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Career Finder
Where to go from here for a successful future
Gill Hasson
This edition first published 2021
© 2021 by Gill Hasson
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John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data
Names: Hasson, Gill, author.
Title: Career finder : where to go from here for a successful future / Gill Hasson.
Description: Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom : Wiley-Capstone, 2021. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020043581 (print) | LCCN 2020043582 (ebook) | ISBN 9780857088642 (paperback) | ISBN 9780857088659 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9780857088604 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Vocational guidance.
Classification: LCC HF5381 .H287 2021 (print) | LCC HF5381 (ebook) | DDC 650.1—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020043581
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020043582
Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Image: © kathayut kongmanee/Shutterstock
Introduction
Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it.
Katherine Whitehorn
Why do people end up working in jobs and careers they don't like? It's not that they're bad jobs; they could be jobs other people do like doing. In general, people end up in jobs or careers they don't like for one or more of the following reasons:
Their job or career doesn't reflect who they really are: there's a mismatch between their values, interests, strengths, skills, and abilities and the job they're doing or the career they're in.
They aren't aware of the huge range of jobs and careers that are out there, that are available to them, and would be a good fit for them.
Once they have identified a job or career they'd like to do, they don't know what opportunities to pursue to maximize their chances of getting an ‘in’.
You don't have to be one of these people!
Identifying the work and career that's right for you – that you'll like and enjoy doing, is a process of discovery and learning.
Not only do you need to find out more about yourself and the jobs and careers that are available, you also need to know that, whatever path you decide to follow, it doesn't have to be fixed. These days, careers are dynamic; they're characterized by changing world events, changing personal circumstances, new ideas and directions. Chapter 1 starts by explaining this. It describes how each of us has to take responsibility for managing the nature, direction, and development of our own career. And that's a good thing! It means that you get to define and create your own working life: you become the author of your career.
Chapters 2 and 3 help you to learn more about yourself – to identify your values and interests; your skills, strengths, and qualities; and your own preferred way of learning and doing things. Having done that, you'll then have a clearer idea of who you are. You'll know what your values are: the importance, for you, of what you put into and get out of your work. You'll have identified your attributes – your strengths – and your skills – what you're good at doing. You'll also have identified the way that you naturally approach learning and doing things.
Next, you can start to explore what jobs and careers there are and think about how they might be of interest and be a good fit for you. Chapter 4 discusses whether or not there's a perfect job out there for you. You may be hoping that once you've found your passion everything else will fall into place. But what if you don't have a passion or a ‘calling’? There's little or nothing you feel particularly enthusiastic about or inspired to do? No problem!
You don't have to have a calling, a big idea or a long‐term career plan. Instead, you identify what might be of interest and be a good direction, do some research, and learn from what you find out along the way. Chapter 4 helps you discover the wide range of jobs and careers out there and explains how to narrow them down to a few that are most of interest to you.
Once
