a job search (or some job research) to get an idea of what each of these occupations entails. By doing some quick job research, you will get an idea of the demand for the job, the average salary, as well as the responsibilities and required education or training required for the job. With that knowledge, you will be better able to decide which career to pursue.
 

There is no better way to make an informed decision than going the extra mile researching the occupations recommended to you during your career assessment and exploring the possible career paths to take. Even if you think you already know about a particular job, you should still research it and put aside your preconceived notions that may be inaccurate. Unless you have prior experience related to a particular job or someone you know has the same position, you should explore career research until you feel you have a very good sense of what the job requires and what it would be like on a day-to-day basis.  

The next step is to find out what you need to do in order to be qualified for these jobs.

Is your education enough?

Do you need to pursue another degree, undergo more training, or take additional courses to increase your chances of being considered for the position?

You also need to decide if you have the time and resources to commit to the additional training or education required.
 

As part of exploring your career options, you should also look at a particular job’s demand. Before you decide to invest money and time to be qualified for a position, it is practical to find out if there are enough opportunities available. Knowing from the start that there are only limited opportunities for a particular job may redirect your career path, or conversely, if the demand is high it may encourage you to pursue the career.

Pushing Yourself Towards Your Chosen Career

After you’ve discovered what you are truly passionate about, you must be ready to fully commit yourself to it and not settle for less. No matter how difficult it may be at first, you must be willing to move towards your desired path relentlessly as this will be worth it in the end. Living a life that you would be proud of includes having a job that you love, and at the same time, allows you to earn a decent living. Once you manage to balance passion and practicality, you will surely be able to achieve the highest level of life satisfaction, happiness, and success.

Final Thoughts

While your job is not the only thing that matters in life, it is no secret that you will spend a huge part of your daily life working. Given this, it is incredibly important to find a job that fits you, fulfills you, and meets your financial needs.
 

When choosing the perfect career, there are a lot of factors that you should consider such as your interests, values, personality traits, competencies, skills, salary desires, the job’s duties and responsibilities, and job demand. By taking a career test, you will not only be able to make an informed decision about which career path to choose, but you will also be able to learn a little bit more about yourself.

What job best fits your life

When we talk about jobs, we often talk about “fit.” Most commonly, fit refers to how well a candidate matches up with a company and the role. One thing that sometimes gets overlooked, though, is how a job fits into your life.

Job success is based on both of these factors, so knowing what you’re looking for before getting into the job market can save you significant time and energy.

So how do you get there? Taking into account factors like your biggest motivators, how much you want to work, and how you spend your time outside the office can give you important clues to what kind of position will fit most seamlessly into your life.

Now that you’ve got a better idea of what job will fit your lifestyle, here are some top tips for finding the perfect fit job from a Professional Development Coach:

Examine your current role
Before you can decide what you’re looking for in a new role, clarify how you feel about your current position. Decide what’s working for you and identify where you crave change. Professional Development Coach Hana Ayoub of Hana Ayoub Coaching recommends this exercise:

“I like to look at an employee’s energy level to determine how aligned they are with their current role. It’s a key indicator to evaluating job fit. I ask my clients to move through a typical workweek and consider when and how often their role takes them from a baseline level of energy to invigoration. This can potentially illuminate a lack of intellectual stimulation or motivation for their current role. It also isolates the areas of the role where they are aligned, and they can potentially use that as a compass to lead the way for the upcoming job search.”

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Ayoub writes: “If a big professional change crosses your mind, then it warrants exploration. Exploration simply means to tune into the dialogue with a sense of curiosity to understand it better and doesn’t bind you to take action. But give it the airtime as soon as you can, otherwise, it will return with more intensity and possibly frustration. A trend I see often in my coaching practice is the volume of wanting a career change only increases over time; it rarely reverses itself. It’s more healthy and efficient to approach a job change when it’s an early-stage consideration, and not when it feels overdue. In other words, the time is now.”

Use this momentum to explore what position and what companies look like they could suit you, and give you the opportunity to move into your next professional phase.

Identify benefits that yield fit for you
Benefits are not just add-ons or perks. They keep you healthy, comfortable and well-positioned to enact your best work. Interestingly, 57% of job seekers weigh benefits among their top considerations before accepting a new role.

