Choosing a career pathway can be really difficult as it often feels like you are under pressure to pick the right one so early on in life. When you are choosing your pathway, there are a number of things you should consider so that you are picking what is best for you.
You need to find a balance between being practical, ambitious, and truthful with yourself. You do not want to solely prioritize money and end up in a job that you absolutely hate, but you also do not want to aim too low and feel stuck in a job that you find easy and uninspiring. The best thing to do is to try to analyze your character and your own personal attributes. This will allow you to realize what it is you want out of a job. If you regard yourself as a particularly empathetic person, take a look through these tips in finding something that suits you best.
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Working Out What Your Skills Are
Step one to choosing your career path is looking at your skills set. If you have already figured out your attributes, with empathy being one of them, this may narrow down your options a little. For instance, you are probably best placed in a job where you use your interpersonal skills and are always communicating with others.
You can next work out what other skills you have, and this can be done in multiple different ways. Firstly, you could do an online test to find out what kind of person you are and what kinds of skills you possess. Many online websites have these tests available, which can really help to narrow it down; however, you should not completely rely on these, but just take them into consideration. Another great way of doing this is to ask other people around you what their opinion is – particularly those who know you well in either your personal or professional life. They will be able to give you both an accurate and outside perspective on this, which may be really useful.
Finally, you should assess the things you have done in the past. For instance, what kinds of subjects did you perform best in while you were at school? Were they more practical or more essay-based and theoretical? This can also apply to any jobs or work experience you had: what did you do and how do you rate your performance and efficiency?
Doing an Online Nursing Program
It goes without saying that nursing is probably one of the top jobs that springs to mind when you are thinking about careers that best suit those who are empathetic. Being a nurse requires you to have endless patience as well as a reassuring presence, so if you regard yourself as a people-person, then this may be one for you.
As well as this, nurses have such an important role in society, so you will be guaranteed to feel good about your career. Despite being hard work, being a nurse is extremely rewarding, since you will know you are constantly helping people and doing a vital job.
If you already have a career in nursing and are looking to develop it further, consider completing a dnp program from Baylor University. This will help you if you are looking to achieve the highest level of nursing practice, and you will be able to develop your skills and access more career options.
Getting Some Experience
When you are looking into career options and deciding on what path to follow, you should definitely get some practical experience wherever possible. The idea of doing a job may be pretty different to the reality of it, so before you fully commit yourself to something, it is wise to make sure you feel as informed and prepared as you possibly can. Usually, if you ask to do a week of unpaid work experience, then most places will let you – even if there is not that much for you to personally get involved with, it is still really useful to be able to shadow someone and see what kinds of tasks they do.
Particularly if you are going for a nursing job, it is quite fast paced and involves a lot of communication, so it would be worth you putting your empathy to the test.
Thinking About Where You Want to Live
If you think about where you want to be based in life, this could be an easier way to begin narrowing down the options. Do you prefer the calm and quiet countryside or the bustling city life? This could help steer you in one career direction or another, since some careers are more in demand in some places. It is also dependent on whether you would prefer to work remotely or whether you like being able to go into work every day. If you are someone who regards yourself as being really empathetic, then there are probably benefits to each. In a city location, you will probably have more interactions with people on a daily basis, but you may be able to have more intimate relationships with people if you are working somewhere smaller.
While location is not always relevant, for some jobs, it probably will be. Unless your job is transferrable and you are able to work from your laptop in the living room, there are some jobs that probably won’t be realistic for you if you are looking to live in a more rural area.
Having empathy as one of your qualities is such a valuable trait to have. While some jobs don’t require you to have much communication, for others, it is vital. This opens up so many doors of opportunities to you, as it gives you an exclusive skill that not everyone possesses. It also means that in your professional relationships, you will probably be very successful, as everyone likes a colleague who they feel can sympathize with them and understand them.
