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Getting a job attuned to your strengths

Tilt

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I love using my knowledge to help people make informed choices. What kind of jobs make use of that? My career path has been working with start up companies. Lol. Maybe that will be good for business school.
 

The Cat

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I enjoy the reinforcement of not being negative in your mindset, and the focus on being solution oriented. Working on strengths while being aware of weaknesses, but keeping yourself setting goals and moving towards seizing them. Success is not a straight line, its a competition with yourself and the negative...
 

great_bay

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I'm surprised Coriolis didn't choose teaching physics at college. I can imagine you doing that.
 

Coriolis

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I'm surprised Coriolis didn't choose teaching physics at college. I can imagine you doing that.
Actually, I am teaching a class this semester at the local university, but that is in addition to my normal job. Academic positions are hard to come by and the application process quite byzantine. I actually applied for one a couple years ago, and didn't get it. Not having spend my career to date in academe, I cannot compete with other candidates in terms of publications, which is highly weighed by hiring committees. I can more than compensate with professional connections, track record of getting and managing research funds, etc. but that doesn't seem to be weighted as strongly. I have to wonder, after all these years, whether gender bias might be a factor as well, but the system is so squirrelly, it is impossible to tease apart from other factors.

In any case, much as I do enjoy teaching, I would not want that to be the entirety of my work. I am primarily a researcher, and especially enjoy mentoring students in their research. So, doing some of each, as most faculty members do, would be ideal.
 

á´…eparted

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Actually, I am teaching a class this semester at the local university, but that is in addition to my normal job. Academic positions are hard to come by and the application process quite byzantine. I actually applied for one a couple years ago, and didn't get it. Not having spend my career to date in academe, I cannot compete with other candidates in terms of publications, which is highly weighed by hiring committees. I can more than compensate with professional connections, track record of getting and managing research funds, etc. but that doesn't seem to be weighted as strongly. I have to wonder, after all these years, whether gender bias might be a factor as well, but the system is so squirrelly, it is impossible to tease apart from other factors.

In any case, much as I do enjoy teaching, I would not want that to be the entirety of my work. I am primarily a researcher, and especially enjoy mentoring students in their research. So, doing some of each, as most faculty members do, would be ideal.

I wouldn't let lack of publications and experience daunt you though. Try anyway. Some universities actually prize individuals who are coming into academia. At my university, two individuals (May Nyman, and Mas Subramanian) are examples of that, and the latter is world famous because of an inorganic blue pigment he discovered a few years back. A big part of why May hired (I asked my adviser who was Dept. chair at the time and hired her) was her industry experience.
 

Coriolis

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I wouldn't let lack of publications and experience daunt you though. Try anyway. Some universities actually prize individuals who are coming into academia. At my university, two individuals (May Nyman, and Mas Subramanian) are examples of that, and the latter is world famous because of an inorganic blue pigment he discovered a few years back. A big part of why May hired (I asked my adviser who was Dept. chair at the time and hired them) was her industry experience.
The priorities in hiring vary significantly from university to university, and even from department to department within a university. The department to which I applied was particularly demanding about publications and teaching experience; others at the same uni would let experience in industry or government outweigh that. I certainly won't let it stop me from applying, but I cannot control the weight they give to the various factors.
 

á´…eparted

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The priorities in hiring vary significantly from university to university, and even from department to department within a university. The department to which I applied was particularly demanding about publications and teaching experience; others at the same uni would let experience in industry or government outweigh that. I certainly won't let it stop me from applying, but I cannot control the weight they give to the various factors.

Ah I understand then. I am not sure how difficult it would be to more or less shop around for a dept. (physics?) that would be looking for someone with your type of qualifications. I'm also not sure how willing you'd be to uproot location since that would also be complicated with you husband needing to change his career a bit too. I know you don't like social media, but I would suggest look into setting up a linkedin account. I use it for my job a decent amount, and people in science industries use it heavily. The networking leverage there could give you some advantages.
 

Lucy_Ricardo

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I have a lot of experience in this. Hopefully I can help.