You can learn a lot about them using Glassdoor. Not only will you find lists of benefits companies offer such as PTO, family leave, health, and dental insurance, 401K information, and details about flexible arrangements such as telecommuting, you can also read employees’ feedback about the coverage.

Additionally, Glassdoor reviews offer a window into a professional culture: the leadership vibe, the professional pace and, generally, how it feels to be on staff there. You may also get a glimpse into the position you’re pursuing.

Another helpful feature-you can see how staff rate their CEO, which tells you a lot about the management.

Decide what benefits are most important to you, and weave those into you emerging professional goal.

Be an Informed Candidate
Every employer in the world wants to hire great people who stay productive and engaged. And every person wants to find a job they love. Unfortunately, great employees and a perfect job are difficult to find. However, being an informed candidate increases the likelihood of being hired.

An informed candidate is:

Search strategically
Once you’ve done some soul searching and you know what position seems a good next step, what companies appeal to you and which benefits matter to you most, you can launch a targeted search.

Searching for a job is a multi-faceted project, and the end result has a significant impact on your life. So take your time, and do it right.

Ayoub writes: “Instead of thinking of finding the right job fit as a series of trials and error, I like to think of it as an evolving work in progress. The distinction here is to get in motion, reflect, and make strategic decisions to continue moving forward. There is no such thing as a misstep; all experience provides information to learn from in order to move forward. It’s important to shed the expectation of having a clear linear professional path, or that it’s a ‘one and done’ process. Instead, embrace the mindset of an evolving career as personal priorities and market needs within your industry change over time.”

Good luck! You got this!
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“I mean, it’s just surprised me how encouraged I am to just be myself. I’m a Lead Product Designer for a Fortune 50 company and I’m wearing a sweater that has cherries on it. I have glitter on my eyes. There’s really no protocol of how a leader in the company should look like or act like, or even speak like. It’s a very relaxed, friendly environment where you’re encouraged to be yourself and not change for the culture. ” 

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Executive Team Leader, Human Resources 

“A plethora of things have impacted me during my time as an intern at Target, but I would say the thing that impacted me the most and was the most meaningful is the relationships that I’ve created with the people that I work with. I’m surrounded by so many intelligent, motivated, and hardworking individuals who have so much information to provide me with, and they want to provide me with it. They want to see me succeed, and they want to give me all of the knowledge they can.” 

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What Job Should I Have? How to Choose a Career in 8 Steps

‘What job should I have?’

Most adults asked themselves this question at some point. After all, it’s not an easy choice to make. Should you go after your childhood dream of becoming a firefighter or a ballerina? Or should you follow the advice of your parents, teachers, and other people who seem to always know better? What jobs will be well-paid in 10+ years? And what career can turn out a dead end in the future?

You can stop worrying. We’ll show you how to choose a career in a few minutes.

This guide will show you:

• How to choose a career you’ll love.
• Why career quizzes and career aptitude tests will always steer you wrong.
• The best answer to, “what job should I have” you won’t regret 3 years from now.
• Why “what career is right for me” might have an easier answer than you think.

There’s no prefab career finder that’ll pick your perfect career. The quick process in this guide will help you answer what should my career be on your own.

Want to save time and have your resume ready in 5 minutes? Try our resume builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ resume templates and create your resume here.

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1

How to Choose a Career? Start with Your Passions

Boy, do I envy you.

You’re learning how to choose a career. You’ve got a clean slate.

If I knew then what I know now, I’d be a millionaire.

Lucky you. I’m about to light a klieg light on your path to riches.

Ready?

Start with Passion

Does that sound cliche?

It is. But only because most people misuse it.

So, don’t listen to it.

Wait—what?

The first step in answering what career is right for me is passion. But it’s just a step.

Your passion might be knitting on a desert island. Maybe you can do that, write a book, and make a million bucks.

But probably not.

So—start with passion, but don’t stop there.

Why Passion Makes a Great Career Finder

Every job has roadblocks. Passion slices through them like a lightsaber through ice cream.

“You can learn most things on the job,” says Steve Dalton, author of The 2-Hour Job Search. “The challenge is getting employers to want to do that with YOU.”

That means showing interest in the subject matter—and that comes from passion.

“In the end, the heart wants what it wants,” Dalton says. “As a chemical engineer by training, it absolutely kills me to say that, but truth is truth.”

Do you know your passions?

