Do you have some career options that you like? Good. Now you need to narrow them down. This can be easily done with research. First, put all of your options on a piece of paper. This list will be your guide because you need to research all of these careers to find an answer to a question – which of these jobs is the best for me?

First, find out what exactly people with careers that are on your list do. For example, if you wrote down that you want to be a journalist, you need to find out what exactly they do at their jobs all day. Taking our journalists as an example, they need to come up with a relevant story at least three times a week. If you are working on a daily paper, you need to know what you will write every single day of your job. You need to talk to a lot of people that do not want to talk to you or to listen to a bunch of people with questioning backgrounds just to find out, in the end, they are not relevant to your story. It is a lot of work that you do alone, but to do it, you still need a lot of people and their cooperation. So, to find your perfect career, your first step is to find out what people do the jobs you like.

Almost done…

After you find out what your dream jobs are really like, you still have work to do. You need to ask some other important questions about careers you put down as your options. We provided you with some of the questions that can help you realize which jobs on your list are not for you, and in that way, you can be closer to your answer – the job that is best for you.

–    What type of education do you need for this job? Are there schools in your area or in your price range that you can attend to pursue this career? How well do your grades need to be so you can get in the job market?

–    How much money do people working in this field get? Will the median salary for this job be enough for you?

–    How hard is it to get a job in this field? Is there a lot of competition? How tough will be for you to be above average in this field?

–    This job is required in what type of places? Is there a lot of those places in your town or country? How valuable is this job for you and your community?

You can also try to gain some experience in the fields that interest you by summer internships, shadowing, or part-time jobs. Some jobs can seem interesting and right for you until you try them, so don’t be afraid to get some real experience.