A recent survey in the United States showed that not even half (49%) of the working population are currently satisfied with their jobs. Unfortunately, many people live under the false assumption that once you’ve chosen a career, you should just suck it up and go with it. The truth, however, is that it’s never too late to explore new career paths. In this article, Josie will lead the way and help you get started.
Admit it, we all had a childhood dream of what we wanted to be when we grew up. Once we get older, however, we realize that only a ‘lucky few’ actually manage to realize their childhood ambition. Even then, those who seemed to have chased their dreams and live their best life, may not be all too happy from the inside. The truth is, we all ask questions about whether we’re making the most of their careers at some point. No matter where you stand in life, we all have our own doubts, sometimes even questioning if it will always be like this. Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be. In fact, in the wake of the pandemic, the current job market seems hotter than ever, which means there are plenty of new opportunities for the taking. In fact, an abundance of job openings can also be quite overwhelming, since you don’t know where to begin. Let’s look at it from a positive point of view. With so many job openings, your chances of finding the right match just for you are also increasing. But the main question you might be asking yourself now is how to get started. Time to look at your situation step-by-step, and start with conducting a self-assessment.
Assess your personality
Rather than just aimlessly browsing through the endless stream of job platforms the web has to offer, we recommend shifting your focus and have a closer look at your current situation first. Try to answer questions such as where do you currently stand? Where do you want your career path to lead, and how do you get there? Chances are you actually have no idea where you want your career to be headed or what suits you as a person. Luckily, there are ways to help you get closer to answering these questions. With Josie, you can simply upload your LinkedIn profile to get a lot of refreshing insights into your career wants and needs. It starts with getting a ‘Career Score’, which is a rough estimation of how desirable you are to recruiters and automated applicant tracking systems (ATS) based on your current profile. To get to know yourself even better, you can also consider taking one of the many psychometric tests the platform has to offer. The results of your 5-Factor Personality Test will map out your characteristics and show you some interesting potential job matches based on those traits. Once you get a clearer view of who you are, we will guide you further by providing numerous job opportunities to explore: time to scour the job market.
Explore the job market
Your next step when setting out a new career path is to narrow down your options. After an in-depth analysis of your profile, you can find a crystal-clear overview of what job titles currently match your profile in terms of your education, experience, and skillset on the Demand Insights page. Not only you will find numerous job titles that could be a match, you can also see where in the world employers are looking for someone like you based on your profile. Even if you see opportunities that don’t seem like an instant match, Josie can help you bridge the gap between your current profile and what is needed to fulfill the right demands, such as acquiring new skills through a wide variety of Udemy courses. Keep in mind that recruiters and future employers never expect you to tick all the boxes of their vacancy, and in general they obey the ‘unwritten recruitment rule’, meaning that if you recognize yourself for at least 80% in the outlined job description, you should definitely give it a go. Once you have decided on applying, it’s up to you. The last steps to take consist of doing a final check of your LinkedIn profile and resume, but luckily Josie also provides feedback on how to optimize these two. Once they are in tip-top shape, the rest is up to you. The final advice we can give you is to write a memorable cover letter that will blow employers away to increase your chances of landing a job interview. Good luck with embarking on a new adventure.
