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Do-It-Yourself Career Selection |
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Career
Coach Marty Nemko, who wrote "Cool Careers for Dummies," wrote the following
article for the San Francisco Chronicle. Most of my clients find my new-client questionnaire very helpful. Here's the guts of it. Your Interests What subjects do you most enjoy talking about? What's an unusual, even weird, interest of yours? At work, what do you enjoyably spend a lot of time on? Outside of work, what do you enjoyably spend a lot of productive time on? What items do you save? What was your favoritie subject in school? Your Abilities Which one or two of these are you: a) a word person, b) a math/science person, c) a people person, d) an artistic person, e) a fix-it build-it person, f) a paperwork, details person? What type of problems at work do you solve well? What type of problems at home do you solve well? What have people complimented you on? What do you have a knack for? What do you find easy that many people find hard? What task(s) has brought you the most success? What's an unusual ability of yours? List your life's three favorite complicated projects or accomplishments. Not only did they turn out well, you enjoyed the process of completing the work. If you can't think of three from adulthood, go back as far as you want. Do you know a wealthy, well-connected, eminent or highly skilled person who could open an interesting career door for you? If your answer is no, consider putting yourself in environments where you're likely to meet them. For example, volunteer to serve on a nonprofit board, join a sailing or flying enthusiast's club, write an article in which you interview experts. What You Value If you didn't care what anyone thought, what is your most deeply held aspiration? In what way does your behavior not match your true values? What are the non-negotiables in your next job? Where do you picture yourself working: an office, at home, outdoors, a school? How many hours a week is the most you're willing to work? What is the longest commute you would accept? Must your work "make the world a better place?" How pleasant must your work environment be? Is there a product or service that makes you so unhappy you'd like to do something about it? Is there an aspect of society that makes you so unhappy you'd like to do something about it? What's an unusual, even weird, value you hold? Write a paragraph describing what you'd like your life to be like five years from now? Your Psychological Issues Right before you go to sleep and right when you wake up in the morning, is there one topic you think about more than others? What's something you're afraid to admit, even to yourself? What's your fatal flaw? What do you want? What do you really want? What keeps you from getting it? Now Generate On-Target Career Ideas First, simply look at your answers. Do any careers some to mind? Then show your answers to trusted friends. Do they have ideas for you? If that doesn't work well enough, go to Occupational Information Network and click on "skills search." Based on your answers to the above questions, check off the skills you want to use in your career, and in seconds, you'll have a list of possibly well-suited careers. Another approach: Browse a career library's shelves and on-target books' tables of contents. Pick careers that, based on your answers, seem well-suited. Two books that profile lots of careers: The "Occupational Outlook Handbook" contains authoritative but dry information on hundreds of popular careers, and my less dry but less authoritative "Cool Careers for Dummies," which contains one-paragraph descriptions of 500 careers, including many under-the radar employments and self-employment options. A cautionary note: The above process often generates the desire to pursue a highly competitive career, such as one in the arts, media, biotech, fashion, etc. If so, you must ask yourself, being brutally honest, "How likely is it that I'm talented and driven enough to succeed in such a competitive field?" |
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