The career is the literal journey through life of an individual. A career may be viewed as a period in time during which an individual is self-directed and attempts to achieve certain goals. There are many different ways to describe a career and in various ways the term is employed.
One way of classifying careers is by constructing a career cluster. Career clusters are groups of careers that are related in some way. An occupation may be included in a career cluster if it is a subset of one or more other occupations.
Other ways of classifying careers is to consider what type of work an occupation requires and whether or not it is a long-term career. An occupation that takes just a short period of time to complete could be considered a short-term career. For example, if you are studying to become a paralegal you could work in a law office for only a year or two before beginning to do your research. A more long-term career path might be a teacher or medical practitioner. In this case, you would pursue a career that would take you decades to complete.
A common approach to classifying careers is through geography. Certain industries tend to have a few common career paths, especially when it comes to technical careers. Therefore, if you go into a business specializing in mechanical engineering you are bound to find one occupation in which you can specialize. Geographical diversification offers a variety of choices. For instance, someone working in a bookstore specializing in arts and crafts could pursue other interests in order to have additional income.
As well, the career-course approach is popularly used to classify short-term careers. For example, a short-term career in customer service is often seen as a stand-alone career as opposed to a long-term career in an engineering position. The customer service career will usually involve working with customers in an area that you are very familiar with. The customer service career has a number of potential futures that you could pursue over the next few years or even decades.
The key to career exploration and choosing a career path is the willingness to learn new things and to be willing to accept that things may not always go the way you planned. You will also need to have enough financial resources to be able to pursue a number of different career paths, depending on what your interests and abilities are. A little bit of luck as well as good preparation can help you find the perfect career path. Remember, there are a number of career path options available to you, so make sure that you explore all of your options!