Career Paths

Often, my Students ask me to name them the career that gives them opportunities for employment and possibilities for growth. I tell them that no one career on its own can do that. And I believe so. We all know people who are stuck with what society would label as admirable careers, yet another is doing so much work with a career path that no one would dare talk about. If in the last few years anyone would have said that comedy was a career path, that would have been a laughable joke, but hey, Churchill, Kenya’s great comedian is making it big!

First, let’s define a career

A career is an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life and with opportunities for progress.

I particularly like this definition of a career. Trust me, anything that you are going to undertake for a significant period of your life needs to be well thought out. A great career should utilize the person you are; your strengths, personality, likes, preferences, outlook in life, biases, experiences, aspirations, and serve a purpose greater than making money.

The second part of this definition has to do with opportunities for growth, to which I answer with; as long as you are committed to growth, you can always DARE new opportunities, by doing old things in new ways informed by the knowledge advantage. It’s called innovation. When you pursue a career that means something to the person you are, you can always innovate

A great career should;

i)  Make you happy …follow your PASSION
ii) Make significant contribution to life …make a difference
iii) Make you money …compensate your efforts

In short, making a difference with a career should come before the thought of making a dollar.

Second and importantly, before deciding what professional make-up you are going to put on, you need to consider your psychological make-up. When it comes to career choice, personality matters. You can check your Personality vs. Career Paths 

Finally, there is a career fit for you…

The career that is fit for you is the one at which PROFESSIONALISM meets PASSION, in the world of your personality type.

There are several career paths in Psychology. They include;

a)    Clinical Psychologist

b)    Community Psychologist

c)    Counselling Psychologist

d)    Cognitive Psychologist

e)    Consumer Psychologist

f)     Developmental Psychologist

g)    Educational Psychologist

h)   Forensic Psychologist

i)     Health Psychologist

j)      Industrial and Organizational Psychologist

k)    Social Psychologist