What Job is Right for You? How to Research Roles

How do you know what job is right for you? If you’re facing multiple options and aren’t sure what’s right for you, this post is for you: I’ll walk you through 7 steps on how to do proper research to help you understand what roles would be a good fit.

Every once in a while, we have to make big career decisions. It can be really scary to think you might not choose the job that’s right for you! You can always ask others for advice, but first, it is most important to do your own research on these roles. Here are my 7 steps on how to make big career decisions! Please use my free guide on how to research roles here. And if you’re trying to generally figure out how to make big decisions, not necessarily about your career, check out this video!

1. Understand the role: what are the goals and responsibilities?

This step is all about helping you understand what this role is about and what success looks like in this role. Use Google to find blog posts and articles comparing different roles. You can also look for the role’s responsibilities on recruiting platforms, like LinkedIn. This may vary from industry to industry, but you want to try to find as many sources of information as possible to understand the similarities and differences among companies.

2. General requirements: what skills/certifications do you need?

During this stage, you want to understand what you need to learn, what certificates you need to get, etc to be considered a good candidate for this role. I would start with Googling the roles again, and also keep looking at those recruiting websites, which will include all the requirements. You also want to look out for transferable skills and experiences– what you have and how that can transfer into a new role. Don’t overlook or underestimate all you have already done so far!

3. Compensation: what can you expect?

Salary, benefits, and possibly commissions are an important part of choosing roles. This information might be more difficult to find, since employers seem to like to keep this information hidden. You can always look on sites like Glass Door, or other websites that have information about yearly statistics, averages, and more that might be useful. You need to know what your earning potential is and what benefits you can expect to be offered. If you are interested in understanding negotiating your compensation, market value, and setting your non-negotiables, check out this video.

4. What is the day-to-day on the job?

The day to day in a job differs from company to company, even within the same field or industry. You want to understand what types of activities you will be doing and the problems you will be tackling. How can you do that? By following people already in those roles. You can find these people on social media and in their publications on Medium, LinkedIn, personal blogs and more. You can also use Google to search for posts by these people. Then send them a message or invite them to a virtual coffee meeting to ask them more about their role. Most people are open to helping others, and the worst thing that can happen is they don’t answer. When it comes to evaluating the day to day life on the job, check out this framework on decision making to see if it is a good fit.

5. Career trajectory: what will growth look like long-term?

Understanding what might come next after this role is important, even if it seems far in the future! What does growth look like in this field after you take this job? Find out about this by researching the field in general. You would be surprised how many articles I have seen on industries where they have included easily understandable explanations of career trajectories. Also, when you’re reaching out to people in the field, go ahead and ask them about their career trajectory. And don’t forget to consider not only vertical career growth, but also diagonal growth opportunities. If you do want to grow in a slightly different way than others have in the past, you can do it! You just have to know what experiences you have that could be relevant.

6. What companies would you like to work at?

Identify what companies might be a good fit for you based on their company culture and purpose. In order to do this, you first need to understand what you’re looking for. Make a list of things that are important to you about company culture and your purpose. If you need help understanding your purpose, check out this free course.

Once you understand that, you will be able to find a company that works best for you. Just search for company culture key words and see what comes up! You can also try to find companies by searching with key words about your purpose. For example, if you’re interested in bringing connectivity to places all over the world, try to find companies that have roles where you could do that!

Also, you can look at other recruiting platforms like LinkedIn that could help you find companies. Create a list of potential companies you might be interested in working for. Once you have that list, let’s start eliminating to make sure you have the right ones on your list. Research each role one by one. Go on the company website, check out their About section, read their blog if they have one, etc. If they have social media, check that out. Pay attention to their content and the voice that they’re sharing; this will show you what kind of company they are.

Finally, use Google to search for any news publications, articles, posts, blog posts, or anything else about their company culture. Make sure you check platforms like Glass Door to see what past employees think of the company. Don’t forget you can always use Google to find this information with key words. Then, reach out to company employees on social media or LinkedIn to ask about what it’s like to work at their company. Ask them what it is like to be them, in their role, on a daily basis.

7. Evaluate what you find against what you want from a role

Finally, you should evaluate what you’ve found versus what you want from your role. If you are still unsure, check out my video on how to make important decisions. Your goal is to collect as much information as possible. Then, evaluate this against what is important to you. This will help you make an educated decision about what role is right for you.

There you have it! Follow these simple 7 steps to decide what role might be best for you. Download my free guide to help you, and leave a comment below if you have any other ideas about steps people can take! Share this post with loved ones who might be unsure what they want to do next in their career. As always, please become my friend on social media as Coding Blonde. Have a wonderful time of the day you’re currently experiencing!