So last year, I was in a job in a law firm that could be described as abusive. I went to law school, it was always my dream to be an attorney, and then when I finally was, it was miserable. Totally and completely miserable. And I wasn't all that great at it. And I made little more than minimum wage for the amount of time I put in. But I stayed in it because I felt like I had spent all this time and energy and money trying to get to that job, and that it would be wasted if I didn't continue on.

That's when I heard about the Sunk Cost Fallacy. The Sunk Cost Fallacy is the mistaken belief that if you've spent a lot of time and money doing something that has proven unsuccessful, the only way to make it a success is to keep pouring time and money into it. Gamblers fall into this trap a lot--they think, "I've already lost so much money, the only way to come out on top is to pour more money in."

The only way to beat this fallacy is to recognize when you need to cut your losses and do something else. Break the pattern of sinking in more time, money, and effort.

Once I figured out that the law wasn't for me, I brainstormed about the type of job that I would enjoy, but that would also play to my strengths. I decided that anything to do with writing, editing, documentation, and customer service would be ideal. But I also wanted a job that would value my legal training.

And I started my search, mainly through sites like Indeed.com.

I landed a small side-hustle editing blog posts for law firms through an online marketing company. This wasn't enough to make ends meet, but it was something on my resume that showed experience in the type of job I wanted. I had to keep the job I hated for the money, but that side-hustle got my foot in the door in the job field I desired.

Two months later, I applied for an editor position with a company that creates instruction manuals and other kinds of documentation for government agencies. I got a call back from them because they were impressed by my editing job, but they also thought that my legal training would be beneficial in understanding the laws and codes to which their products had to conform.

AND THEY HIRED ME. I make significantly more than I did at the law firm, and I finally work normal hours, which allows me to have a life outside of the job. Not only that, but I get to write and edit, which is something I love, in a field where my previous training is appreciated.

But this job isn't without its pitfalls. I had to come to terms with the reality that the perfect job doesn't exist--there will always be struggles with coworkers, tough bosses, and days where I'd rather lay in bed. But having a job that doesn't completely rule my life makes up for it. At the law firm, I worked six days a week consistently, sometimes seven. I got two days off a month, on average. But now my weekends are mine, and everything after 5:00 on weekdays is mine, too. I have the time and energy to lead a fulfilling life outside of the job. And that is everything.

So I suppose my advice is as follows:

1) Identify not only what kind of job you would enjoy, but also what kind of job plays to your strengths and experience. And don't be afraid to think outside the box.

2) Hit the bricks and start searching. Get your resume out there. Look in industries you might not have considered before. Don't rule out anything in which you could excel.

3) Don't be afraid of taking a side-hustle or part-time gig--sure, it's more work temporarily, but it could get your foot in the door in an industry you want. The extra hours outside your main job could lead to something you want.

4) Don't fall prey to the Sunk Cost Fallacy.

5) Be patient. It took me months to get the job I wanted, I was exhausted, and I faced a lot of rejection along the way. I would get discouraged, but the times I let that get to me were times I wasted.

I hope that was all helpful, and good luck!
 

Coriolis

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So I suppose my advice is as follows:

1) Identify not only what kind of job you would enjoy, but also what kind of job plays to your strengths and experience. And don't be afraid to think outside the box.

2) Hit the bricks and start searching. Get your resume out there. Look in industries you might not have considered before. Don't rule out anything in which you could excel.

3) Don't be afraid of taking a side-hustle or part-time gig--sure, it's more work temporarily, but it could get your foot in the door in an industry you want. The extra hours outside your main job could lead to something you want.

4) Don't fall prey to the Sunk Cost Fallacy.

5) Be patient. It took me months to get the job I wanted, I was exhausted, and I faced a lot of rejection along the way. I would get discouraged, but the times I let that get to me were times I wasted.

I hope that was all helpful, and good luck!
All reasonable, but where I lose it is at (1) already. How does one do this? This is standard advice for people looking for career change, but no one explains how actually to figure this out.
 

Smilephantomhive

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All reasonable, but where I lose it is at (1) already. How does one do this? This is standard advice for people looking for career change, but no one explains how actually to figure this out.

