In a recent blog – What is the best career for me? – I showed you how to find the best careers by looking at your natural tendencies and finding a work environment that allowed them to thrive. Based on some questions we received, I’m following up by addressing job seekers who are wondering how career coaching can help them identify the best career path before applying for jobs.

Before jumping in, there are two assumptions behind how we address finding ideal jobs for clients:

• You must know yourself and the criteria for jobs/careers that fit.
• Even the best careers require molding and shaping before you can call them “the best”.

Career Exploration

How will you know when you have found an ideal career path? How do you know if one job is better for you than another? The answer is that you must have a framework for comparing careers and jobs and then a prioritized set of criteria. At Wolfgang Career Coaching we regularly help clients establish a framework and determine their unique criteria. We call it Career Exploration.

We help clients identify their skills, personality, interests and values and then show the client how these can guide career and job selection. With this insight you are much more empowered to assess a job description before you apply for it, you know what questions you need answers to, and you can pinpoint red flags about jobs. Even with all of this, you may never really know if the job you chose is the best job.

Career Development

Here’s the bad news: all new jobs will fall short of your criteria for “best”. Whether you have to settle for some shortcomings up front or whether you realize them after a month or two, no job is perfect.

Here’s the good news: you can turn many jobs into a fantastic career that you love. With the right analysis and strategy (and flexible managers), it’s possible to take your job and make it the one you’ve dreamed about.

At Wolfgang Career Coaching we regularly help clients formulate a vision of a better career and then form a strategy and action plan for getting there. We call it Career Development.

In summary, finding the best careers start with understanding who you are and having a criteria to compare jobs and careers. Once you choose a first step, then you must develop your skills and mold your role to become the best career for you. Please post any comments or questions you have below. We’re happy to answer them!