Discover the work you were born to do - career advice from monster.com

Careers and Colleges, Jan-Feb, 2004 by James Gonyea

How in the world are you going to find the work that you were born to do? To begin answering the question, you have to examine your interests, beliefs values, needs and skills. Professional career counselors usually undertake this strategy when attempting to help clients identify appropriate career directions,

HERE'S WHAT I ask clients to do to help them find their cote. Ask yourself these questions and record your answers.

1. What subjects do you most enjoy reading about? --

2. What television or radio programs do you most enjoy? --

3. What are your favorite types of movies? --

4. What are your favorite hobbies or pastimes? --

5. What type of volunteer activities do you prefer? --

6. What subjects do you enjoy discussing with friends? --

7. What subjects come to mind when you daydream? --

8. What have been your favorite jobs? --

9. What were your favorite school subjects? --

10. What are your pet peeves? --

11. If you doodle, what do you often draw? --

12. If you ran the world, what changes would you make? --

13. If you won a million bucks, what would you do with it? --

14. What are your favorite kinds of people? --

15. How would you like to be remembered after your death? --

16. What are your favorite toys? --

17. How would you describe your political beliefs? --

18. Who do you most admire in life and why? --

19. What tasks have brought you the most success? --

20. What tasks do you think you could do well that you haven't yet done?--

EXAMINE YOUR ANSWERS, Do you see a certain behavior or belief in more than one aspect of your life? What information do you see repeated that seems to reveal a behavior pattern? What are your long-lasting interests?

Using this information, on a separate sheet, paint a self-portrait by completing the following statements:

* I am mainly interested in ...

* I believe most in ...

* I most value ...

* For a good life, I feel I need ...

* I can do the following well ...

By gathering together this information about yourself, you should be able to get a better idea of the type of career that will suit you best.

"Discover the Work You Were Born to Do" by James Gonyea first ran on Monster For more expert career advice, visit us online at http://content.monster.com.