Sit down and daydream. Grab a coffee or a Buddha bowl. Make it fun.

List everything you love and all the things you’d love to do.

Then move on. In the next section we’ll blow the doors off how to choose a career.

Pro Tip: Do you already have a good job you don’t like? Don’t rush into massive changes. See if you can transform it into something better.

Moving from a career you like to one you love? Turn your experience into a mile-long lever. See our guide: Career Change Resume: Sample and Complete Guide

2

Define Wealth to Duck the Biggest Blunder of Your Life

“I wish I had a million dollars.”

You don’t have to wish.

As long as people need things, the world is a river of money.

You just have to know where to dip your bucket in.

When you ask, “Which job should I have,” or, “what career should I pursue,” wealth is a huge part of the answer.

Do you want $200,000 a year? Is $100,000 enough?

Or is wealth something else entirely?

Some people make millions and they’re miserable.

So—how to choose a career that makes you happy?

Wealth Might Be:

• $100,000 a year
• Working 20 hours a week
• Living in a fantastic location
• City living
• Lots of family time
• Work you love
• Travel
• Country living
• Working with amazing people

Could it be all of the above? Or something else?

When choosing a career, be very clear at the beginning what you mean by “wealth.”

Want more help defining wealth? Joel Litman and Mark Frigo wrote the book on it: Driven: Business Strategy, Human Actions, And The Creation Of Wealth

Pro Tip: Will a career aptitude test answer what career should I have? No. A career quiz or job quiz will ignore your passions. Tests aren’t how to choose a career.

Disney fired James Gunn for 10-year-old tweets. It’s never too early to start cleaning up your online face. See our guide: How to Check Your Online Presence Before Recruiters Look You Up

3

Build a List of Jobs You Can Love

So far, so good.

• You’ve listed your passions.
• You know what wealth means to you.

You’re well on your way to knowing how to choose a career.

Next, you need a list of job titles.

There are thousands.

Did you ever think you’d be a:

• Chick Sexer
• Accent-Reduction Specialist
• Director of Sound Design
• Orthoptist
• Chief Storyteller?

Those are all real jobs.

Start with the biggest list that fits your goals.

Start With a Master List of Job Titles

Google search “list of jobs for” + [YOUR PASSION].

Example

Let’s say writing is your passion.

Do a Google search for “list of jobs for writers.”

You’ll find some big lists of all the careers you never heard of that relate to writing.

Journalist, speech writer, technical writer, executive assistant, acquisitions editor…

Scroll through five lists like that. Build your own mini-list of 10 jobs you think you’d love.

Then, move on to your next passion, and repeat.

Do the same thing with each skill you’re good at.

Last, add some dream jobs.

You’ll soon have a big list of 20–30 jobs that might just work.

Put them in the first column of a spreadsheet. You can call it, How to Choose a Career, What Career is Right for Me, What Job Should I Have, or just Career Finder.

In column #2, rate each job’s passion on a scale of 1–10.

Do the same with “wealth” in column #3.

Pro Tip: It helps to look at the most popular careers. If you’re wondering what job is best for me, see our list of resume guides for the most common professions.

Need a big list of career choices? We’ve got one here: 50 Job Titles that Work on a Resume & Job Hunt [Current & Desired!]

4

Look at Salaries to Dodge the Pauper Zone

When asking what job is right for me, don’t say money doesn’t matter.

To quote Scholarships.com CEO Kevin Ladd, “You can’t buy happiness, but chicken breasts are $3.18 a pound.”

Find crossroads where your passion meets with piles of money.

To do that, use:

• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook. It lists salary data for hundreds of careers. It’ll help you cross off low-paying jobs. (The data comes from U.S. Census surveys. )
• Glassdoor.com. Use the salary search feature to find how much each job title pays. (The data comes from millions of real employees around the world.)

Both sites make great career finders.

In column #4 of your spreadsheet, add the median salary for each of your 20–30 job titles.

Pro Tip: Use salary as a baseline in your how to choose a career search. But question it. Glassdoor says bloggers make $30,000, but trust me, some make a lot more.

Wondering what major is right for me as well as what career should I have? See our guide: How to Choose a Major: A Complete Guide

5

Skip Dead Ends by Knowing Job Outlook

Congratulations!

You just spent 10 years becoming a master buggy-whip designer.

Now you’ll make a million dollars. Right?

