Not Sure What You Want to Do? Try This Career Tracks Exercise

The Career Tracks exercise, developed by the Office of Career Services at NYU Robert. F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, gives you a way to explore job openings that inspire you. The idea behind the exercise is to collect 50 or more job descriptions that appeal to you, either because of the employer or the job itself.

Do not limit the job descriptions you collect because of job location, salary, or whether you are qualified to do the work. This is merely an exercise to explore what resonates with you, so cast a wide net.

After collecting no fewer than 50 job descriptions, analyze them for commonalities and then start to explore connections between the descriptions you’re drawn to.

Once you’ve looked through your collection, construct up to five career tracks for yourself. A track can be an issue, a kind of organization, a role, or a client population.

Find the full description of the Career Tracks exercise here (PDF).