12 Steps: 12 steps towards your job – Career Service Hochschule Bremen
Step 2: Develop your personal career profile
Did you develop a career strategy? Do you know what you are good at, what makes you special? Start with an
analysis of your highest skills and qualifications and develop a vision of where you want to be in 5 or 10 years.
This will most likely prove to be far more successful than sending out mass applications. Here are 7 questions to
guide your research about what you would really like to do and how to translate them into reality.
7 guiding questions:
1.
Do you have a clear understanding of what makes you special (your likes, dislikes, needs, future goals,
skills etc.)? What are you good at??? Research shows that people who use their main strengths
experience more satisfaction at work and are more successful. So, the question is: Which are your top
skills, talents and accomplishments? What are your greatest successes (degrees, internships,
professional experience, volunteer work, hobbies, interests, private life…) inside and outside the
classroom? What do you have to offer? Free personality tests might offer additional clues. If in doubt
about what your key talents are, you may also ask your friends! They might give you some important
clues. And remember: be the real you, because everyone else is already taken!
2.
Equally important, where would you like to go? What are your fields of fascination? What are the top
five skills you would actually like to use in a future job? What are your ideal working conditions?
Where do you want to live and work? In Brussels, Berlin, Bremen, or Buxtehude? What kind of people
do you want to work for? With whom? Employed, self-employed, as a free-lancer or researcher? Go
for it!
3.
What would be meaningful work for you? What is your philosophy of life? How do you define success?
Can you identify your work values? For example material benefits, security, being creative or
supporting others? What do you want to achieve with your work in the long run? What do you really
care about? Can you develop a vision of how your life will be? What is your goal? Take the time to
analyze yourself. It is worth it!
4.
Taking this a step further, how could you find a match between your capabilities, ideas and visions?
What could be a place where you are challenged and passionate about what you are doing? What
would be a possible career based on your values, interests, and personality? Who could profit from
you? What are possible target groups? To become more concrete, what are the names of jobs or
careers that would give you a chance to use your most enjoyable skills, in a field that is based on your
favourite subjects? What kind of organizations would and/ or do employ people in these careers? Let
your ideas flow and get feedback from friends and family.
5.
Get feedback from the outside word and test your ideas: Do you have good information about these
careers? Did you talk to people who work in your favorite fields? How are their typical working days,
working hours, wages, job requirements and prospects? Ask for advice, realistically assess your
abilities, and get as much information as you can about your field(s) of interest. Does this match your
talents, skills and hopes? Leave the house and do informational interviews. Explore!
6.
Once you have identified interesting careers, which action do you need to take to move you toward
the future? Which would be necessary steps to take you there? Or, as Mark Twain said: “The secret of
getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming
tasks into small manageable tasks , and then starting on the first one.” Which actions are required?
Which would be the next smallest step? It is hard to predict where life will take you, but for most of us
a bit of planning might do wonders. It helps us to get going! So, what could be short and medium term
goals to achieving your long term goals? And, can you review and adapt your plan? Is it flexible?
7.
Last not least, where could you get support? Emotional and possibly financial? And how could you
reward yourself? Also, how can you deal with obstacles on the way? Which strategies could be
helpful?
Finding answers to these questions will help you to start creating your own future today. We wish you
good luck for everything!!