5 Questions to Help You Find a Career You’ll Love

You’re going to spend about one-third of your adult life at work.

You’ll spend more time with your co-workers than your family, and you’ll spend more time working than sleeping.

That’s a lot of time to invest, so why waste it doing something you hate? Or worse, going through the motions doing something you simply tolerate for a paycheck?

This is why thinking about what you want to do in the future is so important. There are many options out there to choose from and paths you can follow to find a career you enjoy.1

How to Discover Your Dream Job

Here’s an exercise that will help you start thinking about the type of job — and more importantly, the type of life — that you want. We’ve put together some questions you can ask yourself to help you discover what might be a good career fit for you.

Grab something to write on and ask yourself the following:

1. What Are Your Natural Talents?

Think hard about this one. There are things that come easily to you that other people struggle with. It might be working with your hands, being skilled with computers or something as simple as sticking to a budget.

Once you’ve thought about this, you can more easily decide what the next step might be for you. If you’re a hands-on learner, for example, pursuing an education in the skilled trades may be the perfect fit for you. There are a ton of different trades you can go to school for that will allow you to utilize this strength.

2. What Do Your Friends and Family Think You’re Good At?

Maybe you have supportive friends and family members who have told you what you do well, or maybe they don’t talk about that sort of thing. But these are the people who know you best, and they’ll give you great insight as to what they think you’re good at.

What have your teachers, coaches, counselors, or even your neighbors or the people at your church said? What do they compliment you about? Getting insight from others about what they think you’re good at is just as important at looking internally. You just might be able to transfer those skills into a new career path.

3. If You Had All the Money You’d Ever Need, What Would You Spend Your Time Doing?

Think about this one carefully. It’s not what would you spend your money doing. Think about the things you’d be excited to do if you had all the time in the world to do them.

4. Do You Know People Who Love Their Careers?

In many cases, this person may not be the wealthiest or the most educated. They might do seemingly simple work that’s immensely satisfying. You can get a lot of valuable information just by asking them some of the following questions:

• What do you love about your career?
• Was this career your first choice?
• How do you measure success when it comes to your career (money, free time, satisfaction)?
• Would you do this career on your own, even if you had to retire?
• When did you know that this career was right for you?
• Did people tell you that you’d be good at this?
• Did you have to go to school for this career?

Keep in mind that everyone’s career journey is different. While these people might tell you that it took a lot of work to find a job they love, they’re almost certain to tell you it was worth it.

5. What Are You Willing to Give Up to Improve Your Career Outlook?

Ever see successful people and figure they just had good luck and you haven’t? The good news is, there are some things you can control that can help you find more satisfaction in your job or your career. It may take some time and personal sacrifice, but if it were easy, everybody would do it.

Here are some of the areas you have control over:

• Down time: Are you practicing your craft, researching and networking, or do you spend most of your time watching Netflix, playing video games and hanging out?
• Education: Though getting an education doesn’t promise success in your current career or a new career, it can help set you on the right path.
• Attitude: Are you an optimist, or a pessimist? Spending large amounts of time lamenting your past mistakes or hating on your current job or boss won’t solve the problem. But having a positive attitude can put you in the right mindset to change your future.

Is Education the Right Path for You?

When planning for your future, it’s important to look into what educational requirements you’ll need for the job you’re interested in. There are many different options for schooling, ranging from the traditional four-year university to a trade school like Universal Technical Institute (UTI).

UTI has helped thousands of people prepare for careers in the automotive, diesel, motorcycle, marine, CNC machining, welding, and collision repair industries. There are several programs to choose from spread across four schools and  campuses nationwide that help teach skilled trades that are in demand.2

Our instructors are passionate not only about the trades, but also about teaching the next generation of skilled workers. They want to help students realize their potential, both in the classroom and in their careers.

If you’re interested in pursuing a future in the transportation industry, UTI is a great place to get started. You can graduate in less than a year7 with the hands-on experience you need to be prepared for an entry-level career.

Finding a career that you love isn’t easy, but it’s possible. If you think a career in the trades is right for you, we’re happy to help here at UTI.

You can request more information here, and an Admissions Representative will be in contact with you. Our blog is also a great resource for other articles related to the skilled trades so you can read up on what interests you — browse topics ranging from graduate stories to scholarship opportunities for trade school students today!