Well, no.

Two huge things to think about when asking, “What career is right for me?”

1. How much training does the job need?
2. How many jobs are there, and are they growing?

Knowing how to choose a career means understanding job outlook.

Respect Training or It’ll Bite You

Architects make $78,470 a year, on average. But—

They need 5–7 years of school, plus 5,600 hours of work experience.

Most earn a lot less than the average.

Is it worth it?

For each job on your list, check how hard it is to get there.

The best way? Google “How to become a” + [JOB TITLE].

Are You Fighting to Get Into a Burning Building? You Might Be

Which would you rather be?

• An AI developer or—
• A rotary phone maker?

Hmmm. ..

The Occupational Outlook Handbook says there are 1.25 million software developer jobs. They’ll grow at 24% in the next 10 years. (Much faster than average.)

Gee, they also pay a median of $103,560 a year.

Not bad.

Now let’s look up rotary phone makers…

Hmm. No results.

For each job on your list, write the years of training in column #5.

Add the job outlook and growth in columns #6–#7 in your How to Choose a Career spreadsheet.

Pro Tip: If you don’t find a job title in the Occupational Outlook Handbook, Google it. Chances are, someone else has done the research on salary and job growth.

What job should I have? Your LinkedIn network makes a great career finder. I’ll explain in a minute. For now, see our guide: How To Optimize Your LinkedIn Summary & Profile To Get Jobs

6

The Fun Part: Make a Short List of Your Favorite 10 Careers

Here comes the pot of gold.

So far, you’ve:

1. Listed your passions
2. Defined your wealth goals
3. Written your favorite job titles
4. Added salary data from Glassdoor and BLS
5. Included job outlook

Now it’s time to narrow down your list.

Peek at your How to Choose a Career spreadsheet. You’ve got 20–30 jobs.

Pick the 10 with the best passion, wealth, salary, and job outlook.

Figure out where high pay, high demand, goals, and passion meet.

But you’re not done yet.

What if you could ask your future self, “Are you happy in this job?”

Well, you can.

I’ll show how next.

Pro Tip: When you make your what should my career be spreadsheet, add columns for other criteria you rate highly. You’ll get a better answer.

As you zero in on what career is best for me, start networking. Does that sound boring? Read this amazing story: How to Network Your Way Into a $100,000 Job [Real-Life Story]

When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.

Create my resume now

When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.

7

How to See the Future for a Job You’ll Really Love

Here’s the really fun part.

For the next step in how to choose a career—

Peek at your future with:

• Reddit
• Informational Interviews

Use Reddit to See Who Loves Your List

For each job on your short list of 10—

Google search:

• “What’s it like to be a“ + [JOB TITLE] + “reddit”
• “Do you like being a” + [JOB TITLE] + “reddit”

Example

Let’s say “financial analyst” is one of your dream jobs.

So—search, “Do you like being a financial analyst reddit.”

You’ll get results like, “Is anyone a financial analyst?” and, “What exactly do financial analysts do?”

You also get titles like, “I want to be a financial analyst. Where do I start?”

Boom. You’ve just opened a direct connection to dozens of people already in your dream job. (Your very own career survey!)

Holy cow, right?

You can do the same trick with Quora.

A word of warning: a lot of Redditors are disgruntled. If 10% of DevOps engineers hate their jobs, they’re all on Reddit.

So—don’t stop there.

Use the magic of tiny informational interviews.

Use Tiny Informational Interviews to Grab the Treasure

Ready?

Here’s the last step in how to choose a career:

Use your Reddit magic to narrow your list down to the top five jobs.

Then, do informational interviews.

Sound tough? It’s not.

Go to LinkedIn. In the search box, type your dream job.

In the drop-down menu, click the “people” option.

See where it says, “DevOps in People” in the image below?

When you click it, you’ll get a million DevOps engineers (or any career you pick).

Ask 2–3 what they think of their career. Send a short note like:

Hi Santosh,

I’m interested in a career in DevOps.

Could I ask a few questions about what you do?

Best regards,

Shmuel Delarosa

Here’s a career finder tip worth money—

You might need to ping 10+ people to get 2–3 who say yes.

When they do, ask:

• Do you love your job?
• How’s the money?
• Was it hard to get there?
• Would you do anything differently?

You’ll get an almost supernatural glimpse into your future.

