How to identify the job that best suits you

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One of the most common mistakes made by job seekers when embarking on a career is not taking a step back to explore what career would really suit them.

All too often it can be easier to take the first job that is offered to you, only to regret it at a later date because you become unhappy in the role. It’s important to remember, however, that it is commonly accepted that everyone probably makes a least one bad career move during their working life.

With this in mind, we aim to give you the top tips that will help you to evaluate what is right for you in a new position, and thereby minimise the number of career mistakes you make in the future.

How can you know where you’re going until you have identified where you have come from? The first step in making successful career choices is to understand where you have come from. Translated, this means taking time out to identify your existing skill sets and achievements (and to document them in a portfolio) so that it becomes clear who you are at the moment. Once this has been achieved, you can move on to the next step of mapping your abilities to the next job opportunity.
Get some outside opinions. If you’re not clear about what you want to do, or where you can see your career developing, there are many sources you can use to help you formulate your strategy. A good starting place is recruitment consultants. They know a great deal about a broad spectrum of careers, so becoming buddies with one early on in your career is a must. Career counselling is another possibility, but it can be expensive to pay for consultations with experts. Networking and meeting other PhD’s who are further down the line in their career paths is another good route to information and advice. You should also keep in touch with the alumni you studied with – you’ll be surprised where some of your contemporaries end up, and you never know which connections might prove to be mutually beneficial in the future.
Choose a career path that suits your personality. If you can find a career choice that is compatible with your attitude, values and personality, you will greatly increase your chances of long-term career success and satisfaction. It’s so important to work in a field that constantly interests and stimulates you, not one where you are reluctant to go to work each morning. Unfortunately, a high percentage of people don’t enjoy their jobs, which is rather sad when you think how much time is spent at work. So don’t be pushed by outside influences into a field that doesn’t interest you. You won’t be sufficiently motivated, and that will show, and become a barrier to success and satisfaction.
Formulate career and skills development objectives. Explore job boards and other advertising media in order to shortlist the roles that you see yourself performing in five year’s time. But be realistic: it takes a while to become the chairman of a PLC! Make a scrapbook of desirable positions, as this will help you to keep focussed on building your plans and setting your goals for the future. For each role, do a skills gap analysis on yourself and draw up a list of the abilities you currently lack. This list then becomes the target areas of growth in your career. Each of the jobs you select in the coming five years should have the clear potential to offer you a learning and development path towards achieving the skills on your list. If you are lucky enough to find that your first company offers a process of progression that helps you to move upwards, you may find yourself in the role of choice ahead of your five-year plan. It is more common, however to need two or three job changes before reaching your point of success. But don’t give up on reviewing your objectives after the first five years. Continue repeating the evaluation and planning process every five years to ensure ongoing growth and progression in your career.
Research the companies in your chosen sector. Once you have decided which industry niche can offer you the career path you are looking for, spend time over the five years researching individual companies. Use the internet to keep abreast of what is happening to the performance of these companies and find out more about what life is like for other PhDs that have joined them. If possible, find ways to meet individuals from these companies at career fairs or industry conferences. Also, meet selected recruitment consultants so that you are on their radar screen – but be sure to first vet the consultants so you are confident that they have the right abilities, knowledge and contacts in your chosen niche. When done properly, the consultant connection can work to your advantage, as you will have someone keeping an eye on selected companies and informing you when the right role is available.
It’s essential to always be on the lookout – even when things are going well. Most people only start looking for a new opportunity when they are unhappy. That often leads to them leaving their existing job without sufficient preparation, and therefore making a bad choice of the new position. To avoid this you should always keep abreast of the market, especially when things are going well. The best time to search for your next career move is when you are happy in your existing role. Firstly, if you do decide to meet prospective new employees, you will be approaching them from a position of strength, and that will come through in your persona. Secondly, you will not be under pressure to accept a job, so if it doesn’t quite meet your criteria, you will be able to stay where you are and wait for the right one to come along.
Ask probing questions at interviews. Interviews always seem to take the format of the employer asking the majority of the questions: this does not have to be the case. We recommend you to prepare at least ten questions before a meeting, and make sure that they are very relevant to the vacancy and your future. Some of your key questions should focus on the internal processes for progression; for example:
- What methods do you use to encourage internal promotions?
- What percentage of staff members have been promoted in the last 12 months?
- Do you have a career development programme in place?
- How does it work?
- How often do appraisals take place?
- How is the information used?
- What is the annual training budget per person

By exploring these kinds of issues you will get a much clearer picture of your potential for advancement and the attitude of the organisation towards their employees.

Never make a career choice based on money. I know this may sound crazy but choosing your first job or changing your job for money usually only offers short-term benefit. If you find yourself chasing money, you will ultimately price yourself out of the market and therefore dramatically reduce the opportunities available to you in the future. A much more productive approach is to focus on building your skills and identifying jobs that will add value to your skill base and offer you progression. That will make your CV increasingly attractive to future employers. You will find that as time passes and you build on your skill-base, your abilities will be recognised and the rewards will naturally follow.
Always try to achieve a sensible work-life balance. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has calculated that 30% of sick leave is attributed to stress, anxiety and depression – all of which are increased by a poor work-life balance. Work can be very demanding and stressful at times, so it’s important to take plenty of time out from work to play, relax, participate in sport, or do whatever helps you to unwind and de-stress. It’s much better to work efficiently than to accept the culture of working long hours that is still prevalent in many organisations. So if you find yourself working for an organisation that expects you to start early, finish late and take work home at the weekends, I’d be inclined to look for a new position in a company that recognises the considerable benefits of a healthy balance between work and your life away from work.
Escape from your comfort zone. It’s very easy to just carry on doing what you always do. You’ll certainly get much better at it, given time. But you won’t become a more versatile, flexible, imaginative, innovative and employable individual. Forward thinking employers seek people who have a broad range of core skills, constantly look to improve their knowledge and abilities, relish change and aren’t frightened of challenges. Of course, employers also need ‘cannon fodder’ to carry out the boring, repetitive, poorly paid tasks. It’s up to you which route you take , but you won’t enjoy the journey or get very far if you don’t sometimes risk heading off down a scary-looking track, or climbing the occasional mountain, just to see what’s on the other side. How will you find your perfect job if you don’t go looking for it?

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