Which job suits me? How to find your direction

Which job suits me? Start with interests, values and strengths

A job that suits you hits three things at once. You find the tasks interesting, the work matches what you think matters, and you have, or can learn, the skills it takes. If one of the three is missing, the job tends to become boring, draining or frustrating over time.

Interests are about what gives you energy. Think about what you do when nobody tells you what to do. Do you fix things, read about how things work, draw, help friends with their problems, or are you the one who organises the trip for everyone? Values are about what you need from work, such as security, freedom, good pay, meaning, regular hours or variety. Strengths are what you already do well, often the things other people come to you for help with.

Write your answers down. It sounds simple, but a pattern is much easier to spot on paper than in your head. These questions are a good place to start:

• Which tasks make you lose track of time?
• What have you been praised for at school, at work or in your free time?
• What would you most like to avoid in a working day?
• Would you rather work with people, with things, with numbers and information or with ideas?
• How important are pay, security and free time to you over the next five years?

Holland's six types, explained simply

Many career tests are based on Holland's interest model, also known as RIASEC. The American psychologist John Holland divided interests into six types and argued that people thrive in jobs where the environment matches their interests. Most of us are a mix, and your two or three strongest types say the most.

Someone who scores high on social and curious often ends up in health, as a doctor, psychologist or physiotherapist. Someone who is enterprising and systematic often enjoys sales, finance or running operations. The model tells you what you like, not what you are good at, so always read it alongside your strengths. Here are the six types, with their RIASEC letter and example jobs:

• Practical (R, realistic): hands-on work with tools, machines, animals or nature. Examples: electrician, carpenter, car mechanic, machine operator.
• Curious (I, investigative): analysis, research and problem solving. Examples: engineer, doctor, data analyst, biologist.
• Creative (A, artistic): expression, design and new ideas. Examples: graphic designer, journalist, architect, musician.
• Social (S): helping, teaching and caring for others. Examples: nurse, teacher, child welfare worker, physiotherapist.
• Enterprising (E): leading, persuading and taking the initiative. Examples: sales representative, shop manager, estate agent, founder.
• Systematic (C, conventional): order, structure and accuracy. Examples: accountant, payroll officer, logistics coordinator, case officer.

How to test a job in practice

A test gives you suggestions. Whether a job actually suits you is best found out by getting close to it. It rarely takes long, and it hardly ever costs anything.

Talk to people who do the job. Most will happily reply to a polite message asking for 20 minutes of their time. Ask what an ordinary working day looks like, what they like least, how they got into the field and what they would do differently. You can find them on LinkedIn, through people you know or by simply calling a workplace.

Ask to shadow someone for a day or two. In Norway this is often called hospitering, and while school pupils do it through school, adults can ask too. Explain briefly why you are interested, and many workplaces will say yes.

Take a part time job, summer job or temporary post in the sector. A few weeks as an assistant in a kindergarten, extra help in a warehouse or an on call substitute in a care home tells you more about daily life than any brochure. The job descriptions on utdanning.no, in Norwegian, explain the tasks, the education route and the job market for each occupation.

Free career guidance in Norway

You do not have to work this out on your own, and you do not have to pay for help. There are several free career guidance services in Norway. Most are in Norwegian, so ask whether guidance in English is possible if your Norwegian is not strong yet. These are the main ones:

• The career centre in your county. The county authorities run career centres (karrieresenter) where adults can get free sessions with a career adviser.
• The online service karriereveiledning.no. You can chat, call or email an adviser wherever in the country you live.
• Your school, college or university. Pupils have school advisers, and universities and university colleges have their own career centres for students.
• NAV. If you are looking for work, NAV can give guidance on jobs, courses and opportunities where you live.

Changing career as an adult

Changing direction in your 30s, 40s or 50s is completely normal. It is often less dramatic than it sounds, because you take much of what you know with you. A shop manager has experience of budgets, staff and customer service that is useful in many other jobs.

First map out what you want to keep and what you want to leave behind. Then look for the shortest route. Sometimes a course or a certification is enough. Other times you need a trade certificate, a vocational college programme or a degree. If your education is from abroad, the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir) can assess it, and regulated professions such as nursing need authorisation from the Norwegian Directorate of Health.

Do the sums before you resign. Check what the job typically pays with the salary check, and see whether you can try the new field alongside your current job first. Our guide to changing jobs has more tips. These Norwegian schemes can shorten the route:

• Assessment of prior learning (realkompetansevurdering): if you have long experience, what you know can be assessed against the curriculum, so you do not have to retake subjects you already master.
• The experience based trade certificate route (praksiskandidat): with long and varied experience in a trade you can take the trade test without a normal apprenticeship.
• Vocational colleges (fagskole): short, practical programmes, often possible part time alongside work.
• Lånekassen: adults can also get funding for education, in many cases for part time study too.

Career tests: how to use the result

A good career test asks what you enjoy doing and gives you an interest profile with suggested jobs. It is a starting point, not a verdict. Treat the suggestions as a list of jobs to look into, and cross off those that do not fit your values or your situation.

The career quiz at Selja is a free career test based on Holland's interest model. You answer questions about what you like and get suggested occupations that fit your profile, with typical pay from Statistics Norway (SSB) and open positions in each one. That shows you straight away whether there are jobs where you live. Here is a simple plan for the next four weeks:

• Week 1: take a career test and write down your interests, values and strengths.
• Week 2: pick three jobs and read job descriptions and job ads for each of them.
• Week 3: talk to at least one person in each of the three jobs.
• Week 4: book a session with a career adviser and decide on the next small step.

Common traps when choosing a career

The most common trap is choosing by job title instead of daily life. 'Psychologist' sounds exciting, but the reality involves many conversations, a lot of paperwork and a long education. Always ask what a perfectly ordinary Tuesday looks like.

Another trap is choosing what others expect of you, whether that is parents, friends or former colleagues. You are the one who has to do the job. Also, do not wait for complete certainty. There is rarely one perfect job, but there are many that could suit you well. What matters is taking a small step, learning from it and adjusting as you go.