Making Good Decisions
Introduction
If you’ve worked through Self-assessment and Career exploration
you’ve gained an idea of your interests and skills, whilst in-depth
research into your preferred specialty areas will have unearthed
some useful information. Hopefully at this stage, some connections
are starting to present themselves, and you’ll find yourself drawn
more strongly to only a few particular areas. So now is the time to
act on what you already know and make some firm choices.
Where to start
If this sounds easier than it feels, don’t worry. There are
often several specialty options which could make any single person
a rewarding career. What’s more, different people have different
ways of making good decisions. Some might favour an entirely
logical approach, whilst others use a degree of intuition. Methods
to consider might include:
- Past successes: you may already have your own method of making
important choices. If a particular decision-making strategy has
helped your past choices it makes sense to incorporate it into your
current thinking.
- Trusted advisers: be it a friend, family member or someone else
entirely, if you have a trusted confidant to help you think things
over, then use their support.
- Expert opinions: you might feel more comfortable talking
through your options with someone who has expert insights. Consider
talking to a tutor or other well placed adviser.
- Putting pen to paper: many people find that writing out their
options, either as pros and cons, or in more prosaic form is a
helpful brainstorming tool.
This is a big decision, and it’s well within your power to make the
right choices, so trust your own judgement and use the support
available. Having made a number of important decisions to take you
to this stage in your career, you’ll probably already have an idea
of what works for you.