Looking For New Career Ideas?

Where Do Your Interests Really Lie?

If you know where your interests and passions lie, new career ideas can emerge. This is why a careful exploration of your interests is essential for any career changer.

What are you interested in?

This is one of those exercises where you need to open your mind. For now, we are not just talking about work interests.

I want you to think broadly to identify anything that gives you a buzz, that captures your attention, that you would choose to do if you had time and money to spare.

Try the following questions to help work out where your interests truly lie. Take your time to think about them and answer them fully.

• What do you enjoy doing in your leisure time?
• What would you rather be doing?
• Which of your interests would you most like to pass on to your kids?
• What inspires you?
• What past passions have you lost touch with?
• What did you love doing as a child, as a teenager, when you first started work?
• When have you been so absorbed in something that you lost track of time?
• What were you doing?
• If you were accidentally locked in a bookshop overnight, which section would you camp out in?
• If you won the lottery and did not have to work for money, what would you choose to do with your time?

Use these questions to identify things that light you up, that really enthuse you. These interests and passions are clear indicators of the kind of thing you should be looking for in your work. They are your source of new ideas.

Jot them down in your Career Change Project File.

You might also like to try the Groper Career Interests Profiler which assesses your interests to determine the careers you are most likely to enjoy. The assessment takes about 20 minutes and you will then get a free mini report containing your career profile, the types of activities you are most likely to enjoy, details of your values and personal attributes and examples of careers that may appeal to you.

Yes, but…

Do I hear some yes, buts…? Are you thinking that this is all very well, but work is meant to be serious, not fun? The things you enjoy in your spare time are not a suitable basis for new career ideas.

My response is – ‘says who?!’ Where has that belief about work come from? Why does fun have to be kept for your non-work hours? If you hold beliefs like this, ask yourself are they relevant and valid for you today? Is it time you challenged your thinking?

Let your interests be a source of new career ideas and inspiration!

Why not continue exploring what makes you tick to help you with your Career Change Project? You can look at…

Your Values – Your Achievements – Your Personality – Your Skills