5 answers
Hibah
Student
Fishers, Indiana
3
Questions
Asked
325 views
How do you know about your personal choices?
How are things working and how do you know your job is not just something you do that you don't enjoy? Is there a way where you can find what type of job you want to pursue?
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5 answers
Sara Miller Rasmussen
Careers in Business
15
Answers
Madison, Mississippi
Updated
Sara Miller’s Answer
1. One way to figure out what you might like to do is by doing things -- a lot of things. Get involved in activities at school or in your community: Short projects like volunteer events, entering an art contest, running a 5K, baking a cake for your lunch table. Or longer projects like joining a club sport, working backstage for the school musical, or getting a job. The idea is to meet new people and gain different experiences.
Here is an example: You volunteer to help load and transport all the donations from the school canned food drive to the local food bank warehouse. There's a cold rain that morning. The food boxes and labels get wet. The contacts at the food bank are late to meet you. Then, there was no one certified to drive the fork lift to move the pallets of food off the loading dock. You and your friends kill some time roaming around the warehouse. You get into trouble by wrapping 3 students in plastic with the machine they use for wrapping pallets. Eventually, you get the food unloaded, and go home hungry, cold and damp -- having sacrificed nearly all your Saturday.
2. Not everything you try is going to be great, but experience is the FASTEST way to learn a whole bunch of different things. Keep track of what you learned and enjoyed. Maybe you thought -- Knowing how to drive a forklift would be cool; the engineering of that spinning pallet wrapper was really interesting; I'm glad Ms. Bell didn't give us detention even though what we did was a bit dangerous; how do they find anything in this warehouse; I could have organized this whole event better. Think about the types of careers you now know more about from this one experience: equipment operations, engineering, event planning, people management, logistics and warehousing.
3. Start to explore careers that seem interesting. Start a journal or notebook. Do some research online. Talk to adults who have experience in these fields. Ask other adults to network to help you find them. If you are shy, you should know that people LOVE to talk about what they do. You will get better the more you do it. Come up with a list of basic questions such as: How did you get started? What kind of training do I need in this field? What's the best part about your job? What opportunities are there for someone like me starting out?
Here is an example: You volunteer to help load and transport all the donations from the school canned food drive to the local food bank warehouse. There's a cold rain that morning. The food boxes and labels get wet. The contacts at the food bank are late to meet you. Then, there was no one certified to drive the fork lift to move the pallets of food off the loading dock. You and your friends kill some time roaming around the warehouse. You get into trouble by wrapping 3 students in plastic with the machine they use for wrapping pallets. Eventually, you get the food unloaded, and go home hungry, cold and damp -- having sacrificed nearly all your Saturday.
2. Not everything you try is going to be great, but experience is the FASTEST way to learn a whole bunch of different things. Keep track of what you learned and enjoyed. Maybe you thought -- Knowing how to drive a forklift would be cool; the engineering of that spinning pallet wrapper was really interesting; I'm glad Ms. Bell didn't give us detention even though what we did was a bit dangerous; how do they find anything in this warehouse; I could have organized this whole event better. Think about the types of careers you now know more about from this one experience: equipment operations, engineering, event planning, people management, logistics and warehousing.
3. Start to explore careers that seem interesting. Start a journal or notebook. Do some research online. Talk to adults who have experience in these fields. Ask other adults to network to help you find them. If you are shy, you should know that people LOVE to talk about what they do. You will get better the more you do it. Come up with a list of basic questions such as: How did you get started? What kind of training do I need in this field? What's the best part about your job? What opportunities are there for someone like me starting out?
ShaRon Bynum
Program Manager
31
Answers
Charlotte, North Carolina
Updated
ShaRon’s Answer
Hibah,
As a student there are assessments you can take that will give you some indication of your career preferences based on how you respond to the questions. You can inquire about these with your Guidance Counselor. You many find similar tools through your local library (ask the librarian) and you can do an internet search. These types of tools will just point you in the direction of your interest.
I would also encourage you to think about what types of things you enjoy doing. If you like the outdoors, the last thing you want to do is end up in a career that confines you to an office environment. Does that make sense? You spend at least 2080 hours a year at work so you want to try to make sure you find something that you enjoy and adds value to your life goals.
