Will You Be My Long-term Career Match?

Really, where is this match-made-in-heaven?

With the ever-increasing population comes a decrease in resources. Or will the next baby be the genius who solves hunger, poverty, cancer, pollution, dry skin, and loneliness?

This confusion is but one area that gives people difficulty in choosing their careers, while others seem to fall into a pot of gold. 

There is always pressure when it comes to one’s future in terms of work and source of livelihood. Have you ever been in a position where the career you adored suddenly became an out-of-choice nothing? Maybe it is overcrowded or not looking as lucrative as it did. Many times, people find themselves in career paths they never had a passion for. Then the passion rises later or never at all. 

Having witnessed these questions, you might wonder how you will know what your career will be in the long run? Who doesn’t want the job/career that is the match made in heaven? 

Career choice is indeed different from the actual career itself. For many people, there is the bitterness with their job. For instance, you might think teaching is just tutoring and lecturing in front of students, but there is much more: the commitment and all the professional documents you need to become the ideal teacher.

Now, for someone falling into the dilemma of what his/her career will be, here are some points that I found will keep you at peace when you are ready. 

Look at yourself, look at your options

These bits worked for me, and I am sure they will help you too: Self-observation and considering many options. Recognize and evaluate your skills, interests, values, and career objectives, but don’t forget to find out about the job market, to project salaries and scrutinize educational requirements.

Who am I, and what skills do I have now or need soon?

Employers are all looking for skilled employees. Someone who they are sure will bring value to their place of work. You need to understand what set of skills you have that you can execute for top results — productive and unique. 

For instance, when I was about to apply for the post of Student Outsourcing Coordinator at Biomed Laboratory Limited, I was obliged to read and evaluate my experience and honestly scrutinize myself if I had what it took to take up this role. 

Although the job requirements stressed knowledge of microbiology, histopathology, and neuropathology I had trained on during my studies, I was still not certain if I had the skills right and went back to my notebooks. I even called my former facilitator to help me understand what the job demanded. Having done all this, I realized that indeed I had the right skills, and so I applied for the job with courage. Through my field experience, I developed skills with real applications, not just theory. 

How would I recognize my true interests?

Most people have fallen into the trap of getting into careers that they never wanted or had a love for. This is the point where the CVor resume is convincing, but is full of uncertainties. I was almost becoming a victim of this frustration when I was applying for the Outsourcing Coordinator position for Biomed Lab.  I saw it was important to follow what resonates well with me, working with students and assisting them in getting lab training. The fact that I was the bridge between what they learned in theory and actualizing that material in real world situations is what motivated me.

Surely, my interest was not in working in the lab only, but also in helping others get a chance to create an experience. So first understand what your passion and interests are — things that when you do them, you feel motivated, and not because you have no other option.

Do the company values match my own?

You need to make sure that the career you yearn for holds the matching set of values and principles that will set the ground for an easy time while at the job, and not those that will conflict with your standards. When I joined Biomed Lab as their employee, the work environment was in harmony with my values of cooperating instead of competing, with good communication and a genuine urge to help every student achieve their goals. 

Yet I was afraid that the experience I had during my internships would recur in this new work environment, where nobody cared about the feelings of an individual, only what they gave to the company. But I am happy to say that at Biomed, we share values, making my job enjoyable — fertile for growth —and therefore more meaningful than the internship. 

Which career objectives will make my career bloom?

Objectives are very important to sift through when it comes to knowing how your career will grow. Before you choose that career, plot out the goals you want that field to achieve clearly and understand how you will achieve them within that career. With this landscape in mind, you are sure your future career will bloom with the harvest you envision. 

Having clearly defined objectives made me courageous when new opportunities poked up. Before I applied to Biomed, I reviewed whether the position I applied for matched what I wanted to ultimately reap. 

I have always yearned for a working domain where science, education, and people meet. But how would it actually turn out when I finally accepted a job with my feet on the ground? Fortunately, I got a role that connected students to lab practices, which to me was the right path towards achieving my career goals. At least it was a start. I gained experience in communication, organization, and leadership, the experience I was expecting to achieve in the long run of promoting public health research and training.  

Don’t worry, setting goals does not mean you limit yourself to that scope alone, but rather helps you work purposefully. Focusing.

How is my job market operating right now?

Another way of determining what your future job will look like is through the job market. Conduct some research on easy websites to identify the trends of how the career you want is now absorbing employees. Review various careers and assess which ones best fit your expectations based on the market. 

For example, I never considered knowing how my own job market would relate to me getting real opportunities. I later faced how important it is to understand the market when I was looking for career options during my final year of school.

I was shocked to learn that my intended field of lab positions was overcrowded and at the same time offered limited job titles. This constraint compelled me to research other flexible but related roles where my skills would still count.  Luckily, I came across Biomed actively hiring at that time and even offering a position related to what I wanted — not exactly, but at least in the same area of interest. So, stay updated on the jobs that are actually in demand and highly competitive in terms of the salary offered.

Which salary should I expect?

Pay is another important factor to consider when thinking about taking on a given career. You need to predict the wages you are likely to be paid for some balance between the labor given and the salary you get in return. This range will save you from exploitation by your employer.  

Before I applied for the Coordinator role, I took some time to research salary expectations in similar roles. I did not just focus on the immediate salary, but also on the likely future salary, should I secure a higher rank. You don’t owe interviewers your idea of your salary expectations, but you need to know what the market will bear as you react to their offers.

This “digging” would help ensure that my salary grew relative to the work I put in,  with room for advancement.  As much as salary should not be the center of focus for an employee, having an idea of what to expect financially helps prepare a balance between input and output,  to avoid overextending yourself or being used.

Which education (or paper proof) do I need?

Once you have identified a career that you want to pursue, how will you get there? Figure out which educational and then professional goals you should aim for, 

Personally, I looked for whatever would enable me to work seamlessly in the lab training field, thus identifying shortfalls in my knowledge of biological science. When I first decided to apply for the position in student outsourcing, I understood that having overall knowledge about science would be of great help. Still, I needed to be sure what the employers were specifically searching for.  I conducted research mostly to know what qualifications and degrees were in demand in my line of work. With this knowledge I was driven to consider positions that could offer promotions — space for growth and continuous improvement. 

You must familiarize yourself with the various levels of programs-training-certificates you can take to enable you to rise in your career path and attain achievements easily. In other words, choose a career trajectory that will see you get promoted easily, and not a career that will stunt you. 

Taking it all in for me

Taking the above factors into consideration from evaluating skills to understanding salary expectations, I applied for the role at Biomed easily, since they helped me match my personal goals, values, and interests with the opportunities that were available there. 

The primary aspect is knowing that my career was not about predicting my future, but plowing in to learn more about my career without guessing wildly. Through self-evaluation of my skills, weighing my interests and personal values, having clear goals, knowing about the job market, and making sure that my salary balanced with my labor, I was able to come up with good strategies to navigate my way into and through my career.

As I continue to develop new skills in this position, the same factors guide me confidently in getting new opportunities, whether I will consider advancing in this field of work or looking for new career directions entirely. 

Who knows, maybe you are the baby who next solves the world’s challenges, starting with your own almost-perfect career that at least matches you.