The career that you are in may be declining; or may be expanding depending on the times. Your challenge is to find the career that will be growing over time so that you can secure employment and growth.

Example: manufacturing in the US has been declining as more manufacturers shift operations overseas. On the other end of the spectrum, health care will be expanding as more baby boomers enter retirement age.

As you make a career assessment, opportunities in health-related fields will be more promising than manufacturing. You need to find the career (and perhaps the education) that will return the best career opportunity.

Reviewing Career Trends

The Department of Labor compiles statistics on employment opportunities and projections. You need to review these numbers to assess where career opportunities my be:

• Projections on what's hot and what's not. Includes employment statistics and the fastest growing careers: www.bls.gov/emp
  
  
• Quarterly review of the latest trends from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
  www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/ooqhome.htm
  
  
• Provides information on careers from an occupational perspective:
  www.bls.gov/oco/cg
  
  
• Occupational outlook by category: provides insight on the training need, work environment, earnings, expected job prospects and more. It's a valuable resource to help decide what career you may like.
  www.bls.gov/oco

Occupation Trends by State

Just as industries come and go, so do state and local regions. There are regions in the country that have better career opportunities and projections.

You need to not only assess your career opportunities but also areas where your career skills are in demand.

• Occupational projections by state and region — helps determine where you may need to locate for the best growth
  www.projectionscentral.com
  
  
• Link to individual State economic, job and occupation trends:
  
  State Job Sites: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Different jobs require certain skills.

Match your skill set with the right job. Understand what skills will be required to succeed in your job:

• Use this skills assessment to understand job types:
  http://online.onetcenter.org
  

What about college?

• View college requirements for different careers from collegeboard.com:
  cbweb9p.collegeboard.org
  
  
• What to do with your collegiate major/skills:
  www.udel.edu/CSC/mrk.html

Finding the career that is best for you

Many of us make the mistake on selecting a career that pays the good money but find ourselves in an unfulfilling career that we dread each morning.

Your career should be on what you like best, not on how much you get paid. Finding a career that brings you satisfaction will show in your progress and growth.

• aptitude tests, personality tests, occupational Interest assessments

What do you do best

Take some career and personal self-assessment tests to determine your aptitude and character for career opportunities.

By understanding your personality type, it will help determine what career opportunity will bring you the most satisfaction.

• Start with defining your personality type:
  take this online quiz to get a non-test based review of your personality type and careers that may be of interest www.personalitytype.com
  
  
• take this FREE Keisey Temperament assessment in determining your character type: www.keirsey.com
  
  
• take the Myers & Briggs self assessment test:
  www.myersbriggs.org

About Self-Assessment Tests:
you can view more information about personal assessments and how they can measure your personality traits for jobs and other life-events

• Kinds of self assessment tests:
  Summary of personality assessment test and which tests work for careers:
  www.humanmetrics.com
  
  about the Myers & Briggs self assessment test:
  www.myersbriggs.org
  about the Keisey Temperament assessment:
  www.keirsey.com

Your career success will be determine by your discipline to achieve goals and career objectives

Time to set some personal achievement goals. Try these helpful plans:

• Personal planning tools:
  http://www.franklincovey.com
  
  
• Achieving Success begins with discipline and motivation:
  http://www.webreader.com
  
• Goal setting plans:
  http://www.mymotivator.com/

There is much to consume when making your career selection

It might be to your advantage to seek career counseling services to help define and and find you the best career opportunity based on your skill set and personality type:

• Career assessments:
  aptitude tests, personality tests, occupational Interest assessments
  
  
  
• Consumer guidelines to selecting a career counselor:
  www.ncda.org/about/polscc.html
  
  About the National Career Development Association:
  www.ncda.org/index.html
  
  
  
• Search online for career counselor:
  http://www.nbcc.org/cfind/
  
  
  
• Gain insight on the steps needed in your career planning:
  http://www.career-design.com/
  
  
  
• Search yellow pages for career counselors:
  career & vocational counseling