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Assess Yourself and Your Needs
In order to figure out what career is best for you, you will need to assess yourself and your needs. Take a look at the interactive below to help you determine what kinds of things you should consider when thinking about what you want in a career.
Consider the following scenario:
Tony, a former minor league baseball player, wanted to continue in a career with sports and fitness. He also wanted a career where he could interact with people. Tony took a position as a middle school physical education teacher thinking it would suit his needs just fine. Unfortunately, Tony was miserable as a teacher. He was not able to relate to the kids as well as he related to adults. The stress and long work hours prevented him from keeping up with his own personal fitness goals which made him very unhappy. In addition, having to save for the summer and pay for teacher certification classes really cut into his paycheck making it difficult to pay his bills.
While Tony was correct in pursuing his interest in sports, he was wrong in thinking he had the personality and skills for working with kids. He values having plenty of personal time for his pursuits outside of work, but he did not realize that the career he chose required long hours. He also did not fully understand his financial needs and the cost of additional education.
Before you make the same mistakes as Tony did, consider the factors in the above graphic and do your homework. Taking the time to assess yourself is the first step in finding a fulfilling career.