I agree lol.
 

Lucy_Ricardo

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All reasonable, but where I lose it is at (1) already. How does one do this? This is standard advice for people looking for career change, but no one explains how actually to figure this out.

Okay, let me see if I can be more specific through anecdote. When I realized I didn't like my job and that it wasn't going to get any better, I made a list of things that I liked and disliked about my current job, as well as my strengths and weaknesses in that position. Like, a literal list, with pen and paper.

So as an attorney, I realized that I was good at writing, proofreading, communicating with clients and other attorneys, office management, and meeting deadlines. I also enjoyed these aspects of my job.

I did NOT like working under intense pressure, bookkeeping, working with seedy clientele, working long hours, and appearing in court. ESPECIALLY appearing in court--I was terrible at it. My nerves got the better of me every time.

I also knew that even though I didn't like being an attorney, I valued my legal education and knew it would be an asset to me in my job search.

So once I figured out where my strengths and likes were, I used those as keywords in my job searches online. So on Indeed.com, for example, I would search for jobs whose descriptions including "writing," "editing," "proofreading," "law degree," "customer service"--keywords that I thought would yield results tailored to my strengths.

Those searches yielded countless results, and I sifted through hundreds of them. And the results were varied across all industries. So when I say think outside the box, I mean don't just look at postings that are within the industry you thought you wanted--sometimes the job you want is in a field you haven't considered.

For example, my new job deals with government contracts, but it's a technology company. I never imagined myself working for a technology company, and I never thought I could because I have no IT training. But I applied for the job anyway because the job description fit what I was looking for. And in my interview, I learned that the position I sought didn't require any IT training. Had I not thought outside my preconceived boundaries, I would have never applied for my editor position because it was in an industry I was not familiar with.

I hope that clears my meaning up a bit.
 

Wunjo

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I think, having the necessary skills to pull out a job is not the only prequisite of being highly successful at it. For example, I am a translator currently and started to go places after a relatively long phase of practical dissatisfaction but in the end, I desire to be a psychologist, a vision that I will hopefully achieve in the next couple of years. I have the focus, determination, detail-orientedness and the command over language, which are the prequisites of being a good translator, I also have a lot of desire to achieve to be successful, but deep down, I see my current profession only as a means to an end, so I can easily say that despite being quite a capable translator, I am not at my full strength. Since I am seeing it as a means to an end, I usually divert my attention to other things while working, which is not a result of an altered focus but a mild disinterest, from what I see. Don't let me be misunderstood, I like doing it a lot, one of the reasons of this is that I think I am a capable translator, but I am hardly, extremely passionate about it, and I think need that invigorating passion to be excellent at and hyperalert about it.

Hopefully I'll be able to overcome this when I start to study psychology, because I'll keep doing translation jobs then too, in order to support myself financially.

That makes it boil down to the possibility that I'll be more satisfied with it, once I make my primary occupational vision a reality.

Edit: Oh and, here's to my 666th post.
 

rav3n

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I was lucky and entered my industry as middle management in a job with help from my network. But middle management wasn't my thing since you're like the meat in a baloney sandwich, beholden to both slices of bread. Annoying. So what I did was to reshape the role, providing upper management with data, help (goto person) and insights, that they never received before. What this allowed was the opportunity to hire more help to remove the mundane tasks from me so I could provide upper management with services that played to my strengths. Part of the job included becoming a member of multiple industry committees which exposed me to brass from other firms. From there, I was stolen from firm to firm until I was hired as a COO and 1/3 partner of a small firm. Once the firm grew to a medium sized, I sold my piece and started consulting. At first, it was as a dedicated consultant to one firm but that bored me so I started consulting for multiple firms and created a client base. All this resulted in my opportunity to retire before 40.

In other words, create your reality by playing to your strengths so you're noticed.
 

