When it comes to finding that right job, the one that really empowers us and provides for us in the ways we need it to, it is a challenging task that we don’t necessarily figure out immediately after high school. Often we get into a career because we just happened to do what others were doing or what our education and college led us to. Often that’s too far off from our calling and we don’t find much meaning in such a career after a few years. Many folks even switch careers and seek out new paths when the prior career turned out to be all wrong. So how do you figure out which career to go into?
Follow Your Passion
There is a saying that what you daydream about is what you should be doing with your life. Many of us daydream and it’s usually something you are extremely invigorated and passionate about. Take for example the fashion-obsessed teen. We may see their need for color, patterns, and constant need to stay up on fashion trends as shallow. However, their passion is what could find them a career in fashion. The teen that loves to buy clothes could go into fashion merchandising.
Embrace the Desire to Nurture
Some people dream of being a doctor. Going into the medical profession requires that you have an innate desire to heal and care for people who need help. Even if you decide not to work with people who are physically ill, mental health is looking for folks who want to take care of others and have the ability to do so in a clinical sense. We can even look beyond and see the person who lost a family member to a serious disease who then decides to go into medical research. That desire to nurture keeps them going as they enter the field and do what they can to find cures.
Become a Part of the Community
A career that feels like it gives back to a community you feel close to is another excellent path to consider. Perhaps you prefer to work for a non-profit corporation that provides excellent retargets for low-income folks in your area. Others prefer to enter the arena of politics, one that combines a love for law and taking care of your community. Politics can be a difficult career choice but it also can be incredibly fulfilling when you see serious change take place in your community. Being a part of the community doesn’t even mean that you have to do community-service type work. Offering a local business that fulfills a need in your area is an equally noble career path to take on. This sort of thing usually requires a business degree to help you navigate the more difficult parts of a business, your natural care for the community is already there and waiting to be offered.
How Do I Know?
Knowing whether or not you are in the right career is a question we don’t always want the answer to. Sometimes we are in a position to fulfill what is expected of us, rather than be a true passion, and we try to pretend we love it. Other times we take a position because of a financial need, rather than a personal one. These are perfectly okay reasons for taking a job but for your career, it should ignite a fire within you that is not able to be put out. Ask yourself these questions:
- Is this a job I took for benefits and/or to pay the bills?
- Do you find yourself dreading Sunday evening (or the night before your work week begins)?
- Do you do the bare minimum work?
- Do you still struggle to make ends meet?
- Do you hate talking about work?
- Do you avoid recommending the company to others?
- Are you scared?
If you answered “yes” to these questions, it is time for a hard look at changing careers!