In my opinion, career management is a basic life skill that everyone should understand. The decisions you make about your career really have a profound effect on every aspect of your life. When you have the knowledge and resources you need to make smart, informed decisions about your career, you will have much more control over your career path.

Unfortunately, plenty of people believe that career choice is a one time event that happens some time in early adulthood when you're about to leave high school or apply to post secondary programs. Smart career management actually happens across your lifetime, and we continue to make consequential career choices over the years.

Whether you're at a point where you are looking for a new job, aiming to take the next step in an existing current job, completely changing your career or planning your retirement options, you are making career choices, and using good resources and the guidance of a career counselor can help you to make those decisions well.

So often, when people find themselves at a career crossroads, the first thing they do is jump right in and create a new resume. Smart career management and job search is about so much more than writing a great resume. If you take the time to learn about, think though and act on the four main areas of career management, you will be rewarded throughout your career.

1. Understand Yourself
   Your interests, abilities, values and personal needs and realities should all be taken into account in any career decision making process. You spend hours at work, and it impacts your life in many ways. It makes sense that you should be fully informed and aware of your personal needs, strengths and possible challenges before making such profound decisions.
   
   
2. Understand Your Options
   Do you know how many different career choices are available to you? Both The Dictionary of Occupational Titles (American) and The National Occupational Classification (Canadian) list well over 20,000 different job titles. Unless you've actively explored a variety of career choices, there's a very good chance that there are great career options available to you and you don't even realize they exist.
   
   
   
3. Connect Your Information Match your self knowledge with your understanding of the labor market and possible career options. Once you have developed a good understanding of yourself, you will be able to combine that self knowledge with your career and labor market research to determine potential career choices that are a great fit for your strengths, preferences and personal needs and goals.
   
   
   
4. Make it Happen Now's the time to start applying all of your job search strategies. You actually don't get to the resume writing stage until step four. When you've made a well informed career choice, then you're ready to make it happen. Making use of good career guidance and resources will help you to acquire the education, skills and experience needed to get the job and learn and implement effective job search strategies.
   
   Avoid taking the "ready, fire, aim" approach to making career choices and job searching. Time spent understanding your needs, researching your career options and developing outstanding job search skills, guided by great career resources, is a powerful investment in your future.
   
   

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   Career Empowerment Through Knowledge
   
   Do you want to develop the knowledge needed to make great career decisions and avoid career choices that aren't a great fit for your needs and goals?
   
   
   AnalyzeMyCareer.com uses the same well respected, professional assessment tools that I have used myself to manage my own career and help my own clients discover and achieve their career goals.