How to Use Your Learning Style to Make Sure You Choose the Right Career

October 14th, 2017 Career Advice

While there are several definitions of ‘learning styles’ out there, learning style in a nutshell is related to the consistent way in which one processes new information. Learning style dictates the educational conditions in which you are most likely to retain knowledge.

Research tells us that by being aware of individual learning style, we can score higher on tests, have better attitudes, be more efficient with time, and retain information for longer. So does that mean that in an ideal world we would choose a career around our preferred learning style?

The ability to expand your mind and strive for lifelong learning is critical to your success. Dedicating yourself to learning helps you get ahead in every aspect of your life, with the most successful people thought to read 2-3 hours of every day. Learning is a minimum requirement for success, as information and knowledge is power.

Turning information and knowledge into success

Talk to any successful business owner and they’ll tell you that information is crucial for decision making. That’s why the world’s obsessed with data these days.

But creativity is also important, as this manages the way in which information is turned into knowledge and how knowledge is turned into success. Creativity solves problems and leads to positive change. It involves imagination, which stimulates progress and takes knowledge to the next level.

This is where learning style comes into play. There is a significant relationship between learning style and creativity, therefore highlighting the advantage of choosing a career based around your individual learning style.

Get to know your learning style and you could open yourself to a new career that’s open to success.

Learning styles and careers

Visual

Visual learners prefer to use maps, diagrams, charts, whiteboards and handouts when learning or teaching something new. You learn by seeing and looking, preferring to:

• Take detailed notes rather than get involved in discussions
• Sit in the front so you can see clearly
• Benefit from illustrations and presentations (especially those in colour)
• Make comments like “Can you see what I mean?” or “Do you see something standing in your way?”

Ideal careers for visual learners include:

Photography – Contrast, colour and spatial reasoning

Event management – Big picture thinking

Business consultancy – Strategic planning, marketing

Interior design – Colour planning, pattern recognition, gradation and alternation

Project management – Big picture thinking

Makeup design – Facial and context analysing

Jewellery design – Developing ideas, choosing materials and moulds

Fashion design – Sketching, size determining, pattern making

Landscaping – Planning, maintenance, cost estimating

Floristry – Arrangements, fillers and colour theory

Graphic design – Colour theory, objects and grouping, appropriateness

Bookkeeping – Asset and inventory records, charts

Auditory

Auditory learners benefit from the transfer of information through listening, be it the spoken word of self or others, or sounds and noises. You learn by listening and speaking, preferring to:

• Ask questions to solidify the subject matter
• Listen to recordings of training collateral
• Record yourself as you read material aloud
• Take notes and process emails via text-to-speech software
• Make comments like “Tell me what the problem is” or “Let’s talk it over before taking action”

Ideal careers for auditory learners include:

Life coaching – Individual perception, processing and delivery

Sales – Evaluating, understanding and overcoming objections

Frontline management – Communication, workplace relationships

Mediation – Dispute resolution, uncovering information

Criminal psychology – Nature vs nurture, rational theory and influences

Wedding planning – Personality matching and turning dreams into reality

Paralegal secretarial – Understanding terminology, recording information

Teacher’s aide – Planning, assessment and support

Kineasthetic

Kinesthetic learners benefit from the physical experience – touching, feeling, holding, and practical experiences. You learn by ‘doing’ and knowing how something works, preferring to:

• Experiment rather than plan
• Learn as you go
• Take lots of breaks in which you can move around
• Speak with your hands and gestures
• Remember what was done rather than what was said
• Make comments like “Let me have a try” or “Why don’t we take a stab at…”

Ideal careers for kinesthetic learners include:

Import/Export – Step-by-step approach to market research

Travel and tourism – Destination research, cultural change

Hospitality management – Multi-tasking, peaks and troughs

Sports management – Issues and trends, transactional vs transformational

Massage – Discovery through touch

Personal trainer – Risk assessment and fitness delivery

Nursing assistant – Immediate action

Dental assistant – Addressing individual needs

Medical secretary – Recording actions, monitoring and reviewing

Hairdressing – Hair creativity

Pet care/vet assistant – Illness and disease identification and treatment

Horticulture – Grounds management, arboriculture

Intuitive

Intuitive learners focus on ideas, possibilities, theories and abstract information, using their intuition to make learning connections. You learn by gut instinct, preferring to:

• Find interpretations or connections that link the facts

• Discover possibilities and relationships

• Quickly grasp new concepts
• Involve memorisation and routine calculation
• Stay away from repetition
• Make comments like, “What ideas can you come up with?” or “Do you have any proof?”

Ideal careers for intuitive learners include:

Marketing – Investigating new or emerging factors in the market

Forensics – Evidence and analysis

Business management – Problem solving, appropriate procedures

Private investigation – Criminal psychology, tracing missing persons

Criminal psychology – Nature vs nurture, characteristics

Political science – Influence and ideology

Journalism – Finding the right angle, asking the right questions

Counselling and psychology – Problem solving and facilitating solutions

Biblical studies and ministry – History, ethics

Like the idea of a career that includes a capacity to continually learn? Then enrol with the International Career Institute and start learning today.

by Gladys Mae

Gladys Mae serves as the General Manager and Head of Student Services at the International Career Institute. Gladys holds a degree in Mass Communication - Broadcast Media from the University of San Jose-Recoletos. She joined ICI in 2010 and has over the past 12 years been instrumental in providing leadership and guidance to staff and students alike. Prior to joining ICI Gladys led a multifaceted career with key roles in the banking and business process outsourcing industries.