Choosing a career in America is generally not a one-time decision; it’s a series of decisions, made as you progress through different stages of life, experience, and responsibility. As we move from one stage of life into another, we begin to adapt our lifestyles and family commitments to conform to our present employment needs or demands. However, this adaptation might not be the best way to approach career decisions.1 In fact, because more than 60 percent of Americans are not satisfied with their current jobs, it seems obvious that the way we adapt our lifestyles to fit our current employment demands has been in error. As such, most Americans need to unlearn the errors and then learn the truth regarding career decisions.

First we will address the most common errors that must be unlearned concerning making career decisions. Then we will outline the steps that have been proved to be successful.

Common errors in making career decisions
The following are the seven most common errors when making career decisions.

1. Choose the first or easiest job you can get. To choose a job based on its ease is not being a good steward of the talents and abilities that God has given (Proverbs 13:4). Our goal should always be to move into areas in which we are using our strongest talents and abilities in our work.
2. Choose a job based on salary. This error is so established in our culture that it’ll take a strong commitment to faith in God’s guidance to choose a job based on talents, rather than salary. A job chosen based on salary will not be satisfying (Ecclesiastes 5:10). God will supply our needs if we trust Him totally.
3. Choose a job because it provides a good title. Doing what you’re good at and what you enjoy is generally a far better consideration in choosing a career than selecting a title and doing the work that accompanies it (Proverbs 12:9).
4. Take a job just because management offers it. Discuss your work-related attributes with your employer to indicate the areas that will be the best fit for you. You may be better off expanding your area of responsibility in your present job, instead of moving away from your skills and area of expertise.
5. Choose a job because that’s what your parents do. Don’t choose a career track because that’s what your parents do. God has created you to be unique. Discover that uniqueness and develop your career plans around it.
6. Choose a job to fulfill your parents unfulfilled dream. Parents must be careful not to steer their children to something the parents would like; rather, children should be encouraged to follow a career path that best suits their God-given talents and abilities.
7. Choose a job just because you have the minimum ability to do it. There are many jobs we can do, but they are not necessarily God’s plan for us. Usually His plan also involves our strongest skills, our personalities, and our motivations.2

How to make good career decisions
The following are eight steps that we should take as we prepare to make career decisions.

1. Clarify your purpose in life. Place your life in God’s hands and trust His guidance completely (Ephesians 2:10). He will show you how your talents and abilities can best be used to glorify Him.
2. Discover your natural inclinations and how to effectively use them. Understand how God has gifted you. These would include abilities, talents, personality strengths, values, and principles.
3. Investigate several occupations that fit your talents and personality. Concentrate on jobs that are a potential good fit. Read, interview people, and visit job sites in order to identify jobs that best suit your talent profile.
4. Seek God’s confirmation. Continue to pray specifically for God’s direction in your search and His leading in your decision. Share your desire with other mature, trusted Christians and seek their counsel.
5. Choose your initial destination and develop a plan to get there. This might include specialized inner company education, special training, on-campus education, or correspondence courses. Develop a résumé that reflects your talents, desires, and your abilities.
6. Learn to manage your career. Learn how to adjust if your career choice demands compliance or change in order to maintain productivity, to keep up with the ever-changing technological world, or to be competitive. Hone and tailor your talents to assure compatibility.3
7. Become a lifelong learner. We must study both God’s Word and our vocations in order to show ourselves approved by both God and management. This is most essential in today’s fast paced world of constant change and innovation. Employees who do not “keep up” with these changes may find themselves left behind, regardless of their talents, experience, or company seniority.
8. Refine your career as you progress. After you’re in a job you’ll see areas that need improving and developing. But be careful not to move into areas in which you are not suited or qualified, based on your talents and abilities.4

Conclusion
Too often we work things backwards. We decide on the results we want and then pray that God will bless our decision, and we try desperately to fit into the mold that is demanded. When we do this, we deny Him full control and we deny ourselves a career that is compatible with our God-given gifts and talents. Identifying our talents, abilities, and personalities; understanding how they can best be used; and then turning the results over to God is mandatory if we are going to be successful in career selection decisions.

1 Larry Burkett and Lee Ellis, Your Career in Changing Times, Moody, 1993,
p. 142
2 Lee Ellis, The PathFinder, Life Pathways, 2000, p. 31
3 www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/christian-resources.html
4 Lee Ellis, The PathFinder, Life Pathways, 2000, pp. 34-35