Plan your career
Want a job with more meaning?
It may be that at some point in your working life, you start to consider what would give you more job satisfaction. You might be looking for a job which has more meaning, although what this means may vary from person to person. Use the following information to help you think about what you could do to get more job satisfaction.
I want to find out what would bring more meaning to my job
It's likely that a job that satisfies your career values will have more meaning for you. Your career values are what's important to you in work. Whether it's helping others or having status, our Skills Health Check Tools can help you to get a handle on what's important to you in work.
What kind of things can bring job satisfaction?
Making a difference to people's lives
If you work in a helping role you can get great satisfaction from knowing that your efforts can help to improve people's lives. You could improve people's health, help people during difficult times or teach people new skills.
If you're a people person and get a warm glow from helping others, take a look at these job areas:
- medicine and nursing
- social services
- alternative therapies
- education and training.
Fighting for a cause
If you've got passionate beliefs or opinions, it's likely you'd be motivated to work in a job where you put your passion into action. For example, if you feel strongly about third world poverty, you could join a charity that helps to bring clean water to villages.
Opportunities in the voluntary sector are growing all the time, and salaries are moving closer towards the public and private sectors. You could get some experience by volunteering at first, to find out how voluntary organisations operate.
You might even find that you already have the skills to move straight into the voluntary sector, even if you haven't worked in it before. For example, if you've got sales experience, you could be a charity fundraiser.
Here are a couple jobs to give you some ideas:
- charity fundraiser
- volunteer organiser.
Voluntary organisations also employ people in general roles, so if you've got the right background could be an accounts clerk, a human resources officer or a project manager, for example.
If you've got strong political beliefs you could become a Member of Parliament (MP)....
Being creative
Creative jobs can enable you to make the most of your natural talents. You can feel you're bringing something of yourself to your job and that no-one else would have produced the same work as you.
If you want to get those creative juices flowing, you could read up on the careers in these job families:
- arts, craft and design
- performing arts, broadcast and media.
Seeing the results of your hard work
You might feel this way if in your current job you're part of a large process, or if you never get to see the impact of your work. If this is the case, you might find you're happier in a more practical job where you can see the finished product or the difference your efforts have made.
There are many jobs like this, some of which you'll find in fields like these:
- construction
- maintenance, service and repair
- manufacturing and engineering.
What else can bring meaning to my work?
- I want to make a valuable contribution to society
- I'd like a job that reflects what I'm like as a person
- I want to do something I'm really good at that makes use of my strengths
- I want to put something back into the community.
Talk to an adviser
I just wish I'd heard about the National Careers Service sooner!
How can I get extra advice?
You can get more advice about finding a job with more meaning by contacting one of our National Careers Service advisers. 
