BEFORE YOU START THAT CAREER: 8 THINGS YOU MUST DO

Introduction
You're excited about that new career. You've been fed with the stories of the respect and
possibilities that comes with it

But with the excitement comes confusion and uncertainties that make you start questioning your
decisions.

I understand, I've been there before. We've all been. You're definitely not the only one in this
boat.

But you can fix all of the confusion and uncertainty by taking the necessary steps to ascertain
that you're making the right decision.

Starting a career in any field can be difficult especially if and when you don't know the proper
steps to take.

In this article, I've listed practical steps that you must take before you start any career. They are
listed below in no particular order. They are:

1. Find Yourself
Who are you? What's your purpose in life? What are your abilities? What brings you
happiness and joy? What can you naturally do without stress? What can keep you going
all day? What inspires you?

These and more are questions you'll need to ask yourself and provide sincere answers
to on your journey to self discovery.

Getting in touch with yourself through self-discovery and self-awareness is essential to

your career satisfaction and success.

Identifying the right career path and options requires you to reflect on your values,
interests, vision, skills and personality and discover how they fit into your career choice.

It is advisable that you know who you are before you start any career. What this does is
that it helps you to know who you are, your interests, your passion, what drives you, your
natural abilities and helps you streamline it to a career of your choice.

2. Figure Out What You Want

 After self discovery, the next step is to figure out what you want, that is finding clarity.

Yes, you know who you are, your values, abilities, skills, etc. But you need to to take a
step further to figure out what you actually want.

The danger of not being able to figure out what you want is that it will slow you down and
you might eventually find yourself jumping from one career to another.

Be decisive.

There are individuals who start a journey in a particular career and in the process of
building the career, they become discouraged and back out. This is because they didn't
figure out what they wanted.

Perhaps, they pursued the career because of their parent's or friend's influence or
because of the prestige they thought they would get from it.

This will help you scale through the hurdles that you will encounter on the way. It'll get
you prepared for the journey ahead. Despite the challenges, you will keep pushing
because you know that it is what you want.

3. Write It Down
Pen down what you've figured out. Don't just get it stored in your mental storage bank,
ensure that you pen down everything.

Writing down all that you've figured out helps you to reaffirm what you want. It also helps
in bringing more ideas to your mind that you left off during the brooding period.

Have a dedicated journal, diary or note pad for this.

For me, what I did was to create a folder on my Google drive for everything that
concerns my career choice, plans, path and journey.

4. Research
Research gives you a clearer view of what lies ahead and in depth knowledge of what is
required. It also prevents you from walking blindly into a path you literally know nothing
about.

Don't just assume you have it all figured out. Carry out a thorough research on the
career path you want to take.
 Carrying out a thorough research will help you to know what is obtainable, the skills,
experiences and certificates needed.

There are lots of resources online and offline available for you to carry out intensive
research.

5. Set goals
The benefit of setting clear and specific goals is that it gives you a framework to achieve
Milestones. It also creates a path to improve your career and achieve certain
accomplishments.

Your goals must be as clear and detailed as possible. They must be relevant to your
choice of career and also achievable.

Also, you must make sure to set timelines for your goals as this will put you on your toes
to avoid laying around.

6. Connect with people in the same career field

Apparently you don't have any or much knowledge about the career you're about
pursuing, so leverage on the knowledge of others.

Connecting with people in the same career field will grant you access to information,
resources (material and human), platforms, communities, groups and forums that you
can't have access to by being on your own.

The plan isn't to connect every Tom, Dick and Harry. Connect with those you know that
can help you achieve the career goals you've set out for yourself.

7. Get A Mentor
Get a mentor in the career path you're pursuing, one who has claimed up the ladder and
is successful.

Your mentor should be someone who will show you the ropes, teach you secrets and be
responsible for your choices, decisions, growth and development.

Get attached to a mentor who will be there to pick you up when you fail, and make costly
or silly mistakes. Have a mentor who will encourage you when the going gets tough,
because it'll definitely get tough.

You can't do it all alone.

8. Set Aside Funds
Starting a career in any field can be money consuming. Therefore, setting aside funds
for your career journey is paramount.

You mustn't have all the funds available (of course you can't predict how much you'll
need from the onset). But you should have a stipulated amount of money set aside for
your career journey and also identifying a good funding source is also a great idea.

For you to scale heights and attain new levels in your chosen career, you must have
funds kept aside. Funds for courses, acquiring of skills and knowledge, and the tools
needed to make your journey easy and smooth.

It is also advisable you have a separate account solely for your career to avoid being
taken unawares by new developments.