“What do you expect from your career?”: Learn how to get your essay right

The essay with the theme “What do you expect from your career?” It is a stage of the selection process that usually brings up a series of doubts.

What do you expect from your career: a simple question, but difficult to answer

Especially if you are at the beginning of your career, it is likely that many of the questions asked in the selection process will seem strange.

This is because, in most cases, the questions asked are not directly related to your CV, which is what we usually use when preparing for the interview.

Therefore, questions like “who are you in the professional environment” or “what is your biggest flaw and your biggest quality” can be difficult to answer.

And, if just answering a question brings difficulties, having to write an essay with the theme “what do you expect from your career” can become a fear for many people.

This is because, although this is a simple question, it is natural for us to be focused on our current moment, so a professional projection can escape our mind, just when the question appears.

Of course we know where we want to go, after all, when we choose a profession the first thing we have in mind is the level we want to reach in this field.

However, with our day-to-day work and the struggles common to the corporate world, we are led to worry first about getting and keeping a job, and leave these projections for more opportune moments.

Therefore, if you face this difficulty, know that it is perfectly common, and this does not mean that you are lost or that you need to improve professionally.

What does the recruiter want to know from this essay?

The first step to writing a good essay on “what do you expect from your career?” is to understand what the recruiter expects as an answer.

This is because the main purpose is not to write your biography, so you don't necessarily want to know every step you intend to take to achieve professional success.

The real purpose of this type of question is to obtain “hidden” answers, that is, to gather information without asking for it directly.

Below we will look at 3 things that the recruiter wants to know when reading your essay.

1. Your level of ambition

When writing about what you hope to achieve in your career, you will almost certainly include the highest level you want to achieve, and what you consider most important to achieve this.

For example, we have those who consider personal well-being as a priority, so they are likely to describe that they expect their career to reach a level that provides them with freedom.

On the other hand, we have those who prioritize reaching high positions, so they will certainly describe less conventional plans, and as a priority they can mention persistence and frequent improvement.

So, when reading your essay, the recruiter can understand the level and type of commitment you will likely put into your career.

2. Your professional skills

You've probably heard many recruiters say that not everyone is born to be a boss, and that's true.

However, do not think that not having a leadership spirit makes the professional less valuable, since all profiles are important in the corporate environment.

So, by writing about what you expect from your career, you can provide important information about your skills.

This way, the recruiter can assess whether your profile fits the company and whether there is a possibility of using your skills in this field.

3. Level of correspondence between the company and your expectations

Sometimes a professional is unable to progress in a company simply because there is no space for it.

This is especially true in companies whose sector in question is not so developed, so that they only keep professionals for mandatory basic tasks.

The situation in the first paragraph of this topic could have been avoided simply if the recruiter and the interviewee had talked about it, in order to understand whether there is a match between the possibilities of one of the parties and the expectations of the other.

But, by writing about what you expect from your career, it is already possible to obtain this answer, so this is one of the items that is usually evaluated.

How to write the essay “What do you expect from your career”? Here are some tips

Now that you know what information the interviewer wants to obtain from your essay about what you expect from your career, it is easier to direct the text.

This is because, when we don't know what the other person wants to know, we tend to take the text to something more comprehensive, which doesn't work most of the time.

Let’s look at some tips below to help you produce an accurate essay.

Be succinct

Most of the time, recruiters simply “scan” texts with their eyes in order to find the most important information.

Therefore, by being succinct, focusing on the information that matters, it will be easy to demonstrate to him that you have the ideal skills and profile.

Avoid generic goals

More of the same will hardly put your profile on the list of featured candidates, after all, you are certainly not the only one who wants to become a CEO.

Therefore, use your creativity when describing your goals, in order to show the recruiter that you have a plan in mind.

Flatter the company? Better not!

Many people think that the purpose of writing is to check which candidates put the company in their professional goal, but, as we have seen, this is not true.

Therefore, saying that your dream is to stay there forever will hardly surprise the interviewer, as he will only think that you tried to please him.

Remember that the essay is about you, not the company, so focus on your career.

So, now that you know the most important points, it will certainly be easier to write your essay!
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Roberta May 22, 2024