One has to be driven by their personal values and priorities first in their career, if they are to advance and grow in their jobs.

Rather than being influenced by others, it’s important to first understand what works for you individually before seeking inspiration from others.

By doing this, Augustin Manirakiza, former immediate vice president of the Rwanda Pharmaceutical Students Association (RPS) says one is simply making career decisions based on what’s really important to them.

He observes that depending on what your career stage is, it’s important to evaluate things like your interpersonal skills, strengths, weaknesses among other vital skills that you possess.

"When all these are done, I believe that it will help one come up with a conclusion on what is most important to them in their short and long-term career development goals,” he says.

Manirakiza also points out that understanding yourself helps one find a career path that is rewarding and satisfying, which is important.

Ways of doing this

To understand what motivates you, Henriette Niragire, a chief chemist /quality control manager at LuNa Smelte, the most important aspect when it comes to understanding yourself is finding out ways that keep you motivated all the time.

She observes that this can be done by doing personality tests, which involves seeking help from those close to you on what career or job is well-suited for your personality and long-term goals.

"By focusing on what makes you feel happy and valued as an employee, it’s quite easy to find employment opportunities that are most satisfying,” she says.

When you find what motivates you, Niragire says this would mean that one is doing something that they are passionate about, therefore, easier for such individuals to develop a long, healthy, and rewarding career.

Moving forward, Alphonse Uworwabayeho, a lecturer of mathematics at University of Rwanda’s College of Education believes that understanding your limitations is also important when it comes to knowing what you’re best at.

He explains that when one gets to understand their qualifications, talents, and academic background, it helps them find jobs that are within their level of expertise.

This prevents things like being unhappy, unsatisfying, and unproductive at the workplace and that at the end of the day, it will help one pursue their career options that fit with their skills and experience, he adds.

According to Uworwabayeho, self-awareness is also an important part of career development with making changes in their career path in general.

This, he says can be through identifying your strengths, weaknesses, accomplishments, and failures, which helps when it comes to determining what works and what doesn't so as to accomplish your visions and goals.

Manirakiza also says that self-awareness helps one not to put blame on others in case things don’t turn out as expected in the future.

He identifies that in the working environment, understanding yourself is a vital part of learning to be proactive, creative, and innovative at the same time.

"When you understand yourself, you can use your own imagination and intuition to accomplish tasks, rather than relying on other options,” he says.

He goes on to add that focusing on your strengths rather than weakness is vital as it helps you understand what you are good at and how you can use your skills efficiently.

Meanwhile, research has shown that people are better off leaning into their strengths and where they can be exceptional, rather than investing energy in improving their weaker skills.