As a young professional, you often find yourself at crossroads. You come across too many tough career decisions, and it becomes challenging to arrive at a conclusion that has the most potential to bring you long-term benefits.
Let’s face it. Every decision a young professional makes have a significant impact on his future. It determines how you will spend the next few years of your life. You can’t always expect your intuition to guide you through it all. What should be your thought process? What approach should you adopt to make your tough career decisions? It’s time to find out.
The Systematic Thought Approach A Young Professional Should Take
We get it. When you are young, you are brimming with enthusiasm, hopes, and expectations. You feel nothing can go wrong, and everything will work out in your favor. It’s pretty common for young professionals to make glaring errors due to their reckless decisions.
But remember, as a young professional, it becomes even more crucial to make appropriate decisions. You will already have a tough time having people take you seriously. It won’t take long for people to write you off completely if you get a reputation for making rash decisions. So what thought process should you follow? Here’s an idea.
Have Immense Clarity In Your Decision
First things first, you have to be absolutely clear about the decisions you want to make. What exactly are your choices? And why is this decision so crucial? How much time do you have to make up your mind?
Once you have the answer to these questions, you will realize the importance of your career decision and will be inclined to give it due consideration.
List Your Priorities
Naturally, every young professional has their priorities set. Some want to make a mark in their career, while others want to collect finance to fund their startup. Before making any crucial decision, you have to decide where your priorities lie.
Don’t focus merely on your set of goals. Also, think about the factors that will help you on this journey. Figure out how your decision will impact your future plans and your productivity. Where do you think your personal satisfaction will be?
Of course, you have to think about your career capital too. But that’s not the only determining factor. As a young professional, you have a long road ahead of you. Always keep the bigger picture in mind.
Figure Out Your Options
It’s pretty common for young professionals to restrict themselves while making career choices. This seldom works out. In fact, usually, the key to your success lies in a way that you hadn’t even thought about.
So, always give yourself enough room to decide. Having more options increases the chances of you being satisfied with the outcome. For this, you can take the bottom-up or top-down approach.
In the case of a top-down approach, you have to work back from the long-term choices and figure out which options seem more promising.
If you decide to take the bottom-up approach, you have to zero in on the opportunities you have right now and decide which among them seems more promising.
List Your Options And Grade Them
As soon as you have all the available options before you, rank them as you deem fit. Pay heed to all the factors. You don’t have to worry about accuracy at this point. The purpose is to give yourself a rough idea of what you can hope to achieve with each step.
Face Your Uncertainties
There’s no career decision that isn’t marred with uncertainties. Every young professional has to battle doubts and similar challenges. At this point, you have to figure out what are your challenges. There’s a high chance that your introspection at this stage will make you change your rankings. But then, isn’t that the whole point of this thoughtful approach?
It’s Time To Research
You can’t make a career decision without proper research and investigation. This is among the most common mistakes seen in young professionals. They fail to analyze their options. Don’t make this error.
Before you make any career decision, it’s prudent that you gather enough information about it. It wouldn’t do you any good if you venture into a battlefield with no weapons or practice. You have to test out your options.
Take A Final Call
After completing your research, you will have a much easier time coming up with a decision for your career and professional development. If you follow this approach, you will ensure that you have given the decision careful consideration from every angle and then made up your mind. There will be no reason to second guess yourself.
Give Yourself Time As A Young Professional
The best thing about being a young professional is having plenty of time at your disposal. There’s no reason to take half-baked decisions that you will regret later. Instead, you can evaluate and analyze your options, ensuring that you are fully aware of every possibility that you might come across.
Remember, being a young professional is pretty exciting. You have the world at your disposal. But things can go drastically wrong if you aren’t careful. A lot of times, you will realize that people are waiting for you to fail. Don’t give this opportunity to anyone. Also, no matter how many tough career decisions come about, at the end of the day, they’re only a step in your journey. It doesn’t have to define your entire future.
