Ask any career counselor: working in the wrong field is like trying to write with your less-dominant hand. Maybe you can struggle along, but you’re never going to excel – and worst of all, it’s uncomfortable. That’s why the goal when picking a career isn’t to choose the highest-paying job or even the job with the best occupational outlook. To really do well in your chosen field, you need to pick a job that fits your personality, skills, aptitudes, and interests. PayScale’s latest data package helps you determine just that, starting with an interactive quiz that helps you figure out which job is the best job for you.
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The Best Job for Me quiz starts by asking you to identify your favorite type of work, e.g. corporate, creative, geeky, humanitarian, and so on. Then it asks you whether you’re interested in going to school, whether you’d like to be the boss, whether you want to change the world, and how you respond to stress. Finally, it winds up by asking you which is more important: how much you earn, or whether you love your job. Remember: there’s no right answer to any of these questions. The important thing is to pick the answer that’s true for you.
If the jobs that appear on the right-hand side don’t strike your fancy, you can modify your answers and try again. (For example, you might start off by saying that money isn’t important, but when you see the pay range for the jobs that pop up, you might change your tune.)
On the other hand, if you see a job title that fires your imagination right off the bat, go to PayScale’s Research Center to find out more about the gig, or use our Career Path Explorer to find out how people typically get to that job – and what you’d have to do to become their newest colleague.
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Career counseling