Coriolis

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I was lucky and entered my industry as middle management in a job with help from my network. But middle management wasn't my thing since you're like the meat in a baloney sandwich, beholden to both slices of bread. Annoying. So what I did was to reshape the role, providing upper management with data, help (goto person) and insights, that they never received before. What this allowed was the opportunity to hire more help to remove the mundane tasks from me so I could provide upper management with services that played to my strengths. Part of the job included becoming a member of multiple industry committees which exposed me to brass from other firms. From there, I was stolen from firm to firm until I was hired as a COO and 1/3 partner of a small firm. Once the firm grew to a medium sized, I sold my piece and started consulting. At first, it was as a dedicated consultant to one firm but that bored me so I started consulting for multiple firms and created a client base. All this resulted in my opportunity to retire before 40.

In other words, create your reality by playing to your strengths so you're noticed.
It sounds like your employing organizations had enough flexibility to accommodate your reshaping your role. I am attempting to do that right now, but my organization is extremely inflexible, which has always been a problem, and is becoming moreso as it is now allowing some bad actors to get away with things that undercut what I have been doing. I do not have the leeway to fend them off or even work around them while in my current position. In parallel, I am working on the possibility of moving on as well. We will see which comes to pass. The outside opportunity would bring a better blend of activities, at the cost of lower compensation. A fair tradeoff at this point in my career. I am one of those folks who will probably never completely retire, but it's been a long time since I could be motivated with money.
 

rav3n

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It sounds like your employing organizations had enough flexibility to accommodate your reshaping your role. I am attempting to do that right now, but my organization is extremely inflexible, which has always been a problem, and is becoming moreso as it is now allowing some bad actors to get away with things that undercut what I have been doing. I do not have the leeway to fend them off or even work around them while in my current position. In parallel, I am working on the possibility of moving on as well. We will see which comes to pass. The outside opportunity would bring a better blend of activities, at the cost of lower compensation. A fair tradeoff at this point in my career. I am one of those folks who will probably never completely retire, but it's been a long time since I could be motivated with money.
My old industry was finance and investments. They're not normally flexible. Another reason which I didn't mention, was that I made my division revenue generating, rather than its historical support role to revenue generating divisions. That got me the promotion to VP which created the room and budget to level up. You have to give the brass incentive to become flexible and as an INTJ, you can do it through innovation through cost effective means. Have some confidence in yourself.

Once you have that first ticket under your belt, if you network with other industry professionals, you can build a solid reputation which will subsequently get you head hunted and that's when you can negotiate hard. After that first company, all other jobs were defined by me.

That said, don't be afraid to transfer out of your department or make lateral moves if there are better future opportunities. You don't have to leave a firm if it also provides job security.

But I do hear and understand what you're saying.
 

Tilt

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I need to do this... I have the biggest opportunity to shape my future role...and eventually my dream type of position but I lack pure motivation.... the idea of the grind is getting to me.
 

rav3n

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I need to do this... I have the biggest opportunity to shape my future role...and eventually my dream type of position but I lack pure motivation.... the idea of the grind is getting to me.
The more you do upfront, the less work and hassle later. Analogous, the foundation defines the shape of the home you'll be living in for decades to come.
 

Maou

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I never got to go to college, and have bounced around several vastly different types of jobs with varying degrees of skills. But like others, I have no idea what I am good at, or what I would enjoy. So I tend to balance earnings and stress, and choose jobs that are worth putting up with shit.

I have noticed that I am explicitly good at managing things, and being efficient. I can also create efficient systems for others to follow. I just don't know of a way I can get into a job like that without schooling. I could try for Resource management, but I am not sure if I will enjoy it.
 
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The problem that may not be identified is that we may not really know which are our natural strength, talent. Another problem that may be unidentified is that that who is able to identify the strength in us correctly.
Those are another reasons why I have been learning typology, expecting I will be able to know myself better.
The third problem is that we may not be familiar with other jobs that we have never experienced in so we just can't tell if we are assigned to another job role, would we be succeed in?
So even if we knew what our strengths are, we couldn't just tell which role will be suitable for our strengths.
A practical and concrete suggestion to the third problem is to let yourself discovered by head hunter. They will explain what are the jobs responsibilities to the candidates and if they judge that the candidates are suitable they will offer jobs.
 
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