Locating a job type that is right for you is not as easy as you may hope. The task isn't simply about taking a job offer that is within easy reach or a one that merely matches your qualifications; it is also about finding a position that suits your personality and lifestyle, and for which you will find satisfying over a period of years. Trying to land a job or career is often as hard - if not harder - as working a full time job, but with additional stress. One of the best ways to get a great job that you know you will love and stay with for a long time is to do some personal soul searching. You need to ask yourself the tough, introspective questions.

Questions such as what kind of career you want may be relatively easy, but you also need to weigh what type of work you hope to do in the future. Are you planning to have a family? Do you need health benefits? What kind of growth would the company of your choosing have? Take all these factors into consideration because even though they may not apply to you now, they likely will down the road.

Taking the time to research each company that may interest you is imperative when considering the type of position you'd like to pursue. Assess how many of their employees hold Master Degrees, how many have been promoted from within, and how many specialize in a certain field. All your research results will provide you some clues concerning what may be expected of you over time.

Additionally, take into account your own personality and its relevance and impact on your future job. Having specific interests does affect the kind of work you would find gratifying. Even though it may seem odd to mix your personal life with your business life, they often overlap. For example, if you play softball three nights a week and your job finds you working late into the evening, are you going to start resenting your work commitments after you find you have little - if any - time left for your outside interest? Your hobbies should be taken into consideration because the happier you are outside of work, the happier you will be while on the job.

You also should become overtly aware what types of people you enjoy working with. Are you more of an introvert or extrovert? If you are an extrovert and your job has you working by yourself in a small office, is that going to make you happy - or miserable?

The best way to know the type of job that is right for you is to make a list of your priorities. Write on paper your interests, hobbies, personality traits, job environment preferences, and anything else you can think of that is pertinent to your life goals. Doing so can then serve as a useful "filter" so that when you search for a job or career, you'll be able to "check off" the qualities that the position has for you - and consider the likely impact of the important traits which are missing.

These simple, but critical, considerations may very well help you decide which jobs to pursue and the eventual one you accept.