We all make life-changing choices throughout our lives, and some of the biggest ones are typically related to career or education. With the words “life-changing,” it becomes implied that research is needed in order to make an educated decision. So why am I talking about research today if we know we need it? Well, it’s because we need to learn what effective research means, and what its benefits are especially when making career decisions.
Effective vs Ineffective research
A huge misconception about research is that you have to know what you want if you want to research properly. But research is actually a two step process, both equally as important. Step 1 is about limiting the options you want to research, through learning about yourself and what interests you. This applies to both the topics themselves and the media you are receiving information from. Maybe you are really into reading in depth research articles, or you prefer documentaries, or even YouTube videos. Learning which form of media suits your brain best helps you use your time effectively when researching.
Now find out what topic interests you, while using the character traits you view in yourself. Let’s take essay writing into mind first, it makes no sense to write your essay about something you don’t find interest in because you will not be able to interest yourself in learning this topic. The same thing goes for careers. Instead of just searching up random details or statistics about many different careers, first analyze what would make you interested in a career field.
If you are good at math and want to pursue something math related, then narrow down your career researching to this math field, and if it still doesn’t interest you then do it again but with a different trait. Think about a wall full of targets that you are throwing darts at, as long as you know where the general direction of a target is, you are more likely to hit it rather than if you were to just randomly throw darts. Now you can spend your time effectively learning about what fits you and what doesn’t.
The decision won’t be black and white, neither will the details
Step 2 is very simple: while researching, try to apply your results to yourself and see how you feel. This is especially effective when adding up many factors. Let’s say you shrunk down your career options to being someone in the engineering field, now do an in depth research (in your favorite form of media) and apply every aspect to your life. Don’t just apply that eye-catching salary and view your future career through rose-tinted glasses, be sure to research interviews and take people’s experiences as lessons and new perspectives for yourself. This also helps you learn more about a career than salary and job outlook as there are so many other factors to watch out for like work-life balance, workplace progression, or even simple things like education costs and loans.
Everything here is important, because it allows you to look at what careers work by comparing it to, well yourself! Step 1 helps you spend your time wisely on potential interests and helps you find your research method, so that step 2 becomes easy and you get the benefits of learning about your present and future!
The downsides, and why Career Scoops has your back
One recurring theme in this post is knowing yourself, what you like, dislike, and what you are good at. Unfortunately, we make life-changing decisions like what education we will get or what careers we will pursue at a young age. In many cases, we are too young to the point where we don’t even know ourselves and our profiles. We don’t have the experiences to confirm it either, and that’s why we created our Career Scoops data reports.
Career Scoops™ offers a comprehensive array of solutions designed to help young people navigate their futures with confidence. Our platform provides tools for identifying careers that best fit a student’s interests and strengths, personalized data reports to understand themselves better, and in-depth information on various careers that pique their interest.
Our goal is to empower students to take control of their educational and career journeys. By offering tailored guidance and actionable recommendations, Career Scoops™ ensures that students are not just prepared for college, but for lifelong success.
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