What is Career Research? And Why Should You Be Doing It?

It’s 2025 and more people than ever before are asking themselves one simple question: how to find the right career for me?

Researching a career might sound like a simple proposition but before long it’s easy to get lost in a rabbit hole of possibilities. Do you want to spend years retraining just to enter a competitive job market? Are there other options that would be more satisfying to you and your personal goals?

In this article, we’d like to talk about how to know what job is right for you as well as the steps you can take to make that job a reality.

How To Find The Right Career

Let’s start simple: what do you want from your job?

Finding the job that’s right for you is almost always a difficult process. While a few people are lucky and know exactly what they want to be doing from a young age, for many, taking those first few steps on their career path can be the most difficult.

After all, it’s a big decision. Aside from sleeping, most adults spend the vast majority of their waking hours at work. If you can’t enjoy those hours, then that’s a big problem.

Fortunately, the job market is wide and varied. There are a lot of things you can do for a job and just about every field out there is usually looking to bring more people into the profession. Researching a career can take a while but that’s only because of just how many potential options you have.

The first step you have to take in discovering your dream job is to lay down some criteria. How much money do you need to be making? How many hours are you willing to work? What, in short, do and don’t you want from a job? 

Those can be difficult questions to answer, especially if you’re new to the world of work. The key is not to set concrete answers right away but to keep them in mind when you move on to step two – finding out what you’re qualified for.

Many people assume that to be qualified for a job you have to have specialised from a young age – that you need to go straight in with twelve degrees and a PHD. That might be true in some roles but in others the entry requirements can vary hugely and there are plenty of industries where you can work your way from the bottom.

As an adult if you’re looking to start a new career path then it’s vitally important to establish what is and isn’t practical. In short, you need to do your research.

Mastering Career Research

So let’s say you’ve made a list of jobs you’d like/industries you’d like to work in. Some are more out there than others but the most important part is that they’re all things you’re truly interested in and passionate about.

The next step is to find your in and the best way to do that is by asking. Go online, find the places where people in this industry congregate and ask them if/how to get into their industry. 

If that sounds like a very direct approach then that, in a sense, is the point. While google is a great resource and we do encourage you to have a look around, the best resource you’ll ever find is people. By asking directly you can find out exactly what other people’s path into an industry was and what yours might be.

In some cases you’ll probably encounter dead ends. Unless you have the time/resources to study, some doors may be closed to you. That said, you never know until you’ve asked and you’d be amazed how willing people often are to share information with someone who’s looking to jump into their area of expertise.

Making The Most of Your Resources

On that same note, always try to keep an eye for and be aware of any career resources you might have. Whether it’s local programs designed to help people in your position, online resources such as courses and tutorials, or even just friends and family who are able to point you in the right direction, make sure to take advantage of all your opportunities.

Most importantly of all, be proactive with those resources. Don’t just think about making a change but take steps to make one, even if that step is just asking for advice. That way, the next time you find yourself asking how to find the right career for you, you’ll have the tools to find out for yourself.