Follow the Clues

Most college career centers offer some sort of assessment testing to help their students figure out their interests, skills and personality type. This is a good first step in helping students pick career paths that fit them

Unfortunately, many career center directors have reported that students don't take advantage of these assessment services as much as they should. When students begin thinking about their post-college life, they get very focused on finding a job and usually that job is directly related to their major course of study. Accounting majors become accountants. Computer science majors become programmers. Electrical engineering majors become engineers.

The job search gets very tactical and students gravitate towards career center services focused on resume creation, interviewing skills and networking 101. These are all great skills to learn but they don't help you with the strategic part of the job search: What career path should I follow after graduation?

College students should take advantage of the assessment testing and career counseling available to them while they are in school. These kinds of programs can help focus your search on the career areas where you will use your natural talents. Your natural talents are those basic elements of your core personality that are hard-wired into you. Natural talents are the things you can do well and enjoy doing the most. Uncovering these natural talents is the real first step in the career search process. College career centers can help but there are also things you can do on your own to help shed some light on the natural talents in you:

1) Think back on the last few years. What extracurricular activities have you enjoyed the most? Have you been actively involved in certain clubs, sports, academic pursuits that have energized you? What roles have you played in these clubs or organizations (leader, planner, ambassador, creative thinker, etc) Are there activities or courses that you look forward to and which seem almost effortless? What electives do you like to take? All of these are important clues to help you discover your natural talents.

2) Ask you friends what they think your natural talents might be. Your close friends probably have a good idea of what you are naturally gifted at doing. They can tell you if you are the leader of the group, or the spokesperson, or the planner, or the creative one. Listen to what they say and see if it resonates with your own gut feelings.

3) Get some outside help. There are career coaches and external sources to help you do a more thorough self-assessment. I recommend you start with a good guidebook. There are dozens of career books out there but there are very, very few that are aimed at helping young people find their natural talents and dream careers. One of the best guidebooks is Now What? The Young Person's Guide to Choosing a Career. This book was written by career coaching experts, Nick Lore and Anthony Spadafore. It takes you through a step-by-step process to uncover your who you are, what motivates you and what sort of work environment best suites you.

There are many more ways to figure out your natural talents. We'll take a look at them in the weeks and months to come. In the meantime, think about the things you have loved doing and pay attention to them.

Keep this in mind: The clues to your future career satisfaction can be found in the source of your past happiness.

Happy hunting!