We all make decisions every day, from the mundane and unimportant to the potentially life-changing. Even a decision to do nothing is decision, but how do YOU make career decisions?When you are making career decisions though, what kind of decision maker are you? Do you make a decision based on your long-term career goals or based on your immediate desires and needs? Behavioural economics is the study of how economic decisions (in this case what job to take or whether to go to university or do an apprenticeship) are affected by psychological and social factors amongst other things.What influences your career decisions?It all sounds a bit fancy, but basically you might ask yourself – might your decision be influenced by the immediate benefit of earning money as an apprentice versus the more distant benefits of going to university? We are often persuaded more easily by instant rewards – it’s why so many of us are willing to pay a little extra to get the thing that we want now – rather than say wait a week. It might also explain why so many still choose to go to uni even though they know that they will leave with a massive debt – because the problem of paying that debt off (or not if you don’t earn enough) is at least three years away.The other thing to think about is whether you are basing your decision on what you can do or what you could do- this is closely related to immediate needs and long term goals too.However you are making your career decision – this is not to suggest that any way is the right way or that any way is the wrong way – it is just worth thinking about it so that you can understand better the things that matter to you and why.One way of making a decision is to follow the DECIDES methodD – definethe problem E – establisha plan of actionC – clarifyunderlying values and interestsI – identifythe key alternatives that you are deciding betweenD – discoverthe probable outcome of each alternativeE – eliminatealternativesS – startaction
