Getting on the Right Career Path

Most people will spend over 92,000 hours working during their lifetime. This accounts for more than one-third of the time people spend awake over the course of a 50-year career period.

Considering how much time you spend at work during your life, it’s important to think about finding a career with a high degree of job satisfaction, and one way to help get yourself on the right career path is to receive career counseling. Read on for more information.

Change Is Normal

Many people do not start off in their ideal career. In fact, changing careers is now more common than ever. Almost one-third of all people are switching jobs annually. The average person will have 11 different positions during their life.

One of the reasons why people are changing careers more frequently is due to changes in the workplace. As technology advances, some jobs have reduced demand, while there are new opportunities elsewhere. You may also be motivated to find a position that pays more or has better working hours. This can be a factor if you are starting a family and have young children.

In some cases, benefits will entice employees to make a change, particularly if a new job offers paid vacation days or health insurance.

Opportunities in NYC

Another reason a person may change careers is because of increased awareness of opportunities. Ask a room full of young children what they want to be when they grow up and you’ll likely hear “teacher,” “police officer,” and “firefighter” among their answers. The reason that these are jobs rank so high among their answers is because children are highly familiar with them.

As you get older, ideally, you will have increased exposure to more opportunities, but your level of exposure depends on where you live and how you’re raised. The options for individuals pursuing a career in Helena, Montana or Pierre, South Dakota may be very different than the career choices available to those living in New York City.

The more research you do, the more options you will be aware of. It might be easy to associate a thriving urban city like New York with taxi cab drivers, actors, and musicians, but there are actually a bewildering number of interesting and unique jobs that people can pursue. For example, winemakers aren’t limited to the vineyards in California; it’s possible to be an urban winemaker. Not interested in designing houses? Perhaps you’d prefer a career as a fragrance chemist, bounty hunter, or food stylist.

How Career Counseling Works

Since New York City is heavily populated, there are a wider range of jobs to choose from and more employers competing for employees. That can be a distinct advantage for those looking for a unique career opportunity. It can also be overwhelming. Taking advantage of a career counseling NYC service can be an important step towards job satisfaction.

Professionals can help expose you to new career paths you may not have been aware of. They can also help you assess your interests, skills, and needs. This is important because it is not enough to simply decide that you want to become an editor or a winemaker—you may need a specific skill set in order to qualify for these positions. Experienced career counselors can help you identify the steps you will need to take to prepare for your ideal career, while also exposing you to other opportunities that you may qualify for with the skills and training you already have.

The fact that so many people are changing their jobs now underscores how important it is to continue pursuing job training opportunities and developing relevant workplace skills. Whether you’re about to graduate from high school, college, or grad school and don’t feel confident about your career plan, or whether you’re already in a job that you don’t find satisfying, career counseling can be a valuable asset to help you learn about different career paths and develop a strategy to find and secure a more satisfying position that you can stay in for years to come.