Get Clear on Your Career: How Career Clarity can Help you Discover your Dream Job

Do you feel stuck in a job you don’t like? Do you feel dread at the thought of being in the same position in 5 years? What if there were one thing you could do that would open the doors to the dream job you’ve been waiting for? There is often one essential thing that stands between you and pursuing the job of your dreams. And that is:

CLARITY

People often think they need to have the perfect resume or a list of credentials and highly esteemed qualifications to find the job of their dreams. But most of the time, people don’t even know what their dream job looks like.?

How can you know where you are going if you don’t have a destination in mind? Just as you wouldn’t likely plan a trip without a map or destination, it doesn’t help to look for a job without knowing what you actually want to do.

An aimless journey is much less fulfilling than an intentional one. When people become intentional in all they do, that’s when doors often open, and they find fulfillment. Frustration often comes from a lack of clarity because a lack of clarity only creates further uncertainty.?

Career Clarity Coaches typically hear the same things from their clients:

• “I’m not in a fulfilling job.”
• “I don’t feel like I fit in.”
• “I’m so unhappy in my job.”
• “I’m lacking direction and don’t know what to do next.”
• “I have no purpose in my position.”
• “I feel so much uncertainty.”
• “This doesn’t feel like what I was meant to do.”

These statements often stem from the uncertainty that comes from a lack of career clarity.

Why Clarity is Important

To recruiters and job interviewers, the candidates that stand out are those who are clear in who they are and what they want to do. When people go into a job interview with uncertainty, interviewers pick up on it. Interviewers then have that same uncertainty when it comes to hiring those candidates who lack clarity.?

If you are doing rounds and rounds of interviews with nothing catching, you may want to evaluate whether you are clear on what you want to do. Clarity should be your first priority. Many people apply and interview for jobs they aren’t even sure they want.?

Before even getting to the interview stage, it is absolutely crucial to be clear on?what?you want and?where?you want to go.??

How to Find Career Clarity: Establish Your Career Compass

The first thing is getting clear on who you are. And sometimes, you just need a compass to help you find the path that’s meant for you. Here are some tips for establishing a career compass:

Identify your strengths and skills:

Make a list of your strengths and the skills you are consistently good at, energized by, and enjoy using the most. This is only one piece of the puzzle, though. Evaluating what you are good at only matters if you ENJOY the skill too. If you are really good at coding, but you absolutely hate it—it likely won’t bring you a sense of fulfillment. So be sure to match your skills with your interests.?

That being said, it also helps to make a list of interests that both excite and invigorate you. Write your list in the order of what you are most passionate about, how you like to spend your time, and what subjects you have enthusiasm for. Don’t worry about whether you have enough experience in what you are interested in. Experience can be gained, so don’t let it hold you back from finding the career of your dreams.?

Your Spark—What Makes You Come Alive:

Imagine your dream life. You wake up and think about your day ahead and even forget your caffeinated boost because the excitement about what you do is enough to charge you for the day. What would that dream career look like? What are the things that would excite you? Here are a few questions to ask yourself to highlight what makes you come alive if you haven’t yet found it:

• What problem affecting your world (family/community/or larger) would you love to solve?
• In most of our lives, there are moments when we are so engrossed in a task that we lose all track of time. Write about a time when this happened to you.
• What would you attempt if you knew you couldn’t fail?
• When you look at a catalog of online courses that you could take, which subjects really interest you?
• What would you like to do more of?

Ideal Working Conditions:

This is a part a lot of people skip over. Take a keen evaluation of what working conditions you need to be the happiest and most effective in your work. What physical environments do you thrive in? Which environments enable you to do your most effective work? Do you need to work from home? Do you need flexible hours? What salary do you need that would attribute to your worth as well as meet and exceed your needs financially?

Be clear on the working conditions you need to thrive and what things you can compromise on that won’t affect your values or wellbeing.?

Get Clear on Your Personal Brand

Know the values you stand for and what you want to be known for. Some people think that building a personal brand means creating a certain look and persona, but building a personal brand is actually about establishing your skillset and what you want to be known for. People can’t see clearly what you do if you are not clear on who you are and what you do first.

To build a strong personal brand, start by writing a personal mission statement expressing who you are and communicating your values. Establishing this statement of values in advance helps give others clarity about who you are during interviews and networking.

Conclusion

Once you find career clarity, you will be able to pursue your dream job without hesitation. It is only when you find career clarity that people become clear on hiring you. If you feel lost because you haven’t been able to discover the job you are meant to do, know that it is never too late to pick up a map and establish clarity on your next steps. You can find a meaningful career that takes you from frustrated to fulfilled by creating a clear path. The first step is starting with getting clear on who you are and where you want to go.?

Not sure if you are ready for a career change? Read more?here?on how to transition from a job you dread to a career you love.?

Are you looking for career clarity? Join my free 5-Day Career Clarity Challenge! I will guide you through my highly acclaimed Career Bloom System so that you will have the clarity you need to find a career you'll love!