The days are past when one would hire on, be trained for a job, and continue in that job comfortably for thirty-plus years, finally retiring with the traditional gold watch, full pension and company-paid health insurance. The world changes ever more rapidly, new careers arise and old ones disappear. Choosing a career was never simple, but today it is even more difficult.

Making a career choice today involves taking into account other factors: personal goals and job preferences, the work environment, hours, the needs of your family, travel, and whether you will feel challenged. This is a shift in thinking from the standard idea where one or two breadwinners worked a shift like every other employee. Companies today may also no longer be looking for someone who blindly follows the same path everyday in a constantly improving, changing work environment. Companies are going in new directions from a generation ago and need employees who can evolve with them.

Some labor scholars have suggested that today a worker should be able to prepare themselves for a dozen different positions and jobs over the course of their working career. These jobs may be in a couple of different fields. This may make the average worker feel uncomfortable because their state of employment may not be as obvious. The career salary goals are most likely harder to pin down.

None of this should make you afraid of making the wrong decision or of the change brought about by navigating between different positions and companies. At the least, this constantly changing world makes it easier for you to make yourself happy at work. Flexibility can be a benefit, freeing you from a bad boss or an inefficient company, as long as you are confident enough to guide your career choice yourself.

A good place to begin is to make a list of the things you excel at, what fields interest you, and what kinds of work environments you enjoy. Consider those factors before your degrees, job experience, or qualifications. Whether you’re qualified to be a schoolteacher is quite different than whether you’d actually like to be one. Make your career choice carefully by thinking about how a given job will want you to work. How will they require you to solve problems? Will they create independent work or cooperative efforts? The number of possible jobs for you will instantly expand, and allow the possibility of considering a jump to an entirely new job field if it’s what makes you happy.

Consider the option of career counseling if you are feeling caught in your situation, or perhaps overwhelmed by the possibilities. A professional who is constantly tapped in to the job market and the opportunities that are available to you will be a great aid in making the appropriate career choice, no matter how long it takes to make it.

Our contemporary ideas about working are numbered. Today, career choice is no longer as clear as it used to be. In today’s fluid, ever-changing economy, studies indicate that it is no longer unusual to change jobs every few years. Workers must be prepared to change both position and field of employment as required. This fluidity can be challenging at times, as the concept of “stable employment” disappears, and limited time in any one position makes it more difficult to reach career salary goals. Finding a job is frustrating with so many choices out there; career counseling is a great way to narrow down endless job possibilities.