Four Critical Factors For Career Choices

NOWNOW Nigeria
3 min readNov 30, 2018

Career decision requires a series of repeated small cycles of sensitization, examination of self and the environment. Increasing knowledge of the job world and self would facilitate the process of career decisions, helping people to analyze their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

These are some of the basic critical factors for career selection and advancement.

Come to terms with your personality, interests and inclinations

Studies have indicated that the role of personality traits, interests, inclinations and talents is the most decisive and critical variable for career development. It is important for you to know who you are and what you want or can do. You must learn about your interests, inclinations, preferences and talents. Know who you really are and not who people believe you to be. Numerous studies have proven that when people manage to match their traits and interests with certain jobs, job satisfaction is increased.

Know your abilities and be willing

Professional inclinations and interests may guide a person to choose a career path, but it is mainly his ability and willpower that will influence the hierarchical level he may reach in his career. When a student does very well in high school, it is logical that he will choose to enter a university with high admission requirements such as medical or law schools. This presupposes that the student wants to follow a particular career path and he/she is well prepared for all the difficulties that will be encountered in such a demanding career.

Therefore, the power of will remains a very important factor in career choices. When you want something very much, the whole universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. Abilities, performances, aptitudes, ambition and will are critical factors for career choices. When combined with occupational inclinations, interests and talents, they constitute the core of a certain personality construction that matches with certain professions.

Understand The Labour Market and Occupational Perspectives

Labour market information is a crucial feature of careers guidance and counselling. It consists of information on general employment trends, data on the structure of the labour market, information about the way the labour market functions and data focusing on equality and diversity. The knowledge of the professions of the future and of the past, which professions have positive perspectives, and which appear to be degraded or dying on the local, national and international market.

There is simply a much higher possibility for job vacancies in the field of the professions of the future than in the professions of the past. My advice will be to find and use labour market information to your advantage. With this, you can choose professions and career based on their prospects and particularly on the security of guaranteed employment.

Prepare for random events

Random events, unexpected fortunate or unfortunate coincidences and chances one encounters in life can play important role in career and personal development. You must adapt to rapid changes occurring within the workplace environment. So, as part of your career plan, you need to become increasingly flexible and adaptable. Develop a sense of curiosity, be persistent, be flexible. Maintain a sense of optimism and be willing to take risks.

These are a skill set that increases your ability to take advantage of unplanned events. It is important that you can see when an opportunity is knocking so as to make the right choice. Good luck is welcomed in one’s life, but this does not mean that constant self-development and skill enhancement required by the competitive world of current employment reality should be ignored.

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