What kind of lifestyle do you want?

   Most jobs start off with at least a few years of hard labor at lower pay than you’d like. What’s more important is looking ahead at people well into a career track to determine whether the lifestyle they lead is desirable to you. Some factors you might want to consider include the amount of control they have over their own time, their salary and the amount of travel involved, among other factors.

   I’m not saying you need to have a distinct goal like “$150,000 per year or bust.” I’m saying that what’s acceptable to you is highly individual, and it’s important to do what will make you the most comfortable.

    If giving back to the community gives you the most job satisfaction, then perhaps being a social worker with a relatively low wage will satisfy your needs. But if you’d prefer to turn off work at the end of the day and go live your “real” life, including eating out, travel and play, then perhaps a higher salary goal is more appropriate.

Again, these are things you may discover as you go.

 Where do you want to live?

While not essential for every career type, determining where you want to live can be an important part of the career search process. This is especially true for jobs that are focused in certain regions. If you want to work in the magazine industry, then you’ll probably need to move to New York City. Wheat farmer? The Midwest. Anthropologist? Just about anywhere.

   Beyond geographical region, think again about the lifestyle on offer in the places you’ll be headed. Do you seek a metropolitan lifestyle with restaurants and cultural attractions on every corner? Or do you need the beauty and quiet of a rural setting?

This is another place where the data can be extremely helpful. If location is important to you, head to theBureau of Labor Statistics‘ website and do a few searches of job titles by region.

   Deciding which career is right for you can be an overwhelming process. Rather than focusing on identifying a direct path, first determine your own needs and goals, and then sync your findings with what the world has to offer.

   Adria Saracino is the head of outreach at Distilled, a digital marketing agency. When not consulting on outreach and content strategies, you can find her writing about style on her personal fashion blog, The Emerald Closet.

      Make Career plan

As with most things, your career will benefit if you have goals and a plan for it. Maybe you think you want to be a writer, but the next step after that, is editing. (Do you really want to do that?) Or maybe you want to transition from being an editor to a restaurant owner. (How are you going to get there?) Map out where you want to go, with concrete milestones, as if it were a four-phase project.