You may have been working in the same field for many years, or maybe you have worked in multiple career fields. But are you doing the work that you want to do? The work that excites you? We do not always end up on the career path that best suits us by accident. It’s really important to assess ourselves (and regularly reassess) in order to discover what we are most interested in, where our skills and abilities lie and what is available in the area we have chosen to live. Below are a few tools that can help you assess yourself and plan your career path. Still feel like you need help? Contact your local NCWorks Career Center to connect with a Career Advisor who can assist you through this process.
Reality Check from the North Carolina Department of Commerce is a fun, new online tool designed to estimate the income necessary to support your desired lifestyle. State where you’d like to live in North Carolina and how you spend your money. From there, you’ll be directed to jobs that meet your financial needs.
https://nccareers.org/realitycheck/landing/
Traitify uses human interaction with images to create the fastest validated talent assessments in the market. They’re mobile, easy and go beyond just selection. Use a desktop, tablet or mobile phone to complete the assessment in less than 2 minutes.
http://nencpathways.traitify.com
Visit our Traitify page for videos, handouts and other information.
NCWorks Labor Market Dashboard – Find Labor Market Information data such as Occupation information, Wage data, unemployment rate, advertised job posting statistics, demographic information, and more. This information can help you understand which careers are most in demand where you live.
Once you have a good understanding of what career you are interested in pursuing, use the ladder below to plot your path up the ladder. Start at the bottom with your current education level, current position and current wage. Then at the very top of the ladder note what education and training will be required (if any) for your career goal, then what your ideal position title is and finally the wage you intend to make in that role. In the middle of the ladder write out the steps you will need to take to get from where you are (at the bottom of the ladder) to where you want to be (at the top of the ladder.) You may need assistance and support to get from the bottom of the ladder to the top, so be sure to check out our local resources page to find the information you will need. You can do this!