You’ll also build great networking connections to start your new career.

Pro Tip: If your LinkedIn interviews get really interesting, ask to switch to phone calls. You’ll learn a lot more and built a deeper connection.

Want to really nail your informational interviews? We’ve got a guide for that: 15 Best Informational Interview Questions

8

Bonus—The Problem With Career Tests and Career Quizzes

Danger!

Everybody loves career quizzes and career path tests.

Half a million people a month search some variation of:

• Career aptitude test
• Career quiz
• Job quiz
• Career tests
• How to choose a career test

So—why are they so popular?

It sounds like a great idea! Answer a few questions and out pops your dream job.

The problems?

• Job quizzes are incomplete—they give a very narrow range of choices.
• Career finder tests ignore your life goals.
• Many have incomplete salary and job growth data.
• Career quizzes are based on skills and personality types, not passions. They can’t help but overlook careers you’d love.

Yuck!

Do you really want to trust your future to something with that many flaws?

Remember:

Only professionally developed career assessments can provide an objective view of your interests, abilities, or personality to help you decide on a career. They enable self-reflection and can give you a sense of direction when you are considering a career or career transition.

In the hands of a trained counselor or coach, professional career tests can help you narrow your career options as you undergo career exploration. They are one piece of the puzzle as you make decisions about your careers and jobs.

Dr. Janet Wall

Career Facilitator

 Want proof?

I took one online test, and it told me I should be a mathematician, programmer, astronomer, or photonics engineer.

It completely ignored my biggest passion—writing!

Why not ask a psychic or a bartender, “Hey, what career is best for me?”

Certainly, use career tests to see if fun ideas pop up.

But please—!

Don’t trust your future to an online job quiz. Go for professionally developed assessment tests instead.

Pro Tip: Thinking about easy careers? Think again. According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of the bestseller Flow, the best moments of our lives are when we’re challenged.

Once you’ve answered what career is right for me, you’ll need to find real jobs. See our guide: Job Sites: 15 Best Job Search Engines and How to Use Them Perfectly

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here’s what it may look like:

See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Key Takeaway

This guide gives a quick, useful system to answer “what job should I have?”

Here’s how to choose a career:

• Start with passion. Answering “what career is right for me” is easier if you ask your heart first. Passion smashes through a million bolted doors.
• Define “wealth.” Do you want a six-figure job, or something else? Freedom? Flexible hours? Family time? Don’t assume your happiness has a dollar figure.
• Build your list of job titles. Search “list of jobs for” + your passions and skills.
• Check salaries and job outlook. Use Glassdoor and the BLS.gov Occupational Outlook Handbook to see how much you’ll earn, and how hard it is to get a job.
• Don’t rely on career aptitude tests. The best career test is one not taken. Don’t believe in magic—you won’t learn what career is right for you just by filling in a questionnaire.
• Ask the people with that job. Go on Reddit and Quora to see if people love each job you’re interested in. Last, do tiny informational interviews. They’ll give you more hints as to what job you should really have than any test online.

Do you have questions on “what career is right for me?” Still not sure how to choose a career that fits your skills and passions? Give us a shout in the comments! We’d be happy to reply.

Home | Labour Market Insights

Home | Labour Market Insights

We share the latest insights from the National Skills Commission to help you understand your local labour market.

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The National Skills Commission has published a downloadable offline version of the Career Quiz. The quiz identifies users’ preferred work styles and suggests careers based on their preferences.

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A test that will help you better understand yourself and choose the right profession — Work.

ua

We passed and we liked it. Pass it too, suddenly this test will help you decide what to become when you grow up;)

professional guidelines.

We in the editorial office have already passed and confirmed that we are where we need to be. You go too, get recommendations based on the answers and share the results. I wonder who among our readers is more – Leaders or Helpers? 🙂

Anastasia Pankovetskaya

Author and presenter of the training “Enneagram – a unique personality typology”, trainer of Alla Zadneprovskaya’s Living Business Consulting Group

Enneagram (from the Greek ennea – nine and grammos – figure) – a psychological model that combines nine types of personality , describes each type and the relationship between them.

Results

Type 1: Perfectionist or Reformer

Occupations 0027 : The office environment is great for your love of rules, organization, and attention to detail. Work where you need to improve business processes. The area of ​​education is also ideal for you.