Determining which career you are best suited for is difficult. Getting your first job in your ideal career can be even harder.

Determining which career you are best suited for is difficult. Getting your first job in your ideal career can be even harder.

When someone just graduates from high school, they rarely know for sure what it is they want to do with their life. Taking stock of one's personality, strong points, weak points, likes and dislikes can often help in narrowing down the career possibilities for you. Getting the advice of others -- friends, family members and career counselors -- can also help.

The first step in choosing the ideal career is listing your strengths and weaknesses. What is it that you are good at? What activities are you bad at? It's much easier to do activities that you are good at versus struggling to accomplish things you are bad at. Think about what kind of work environment you want to be in -- an office, outdoors, huge company, small company, retail, industrial or service.

The second step involves examining all of the various jobs and careers in the state or region you want to work in and see how these occupations line up with your personal preferences and characteristics that you noted above. Picture yourself actually performing the work. Think about what your work day would be like. Consider the work hours, commuting, and relations with customers and coworkers. Try to find a couple that you think would be ideal for you.

The third step is taking action and preparing for your career. This involves getting the training, skills and certifications necessary in order to get that job that you want. This will include enrolling in formal education at a university, technical institute or community college, or maybe becoming an apprentice in a trade job. Many young people find that earning a one or two-year associate degree from a local community college is a good option. A good community college can be inexpensive choice to get the formal education you need.

The final phase of your career search is to actually go out and get your first job. You will most likely need to work hard at getting your first job. You may be lucky if the school you are graduating from has job recruiters come to the school looking for potential new hires. But most job hunters have to network, submit resumes, write letters, make phone calls and walk in potential employers in order to meet people and introduce themselves.

Still, the majority of good jobs are filled by a candidate who was recommended to the employer by someone the employer knows and trusts. You should network yourself as much as possible. Make sure that everyone you know is aware of the type of job you are looking for and why you are a qualified candidate to fill that job.

Once you have your great job, don't screw it up. Keep working hard, enroll in more classes, volunteer for special assignments and network within the company. Make sure that everyone knows who you are and knows you do a good job. Keep moving forward until you land your final dream job.