Decision making – it comes into everything you do, everyday. There’s simply no escape. It’s connected to the mundane stuff and to all the big stuff. And, it generally kicks off the minute you wake up!
What’s for breakfast?
Latte or espresso?
Friday night movie or Saturday night party?
Work more hours or work less hours?
Same job or different job?
Same company or different company?
More study?
Right study?
Different study?
Of course, decision making is highly personal because everything you do has a knock on effect. With the higher level decision making, there are also a number of factors to take into consideration.
Fortunately, when it comes to career decision making, there are a number of models that are handy in their simplicity.
- Who am I? – Self-awareness
- What’s out there/available to me and what will I need to do? – Decision learning
- Now that I know what’s out there, have I explored it fully? – Occupational knowledge
- Where and how will I go about putting my plan in action? – Transition skills
For serious decision making to be effective, it helps if it’s tied to a goal or objective. If there’s no real end goal in sight, you’ll flounder or just keep going around and around. Good decision making can also be a bit of a process – it needs mapping out. Why? Because it’s important! Time, cost, and value comes into it.
- Time – How much time will it take you to achieve? What effort will be required to be successful?
- Cost – How much money is your decision going to cost you?
- Value – How will your decision better your current situation and will your costs, time and effort lead you to the right place?
If you’re currently at the point of a major career decision making moment and are considering a change of degree direction, we can help! Book a chat with one of our team about your decision making process.
