As a recruiter and career coach, I am often asked what the best career choice in the current business world is. Being a psychologist directly involved in the career development of people in various industries, I have the possibility to analyze a lot of business spheres, a lot of career choices and personal stories, and to connect them with the basic psychological constructs and the fundamentals of people’s behavior, now translated in the language of career.

So, what is the perfect career choice? What are the things that make us successful at our job? And finally, what are the things we need to do, so that we know that we are on the right track in our career development?

Firstly, I would like to discuss the intuitive insights of my longitudinal observation. There are industries that are more profitable than others. There are professions that are objectively more paid than others. However, there are professionals that have achieved greater career success in the less-paid industries. So, what makes them successful even though the objective measurements are predicting less-favorable base ground for success?

Having in mind all these questions, I came to a general conclusion –apparently, there is a more complex approach in finding the perfect job than just objective matching of the skills and competences. And the theory behind it is very simple - it all connects with the basic psychological needs.

According to the Self determination theory, the basic psychological needs, the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are the base ingredients for healthy development and functioning. As in every aspect of life, their satisfaction level reflects in the working environment as well.

The need for autonomy represents the individual’s inherent desire to feel volitional and to experience a sense of choice and psychological freedom when carrying out an activity. If we volitionally make a career choice based on our conscious decision making process, defined priorities, preferred working conditions and both tangible and intangible desired benefits of the work, then we are one step closer to the dream job.

Next, the competence need satisfaction allows individuals to adapt to complex and changing environments and to be effective and efficient in the functioning at a certain area, whereas competence frustration is likely to result in helplessness and a lack of motivation. This is closely connected to possessing the technical skills for successful implementation of the job responsibilities. If we analyze our skills and competencies and we are sure that we have what it takes to fulfill the duties, the second step closer to the goal is rather established.

Finally, we cannot be successful and fulfilled if we do not surround ourselves by people with whom we’ll have the opportunity to develop healthy relations. The personality ‘click’ between the person and the direct supervisor, as well as the team, is the fuel that catalyzes persons’ motivation to give the best of themselves in reaching success, no matter if it’s personal or shared with the team. This theory includes the so called need for relatedness - individuals’ inherent propensity to feel connected to others, i.e., to be a member of a group, to love and care and be.

So, don’t be scared of making risky choices and dare to strive for your dream career. Learn more about yourself – make SWAT analyzes of your skills and competences, project your dream working environment; define the personalities of the people you want to work with. If you are interested in a wider scope of work – there are generalist roles for people who are better in multitasking and want to be involved in several aspects of the work. If you are interested in a specific part of the profession – come forward, the world is eager to meet the narrow specialists!

There are more criteria in defining one career as successful, than just measuring the financial benefit of it. And trust me, once you find your place in the professional sun, the desired reward will come undoubtedly!