You know the old saying that ???if you find a job you love then you will never work a day in your

life???? While it may sound pretty corny, it is actually true. However, it needs to be re-sculpted for

the modern age. These days the chances of you having a single job from graduation to retirement

are pretty much nil. We are all modular workers, we will move around from one company to

another, one position to another. That is just the nature of the contemporary work environment.

So to bring that saying into the 21st century we need to make just one change, but it is an

important one. Now it should read, ???if you find a career you love then you will never work a day

in your life???. So what is a career? Career is defined as ???an occupation undertaken for a significant

period of a person’s life and with opportunities for progress.??? In this definition career is

understood to relate to a range of aspects of an individual’s life work. With a career you can

change jobs and positions a million times, but you will always have the same focus with your

career, it means that all the different jobs you take are cumulative, that they build on top of one

another and add to each other so that as time goes on you have more relevant skills and more

experience that means you are at the top of your game.

But this means that you need to work out what career you want. And this is not as easy as it

sounds. There are many different careers out there, with more and more new ones being created

each and every day, and old ones gradually and suddenly disappearing. So how do you go about

deciding what you are going to do for most of your life? It is a big decision and one that takes a

lot of effort to get right. This guide will help you on your way, whether you have left school and

are scrolling through the classifieds, are about to start studying, are thinking about retraining or

simply need a new direction in life.

Time for some self-reflection

Right, the first thing that you need to do is ???self-reflection???, though to be honest this part should

also involve talking to those who know you best. What you need to do is come up with an

honest outline of who you are, where your skills and best qualities lie and what things satisfy you.

The reality is that we are all different and the things that make some people happy would drive

others totally nuts. While some people love interacting with others all day, there are many who

could not imagine anything worse. That is why you need to be really honest and thorough here.

You need to make a list of ???skills???, where you write down everything that you are good at,

whether it is working with numbers or people. They don???t just have to be ???skills??? that you have

learnt but can also be your innate qualities. Then you need to make another list of ???satisfiers???,

here you write down all the things that you enjoy. Now in both these lists it helps to be

comprehensive. Don???t try to tailor them to any specific jobs, but rather be as honest as you can

(if you are really good at balancing a spoon on your nose, then list it! Same goes if you are a

fantastic joke teller! Also, if you like going for long walks in the rain or drinking pina coladas

then make sure you put these on the list! Whatever you are good at or like should go on here).

That way you will gain a really broad and encompassing outline of what you are good at and

what you like, and the intersection between these two lists should help you work out what you

want to do.

Time to get to the intersection

Ok, you have your long lists of things that you are good at and things that you like. Now is the

time to see what careers will bring these two things together. The idea here is to marry up the

things that you are good at with the things that you like and find a career that brings them

together. That way you will not only enjoy what you do but will be good at it (and being good at

something is enjoyable in itself). Now this is the most difficult part as you will really need to

think laterally when you are thinking about what careers match your two lists. Try not to be

boxed in by the traditional careers like lawyer, accountant and architect, but be more creative and

adventurous about what things fit with your lists. It may be that you are really good at measuring

and love working with numbers, which means that you could work as a surveyor or pattern

cutter or even a digital renderer. The point is that you need to be as flexible and open as you can

so that you are able to find a number of careers that will fit your skills and your passions.

Choose one and make it so

Right, here is the hardest part. Now that you have worked out a number of different possible

careers that fit with both the things that you are good at and the things that you love, you have

to choose one and make it a reality. The point is to match up the possible careers with ones that

you can actually achieve, then set your sights on achieving it. Good luck and may you never work

a day in your life!