Below you find a modified and updated excerpt taken from Bolles, R.N. (1978). What Color is Your Parachute? Berkley, CA. Ten Speed Press. Image by Pxfuel.
Location, location, location
Consider what geographic location, industry and type of organization you would prefer to work in.
Geographic location
Where would you prefer to work? If the geographic area you would like to work in is not the place where you presently live, you can do online research on the area in the following ways:
- Browsing tripadvisor.com
- Looking up youtube videos about the area
- Following relevant local organizations on social media (e.g. enter the name of the location in the search field and see what organizations pop up)
- Reading place related news on google
- Searching for jobs in that area on Indeed.com (google search:”Indeed + your preferred country/state/city”).
Next, it is most likely essential to visit the place to find out if your initial ideas match with the actual experience. You probably also want to acquire additional information about the place. Therefore it will be helpful to identify individuals and organizations who can tell you more or introduce you to other people in the area. For example: friends, alumni, municipality services, etc.
Industry
Next, you should consider the industry you would like to work in. Suppose you’ve decided that being a consultant uses more of your skills than anything else. The question you then face is: should I be a consultant in education, in business, in non-profit organizations, or what?
Type of organization
Finally, what kind of organization would you like to work for? A multinational or a small- and medium sized company? A multinational could provide you with more options for career mobility. However, working for a small- and medium sized company will likely let you engage in a wider range of tasks.
Go to part 3 (Experiment!), article 1: ‘There is no standard career path‘.