Make a decision
If you’re facing a decision like ‘which offer should I accept?’, ‘where should I apply?’ or ‘which major should I pursue?’, our decision-making tool asks you a series of questions to help you clarify your priorities, options and next steps, and checks you haven’t missed any important considerations. It’s based on our more in-depth article.
Whether you already have offers on the table, or are still figuring out where to apply, our decision-making tool can help you figure out your next step.
It will ask you a series of questions we use in one-on-one coaching to clarify your situation, check you didn’t miss any important options or priorities, and make sure you’ve applied all the most important results of our research to your decision.
When making career decisions, most people don’t use a process at all. But this is a mistake because we’re not naturally good at making complex decisions. If you just “go with your gut,” you’re likely to miss something.
Other people use simple techniques like lists of pros and cons. But these don’t even address the most important bias – considering too few options and priorities – and can easily lead you to rationalise what you already believe.
We developed our process using the research in decision-making science,1 and then we refined it during one-on-one coaching with hundreds of people. The process also checks that you’ve applied the key lessons of all our other research.
Though it won’t tell you what to do, it can make sure you’re in the best possible position to make your decision.
If you want to think about bigger picture questions like your long-term goals and which problems to focus on, see our career planning guide instead.
Or if you prefer, read an article instead. It’s more in-depth and up-to-date.
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