Find Your Career Flare – Know Yourself

Career Decision Wheel
Model by Norm Amundson
Image by Jody Little

Confucius said: “Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” To find a job you love, you may also need to take advice from a more contemporary career expert, Norman Amundson. He suggests that instead of worrying about what you want to do with your life that you focus more on who you want to be. Being clear about who you are and what matters to you can go a long way in helping you “be” and find long term career satisfaction so that you can “do” what best fits. This can be the difference between finding a job, choosing a career, and pursuing your true calling.

Amundson (https://campus.digication.com/careerwell/Norm_Amundson) has developed a tool called the Career Decision Wheel which is designed to help guide you on many aspects of the career decision making process. Think of this as your own personal steering wheel. It is there to help guide you and has the ability to turn as you do, and take you in new directions based on your shifting priorities over time. As in any journey, your travel tools, like a map or a compass, are just tools that you use for information – they do not drive you, but are driven by you. When you are clear about your preferences, it can help you determine what career options, industries, and types of employers will make the best fit.

Over the coming weeks, you will be able to explore each part of the Career Decision Wheel on the My ESC blog and consider how that impacts you and your career goals. Consider getting a binder or journal to gather your research on the way. You may even want to enlarge the Career Decision Wheel and print it out so you can make notes on each section to see the “whole picture” on one page. Each section will highlight key areas of that topic, address gaps, provide links to some assessments, share a true story and next steps for your own journey. If at any point you get stuck, consider meeting with a professional Career Development Practitioner to guide you on your way.

Sarah Nelson’s educational background includes education, linguistics, and career development. Professionally a Career Development Practitioner with a CHRP designation, Sarah has a vast array of work experience across several industries. Her early career began in the hospitality industry and has morphed into a career with a strong focus on education, including being a School Trustee in the public education system, a Learning Consultant in the career development field, and a college instructor.

Her main areas of interest include communication and the power of words, innovation and creativity, living with passion and purpose and a desire to see the world full of lifelong learners who want to ‘be the change’. Sarah is also a “midnight genealogist” with a desire to uncover lost roots for herself and others, with a desire to learn from the past to live in the present and create a better future. Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahnelson71 or Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/sarahnelson71.

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