Career handbook, explained Careers, career options, career guidance and careers advice are all topics that confuse, bewilder and perplex many, if not most people. Career choices are such personal things it seems difficult to advise anyone on what might be the most important decision of someone's life. If only there was a career handbook or career guidebook to help the confused and perplexed to navigate this particularly difficult road. For some, career decisions are easy. Sometimes a career path is chosen early. This might be simply a decision to follow in the family tradition and follow a career in say, law, commerce or the military. These people are in the enviable position of knowing what they want and what they need to get there. For others, possibly most of us, careers are much more difficult to get to grips with. Until relatively recently career paths were planned while someone was in the school education system and decisions were often made that would influence the path someone would take for the rest of their life. While this may not necessarily be the case any longer, career options are still important and making the right choice is still vital to career success. Add to this the facts that people in work today may have two or more careers during their working life and that working life need no longer stop at the so called 'retirement age', and you find that making correct career choices today is harder that at any time in the past. One way of considering career paths is to examine the options open to someone during their career. These choices might be one of the following:- Opening a business Working as an employee Portfolio career Lets consider each in turn............... Opening a business – becoming an entrepreneur, or even an internet entrepreneur, is many peoples dream job. For many people it is a dream come true. Being master of ones own destiny is very attractive, and for those with the right mix of entrepreneurialism, marketable skills and compelling ideas this can be the best choice of all. Working for someone as an employee – this gives employees the safety and security of the workplace. Working hard, and progressing up the organizational ladder, can be both rewarding and provide a high level of job satisfaction. With company perks, bonuses and training opportunities working for someone else can offer a lifetime of career satisfaction. Portfolio careers – portfolio careers are simply careers which include working for one or more employers and might even include a small business enterprise as well. Jobs which lend themselves to freelance work are best in this respect although there is a big market for consultancy services. So someone with financial experience may have a portfolio career that includes paid employment in their area of expertise, freelance work for a number of clients and earn income from writing for specialist magazines and journals. The market is full of career guides. One drawback of many if not most of them is that they are only useful if you know what career path you want to follow. So, that meant that if you want to become a automechanic career guidebooks may expalin the type of mechanics there are, the qualifications and experince necessary to pursue a career in that field, employment opportunities and where to go for further information. The problem arises when you don't know what you want to do. This situation is more common that you might think. A career handbook that addressed issues like this would be very useful indeed! Careers options are so complex nowadays that perhaps people need to write their own career handbook – one that’s personal to them. This is because regardless of the career choices people make, a successful career path must lead to a career that fulfils only each individuals own hopes, dreams and aspirations.