The first step in developing a career development profile is to discover your strengths, weaknesses, skills, talents, and interests. This can be done through a number of ways. You can find books, workbooks, and websites with questionnaires that will help you discover these things about yourself. You can also enlist the assistance of a personal career development profile software or online service that will provide questions for you to answer then analyze the information and tell you about yourself.
The next step in developing a career development profile is to investigate what careers suit your personality, strengths, talents, skills, and interests. If you have chosen to enlist the assistance of a personal career development profile software or online service, this step will automatically be completed for you. If not, you can discover careers that fit your interests by searching using key words and phrases at the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook Online.
You can also use the Occupational Outlook Handbook Online to find out more detailed information about careers chosen for you by personal career development profile software and online services. This can be a great help during your next step, which is to narrow down your choices to one career that you decide to pursue.
Once you have decided on a career that is right for you, you will need to determine what has to be done to get there. This can be discovered by visiting professional association websites related to the career that you are most interested in. This information, too, can be found at the Occupational Outlook Handbook Online. Once you know what you have to do to get there, it is time to set your goals.
