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How does one decide upon a career?

Obsidius

Chumped.
Joined
Jan 2, 2015
Messages
318
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
Personally speaking, I'm floored when it comes to my future career. I'm so susceptible to bouts of obsession about a subject, and subsequent disinterest, that pursuing one path (out of the very few that are at all viable), seems too risky. I'm worried that I'll get half way through my B.A. and realise that I have no passion for any of it, or eventually fully realise how unemployable it makes me. How does one manage to reconcile employability and passion? Because as far as I can tell, I'll be a cashier that can manage himself in essay writing or a debate.
 

/DG/

silentigata ano (profile)
Joined
Mar 19, 2009
Messages
4,602
Dude, I have literally no idea. I was actually going to post a thread about this myself. Anyone have any advice? :/
 

highlander

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
26,585
MBTI Type
INTJ
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6w5
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sx/sp
Know yourself
1. Take a strong inventory and mbti test. There is a book - Do What You Are. You could look at that.
2. Write down a couple of paragraphs each on the story of each of your top five accomplishments you are most proud of in your life. It has to be something you enjoyed/savored. Then write down things that seem to common characteristics across those stories. What talents or skills stood out?
3. You might consider taking the StrengthsFinder assessment. It's a book with a code on the inside of the cover you can use to take a test

Look at options
4. Look in the occupational outlook handbook or something like that to see what is interesting to you from career/job.
5. Talk to people in that profession to get an idea as to what they do, what they like about their jobs and don't like
6. Research industry sectors that are up and coming where there is likely to be business or financial opportunity. For example, you don't want to learn how to fix cathode ray TVs when flat panel displays are coming out. You want to focus on skills that are going to be valuable in the future and that will be marketable. This takes constant thought and constant reinventing so that you don't get stale

Just do it
7. Don't get stuck in analysis paralysis - just do it. Take a couple internships. Try a job. A friend of mine got started with an accounting degree and a CPA. That led to a job as a technical writer at a small software company. He learned how to program a little and about computers more. He had two jobs like that. Then he went and got his MBA at a major school and went into the quant side, eventually managing portfolios using quantitative methods. You never know where things will take you. After several years of doing whatever I could to make a buck (cafeteria, busboy, night guard, warehouse worker), I tried two internships in school that I got on my own - one accounting and one computer science. I worked as a programmer for several years and though it was fun at first, I felt a bit bored and unchallenged and hated my boss so i started working as an auditor where i began to learn how to write well I liked that and was good at it. After a couple years, we had hackers break in and I wanted to be a manager and there was a new slot open because of the breach so i applied for it and got it. Then I got a masters focusing on some stuff that was emerging in importance and I knew would be big. After that, I got a consulting job and used the knowledge I gained to build a practice up from scratch. I had no idea that I'd be doing that 10 years prior. It was sort have a plan, be careful on setting the big directions/decisions, make tactical changes at key points in time. then make the most of it. Adjust if necessary but do it purposefully.
 

swordpath

New member
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Oct 24, 2007
Messages
10,547
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ISTx
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5w6
It came easily to me and at a young age, but I can understand how not everyone would have it that easy.
 

Yama

Permabanned
Joined
Dec 1, 2014
Messages
7,684
MBTI Type
ESFJ
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
I think I know, and then I make some plans for what I'm gonna do, and then I get lazy because it's too much work and/or change my mind, so I hav eno idea. :shrug:
 

Snoopy22

New member
Joined
Dec 29, 2008
Messages
355
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
9w1
Instinctual Variant
so/sp
A career is taking care of your family and guaranteeing your retirement. A job is something you go to make money, and a cashier who saves and invests their money over a lifetime is more likely to reach the above then the over paid professional always chasing after a new set of Joneses. When your passion becomes your job you’re a workaholic, and what should be your true career suffers.
 

/DG/

silentigata ano (profile)
Joined
Mar 19, 2009
Messages
4,602
Know yourself
1. Take a strong inventory and mbti test. There is a book - Do What You Are. You could look at that.


I really liked the rest of your post, but not so much this small bit. It's been my experience that people's interests don't align with their MBTI often enough for this to be a useful tool for career finding.

A career is taking care of your family and guaranteeing your retirement. A job is something you go to make money, and a cashier who saves and invests their money over a lifetime is more likely to reach the above then the over paid professional always chasing after a new set of Joneses. When your passion becomes your job you’re a workaholic, and what should be your true career suffers.

