Where should career thinking begin?

Career thinking should start with yourself, not job titles. Instead of browsing vacancies and trying to fit into a role, it is better to first reflect on what you want your working life to contain. This means considering what matters to you now, what motivates you, and what kind of daily experience would feel fulfilling and sustainable before looking at specific jobs.

Why are values important in careers?

Values matter because they shape what kind of work feels meaningful and worthwhile. A role that suited you years ago may no longer fit the person you are today, especially if your priorities have changed. Thinking about values such as purpose, autonomy, learning, or collaboration helps you identify a career that aligns with who you are now, not who you used to be.

How should strengths be assessed?

Assess strengths not only by asking what you are good at, but also by asking which abilities you genuinely enjoy using. You may be skilled at tasks like managing budgets or leading teams, yet still find them draining if they do not energise you. The best career fit comes from strengths that are both effective and enjoyable, because capability alone is not enough.

What makes a role fit your life?

A role fits your life when it works with your wider circumstances, not against them. That may include flexible hours, less travel, remote work, time with family, or enough energy left for life outside work. The goal is to clearly understand your priorities so you can recognise opportunities that match your values, strengths, and practical needs, giving you real direction.

How to work out what you want from your career

CREATED BY DAVE CORDLE

Published: 08/10/2026 @ 09:01AM

#CareerChange #WorkMotivation #FindYourPassion #ProfessionalGrowth #JobSatisfaction

In my last blog post, I talked about that feeling of being comfortably, or perhaps uncomfortably, numb at work. You may have realised that your current role no longer excites you and started thinking about your passions and strengths ...

What you want from your career becomes clearer when you reflect on your skills, values and goals"

But recognising that you want something different is only the beginning. The next question is often the harder one: how do you work out what you want from your career?

Working out what you want from your career can be difficult
particularly if you've spent years following a path!

When you're thinking about a career change, it's tempting to start with job titles. You open a recruitment website, browse vacancies and try to imagine yourself doing one of them. Instead, try starting with you.

Before deciding what your next job should be called, think about what you actually want your working life to contain.

Your values are a good place to begin. What matters to you now? Perhaps you want to make a difference, have more autonomy, work collaboratively, keep learning, or simply feel that your work has purpose. Your values may also have changed since you chose your current career. What suited you ten or twenty years ago doesn't necessarily have to suit the person you are today.

Then consider your strengths, but with
an important twist!

Don't just ask what you're good at. Ask which strengths you actually enjoy using. You might be brilliant at managing budgets, resolving difficult situations or leading large teams, but that doesn't automatically mean you want those things to dominate your next role. Being capable of doing something and being energised by it are very different.

Now widen the picture beyond work itself. Instead of chasing the mythical perfect work-life balance, think about work-life integration. What does work need to look like to fit comfortably alongside everything else that matters to you?

That might mean flexible hours, less travel, working remotely, more time with family, pursuing interests outside work, or simply having enough energy left at the end of the day to enjoy your life. Your ideal role isn't really ideal if everything surrounding it makes you miserable.

You can now start creating a profile rather
than searching for a job title!

Write down the values that matter to you, the skills you want to use, the environment in which you work best and the practical things you need from your working life. You may not find a role that ticks every box, and that's OK.

The purpose is to be aware of what ideal looks like and understand your priorities well enough. Then, when opportunities appear, you can recognise the ones that genuinely fit.

Knowing you want a change is important. Taking the time to understand what you want from your career gives you something much more useful: direction.

Until next time ...

DAVE CORDLE
Career Development Professional

07941 690 391

www.davecordle.co.uk / www.linkedin.com/in/davecordle

Everything you need for your career: www.davecordle.co.uk/basecamp

Would you like to know more?

If anything in my blog post resonates with you and you'd like some further help and advice with your career, then why not get in touch today? Call me on 07941 690391, visit my website at davecordle.co.uk to see ways I can help and support you, or connect with me on LinkedIn and let's start a conversation.

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#CareerChange #WorkMotivation #FindYourPassion #ProfessionalGrowth #JobSatisfaction

About Dave Cordle ...

I began my professional life training as a cartographer with the Directorate of Overseas Surveys, a department of the British government. I made maps of places such as Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Sudan and the British Virgin Islands. It was a fascinating time, being involved in planning the flights for aerial photography, interpreting the photographs and eventually producing the plates for the different layers of the final map.

It was during my latter years as a cartographer and my career in computing that I undertook bigger mountaineering expeditions to the Andes, the Himalayas, the Tien Shan and the Caucasus. At that time I also held various leadership roles in scouting. I coached and trained young people successfully leading them to develop themselves and embrace new experiences. So that’s where my passion comes from to help young people learn the strategies for success that I share with my business and career clients.

My journey in personal professional development and coaching has been amazing, and will continue to be so: it’s why I’m here, it’s my big passion. It’s what has informed my vision and mission.

However unlikely your dream might seem, if you keep taking steps towards it, even small steps, you may well just surprise yourself.

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How to work out what you want from your career

Working out what you want from your career can be difficultparticularly if you've spent years following a path!

Before deciding what your next job should be called, think about what you actually want your working life to contain.

Then consider your strengths, but withan important twist!

Now widen the picture beyond work itself. Instead of chasing the mythical perfect work-life balance, think about work-life integration. What does work need to look like to fit comfortably alongside everything else that matters to you?

You can now start creating a profile ratherthan searching for a job title!

Working out what you want from your career can be difficult
particularly if you've spent years following a path!

Then consider your strengths, but with
an important twist!

You can now start creating a profile rather
than searching for a job title!