Your Career Goals - Step 1: Your Interests & Strengths - Byte Back

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Your Career Goals – Step 1: Your Interests & Strengths

Author: Byte Back
Published: May 16, 2016

“I need a job, any job.” This is a thought that has passed all of our minds at some point. At times like these, it may make sense to apply for anything and everything out there, and worry about the specifics later. However, when this job ends up with a 2+ hour commute, or constantly changing hours, or being in an unsafe environment, you might wish you had chosen a different path. There are some easy steps you can take to avoid such a fate. We’re here to help you through with our Goal Setting Blog Series.

We’ll start today with step one: discovering and developing your interests and strengths.


Career GoalsYour Career Goals – Step 1: Your Interests & Strengths

By Bock Szymkowicz, Career Development Specialist

By taking time to understand your career interests and current strengths, you are strongly setting yourself up to get a job immediately and in the future. Here’s how:

A. Think about Your Career Interests

How Does This Support My Short-Term Goal? How Does This Support My Long-Term Goal?
All companies look for passion in their interviews. If you are truly interested in the work, this will shine through in your interviews and reflect positively on you. By knowing the type of job you are aiming for, you will not take irrelevant steps. For instance, if you realize you want to enter the IT field, you don’t need to take trainings in Food Handling or Hospitality.

Start Here: Use mynextmove.org to take a fun assessment that will suggest positions and careers for you.

B. Think about Your Relevant Skills

How Does This Support My Short-Term Goal?
How Does This Support My Long-Term Goal?
Apply for positions that match your skill set. You are more likely to get hired in a position that matches your skill set rather than applying for something unrelated. When pursuing a career change, you can choose a career you have a strong foundation for, possibly starting off in mid-level rather than entry level. You would likely require less training as well for a similar career.

Start Here: Use myskillsmyfuture.org  to find positions that relate to skill sets based on previous positions.

C. Think about Your Ideal Career Logistics (Local Salary Trends, Required Skills, etc.)

How Does This Support My Short-Term Goal?
How Does This Support My Long-Term Goal?
By knowing the logistics of a position, you can know which skills you can mention in an interview as well as give reasonable salary requests. Do some research to determine if your desired career will support you financially and determine the skills you need and trainings you should pursue.

Start Here: Use onetonline.org to research local salaries, requested software skills, and related information such as email use.


Continue to Step 2: Building Your Path >>