In this world of opportunity, how do you choose your work? If you're lucky, sometimes your work chooses you. We've all known people who seem to have been born into their careers.
And yet, even these lucky few sometimes face the question that plagues the rest of us: How should I earn a living?
In my work as a career counselor, I use three methods to come up with new job ideas. Although none of them involves tests or assessments, those options also are open to you.
If you've taken the assessments but found them lacking, or if you haven't yet gone this route, consider these ideas instead. You may save yourself some time or money.
1. Statistics: What are the hot jobs?
This is my least favorite of the three options, but I recognize that many people enjoy looking for new job ideas by checking the statistics. The problem, of course, is that numbers can be misinterpreted or even misgathered. Another problem is that too many people may flood an industry after it is declared "hot" and so drive down wages or job availability. Also, industries have a way of shifting, despite statisticians' predictions. For example, while Web designer seemed like a hot job not long ago, the development of easy-to-use Web design software has taken a bite out of that job market. Despite these issues, statistics can serve as a type of shopping list to generate ideas about different careers. To find out about jobs that are expected to grow or decline in the next few years, check out the Bureau of Labor Statistics Web site at www.bls.gov.
2. Goals: What do you want in your life?
This approach asks you to do some thinking about your life and your goals. What do you want to achieve before you die? What kind of lifestyle do you want? What have you always wanted to experience? Typical answers to these questions might include traveling, earning academic degrees, writing a novel, living in another state, raising a family, starting a business ... or simply living a quiet lifestyle and walking to work. One way to get at your goals is to pretend for a moment that work is not part of the equation. Try imagining your perfect life. Envision where you live and with whom. What are your hobbies? How often do you get to do them? Who are your friends, and how often do you get together? What gives your life purpose? Write down your answers to these questions, and then write down your current situation. The gaps between your current life and your ideal may reveal your goals. If this is what you want in your life, the next questions are "How can I get it?" and "What role does work play in this scenario?" Remember that for a goal-based work choice, it may not matter so much what the work is. Rather, what matters is how your work impacts your life. In other words, the ideal job should help further one or more goals or should stay out of the way (no overtime, perhaps?) so you can achieve your goals in peace. Conversely, the job never should be an obstacle to achieving your goals. In this scenario, when the job starts interfering with your life too much, it's time to look for something else.
3. Skills: What can you do?
This is a fun way to build a new job scenario. A skill is defined as "something you can do." Essentially, most jobs need you to do things at a certain level, but very few jobs require you to be a superstar. So don't worry for now about what you do well or whether you're up-to-date in the skill. That's what retraining is for. Start by writing down all the things you can do. This can take several pages, so allow some time. Next, circle the things that you enjoy doing or that you can imagine doing as part of a job. Narrow the list to your favorite five or six skills. This is the list you can take to your friends or to a career counselor - or that you can ponder on your own. What jobs use some or all of these skills? When you have a list of those jobs, you have a good start on finding work you likely will enjoy. Next week we'll review methods for researching job ideas to be sure your choice will work for you.
- Amy Lindgren owns Prototype Career Service, a career consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com or at 1071 W. Seventh St., St. Paul, MN 55102.