Look, maybe, but if you're spending over 40 hours a week doing something, wouldn't you rather enjoy it a bit? Right now I have a job, not a career. And I don't like it. It's okay, I suppose, but if someone told me that I'd have to do this for the rest of my life, I don't know what I'd do with myself. If you don't want to end up killing yourself, you need to find something mildly enjoyable. A humongous chunk of your life will be spent in the workplace. If you're one of those people that can endure hours upon hours of miserableness, by all means, go for a job instead of a career...but many people cannot do this.
 

Ma_Xie_Er

New member
Joined
Jul 22, 2015
Messages
13
Personally speaking, I'm floored when it comes to my future career. I'm so susceptible to bouts of obsession about a subject, and subsequent disinterest, that pursuing one path (out of the very few that are at all viable), seems too risky. I'm worried that I'll get half way through my B.A. and realise that I have no passion for any of it, or eventually fully realise how unemployable it makes me. How does one manage to reconcile employability and passion? Because as far as I can tell, I'll be a cashier that can manage himself in essay writing or a debate.

What are you getting your B.A. in? how long do you have until you graduate?

While you're in the planning stages, you should know that you're starting from the assumption that you'll be working for somebody else. Have you considered self-employment?
 

kyuuei

Emperor/Dictator
Joined
Aug 28, 2008
Messages
13,964
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enfp
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8
For me, I was in a similar boat... I mesh well with many fields, none of which interest me for very long. This is my second career I'm starting up right now. The cool thing about careers is they are more fluid than people give them credit for.. You can make a foundation in a field, and take it with you to a bigger more impressive job in a slightly different field later.

I say a good start is to get a flexible degree. School gives you time to work--which is what you need. You need experience. You need to intern places, and travel, and find out where your strengths are: people skills, money, fixing things, managing problems, etc. Don't get a degree in something specific--get a general flexible degree (like biology, for example, or computer science.. something that will transfer anywhere and into any field you go into.. surprisingly nursing is a very flexible degree as well I've found) that's somewhat rooted in what you like.

Then intern like crazy. Work everywhere and do anything and everything. Also: Volunteer at places or work on school committees. Donate your time to causes and help people--and in the process, see different fields and things from all sorts of lights. Think you don't like kids? Volunteer to help out at a camp and see if you really do or not. I thought I hated kids, but turns out I like them just fine .. it was the idea of HAVING kids that terrified me, and I hate teenagers (who doesn't?). I didn't know all that time because I never just bothered to step out of my comfort zone and say, "Hey, I'm going to try this, and I'm NOT going to look for confirmation biases in the process." So work everywhere and anywhere while you get a degree. You'll keep busy and you'll have an impressive resume. You'll be moving forward while still not panicking and feeling stagnant.

After that? Just pick something. Pick something you didn't hate with good people to work for. Just work there and keep your eyes open for what you're looking for in a job. For some people that's money and a good atmosphere that's close to home. For me it was flexible schedules and something that I could work whenever I needed to but didn't need to stay steady with. It all depends on what you need.. so find out what that is, and find something that fits the bill.

Sometimes those things turn into a career. Sometimes they don't and they end up sucking and you change a couple years later. But eventually if you keep an open ear and a mindset that is not resistant to change you will find a niche you can deal with fine.

For some people careers are not what makes them their money. I know artists that work. I know inventors that operate on patients. Car racers that work at the grocery store. So a career isn't the end-all save-all of things. Sometimes a career is just, "This is what I do that finances what I need to do and actually gives me the time to do what I want to do at the same time."
 

Destiny

A wannabe dog
Joined
Aug 5, 2013
Messages
452
Personally speaking, I'm floored when it comes to my future career. I'm so susceptible to bouts of obsession about a subject, and subsequent disinterest, that pursuing one path (out of the very few that are at all viable), seems too risky. I'm worried that I'll get half way through my B.A. and realise that I have no passion for any of it, or eventually fully realise how unemployable it makes me. How does one manage to reconcile employability and passion? Because as far as I can tell, I'll be a cashier that can manage himself in essay writing or a debate.


Ask yourself what type of environment you enjoy working in (Do you enjoy working from home? Or do you enjoy working in office? Or do you enjoy working outdoors?), ask yourself whether you prefer working alone or with people, ask yourself what you are passionate about, and then from there you make your decision.
 
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