Many people incorrectly assume that if you make a lot of money you will be satisfied in any roll. While that may work for some, most people do not thrive in a career/job that they do not like. When people find themselves in that kind of situation, they change roles or even switch careers because they learn that there are things, beyond pay, that matter too!
As a child I thought being a teacher was the greatest job in the world. But when it was time to explore my career choice, I found that I had other skills that were better suited for another field. I studied Business Administration in school because I had some natural leadership skills and wanted to have a career that provided me options. That proved fruitful for me as I was able to take that foundation and move into Quality Management where I obtained a MBA and several certifications, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt; Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt; Scrum Master and Certified Work Out Facilitator. While my friends that went into teaching may have had a more stable career - being able to work for the same district for many years and have summers off. I have traveled extensively; worked for five Fortune 100 companies and had a variety of roles. I have also been laid off several times and had to do contract roles to be able to support my family while in transition.
I know that it seems like you are making a choice for life BUT as I tell my children put yourself in a position to have options. That was if plan A doesn't work out you can quickly look at what other choices are available to you. It is most important to put yourself in a position to thrive not just survive! So invest the time into doing the assessments and doing a personal inventory of what you like. Ask you family and friends about why they picked the careers they are in and really think about their responses. Only YOU know what is best for you. You can do internships or ask some of those individuals to shadow them so you expose yourself to as many careers as you can before deciding what you want to be.
Good Luck!
As a student there are assessments you can take that will give you some indication of your career preferences based on how you respond to the questions. You can inquire about these with your Guidance Counselor. You many find similar tools through your local library (ask the librarian) and you can do an internet search. These types of tools will just point you in the direction of your interest.
I would also encourage you to think about what types of things you enjoy doing. If you like the outdoors, the last thing you want to do is end up in a career that confines you to an office environment. Does that make sense? You spend at least 2080 hours a year at work so you want to try to make sure you find something that you enjoy and adds value to your life goals.
Many people incorrectly assume that if you make a lot of money you will be satisfied in any roll. While that may work for some, most people do not thrive in a career/job that they do not like. When people find themselves in that kind of situation, they change roles or even switch careers because they learn that there are things, beyond pay, that matter too!
As a child I thought being a teacher was the greatest job in the world. But when it was time to explore my career choice, I found that I had other skills that were better suited for another field. I studied Business Administration in school because I had some natural leadership skills and wanted to have a career that provided me options. That proved fruitful for me as I was able to take that foundation and move into Quality Management where I obtained a MBA and several certifications, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt; Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt; Scrum Master and Certified Work Out Facilitator. While my friends that went into teaching may have had a more stable career - being able to work for the same district for many years and have summers off. I have traveled extensively; worked for five Fortune 100 companies and had a variety of roles. I have also been laid off several times and had to do contract roles to be able to support my family while in transition.
I know that it seems like you are making a choice for life BUT as I tell my children put yourself in a position to have options. That was if plan A doesn't work out you can quickly look at what other choices are available to you. It is most important to put yourself in a position to thrive not just survive! So invest the time into doing the assessments and doing a personal inventory of what you like. Ask you family and friends about why they picked the careers they are in and really think about their responses. Only YOU know what is best for you. You can do internships or ask some of those individuals to shadow them so you expose yourself to as many careers as you can before deciding what you want to be.
Good Luck!
Nivedita Balaji
Test Analyst
18
Answers
Pune, Maharashtra, India
Updated
Nivedita’s Answer
Hi Hibah,
We all have our instinct which tells us if we're on the right or wrong path.
Also, our career needs to align with our true values ( I like helping people, drawing, painting...so I felt that UX design would be right for me) I'm planning to transition from software engineer to UX designer
You need to analyse and understand yourself and skillsets you have.
There's a website called Forage where you have free practical courses (4-5 hours) on different subjects. You could explore and understand about your interests.
We all have our instinct which tells us if we're on the right or wrong path.
Also, our career needs to align with our true values ( I like helping people, drawing, painting...so I felt that UX design would be right for me) I'm planning to transition from software engineer to UX designer
You need to analyse and understand yourself and skillsets you have.
There's a website called Forage where you have free practical courses (4-5 hours) on different subjects. You could explore and understand about your interests.
Peter Huang
Security consultant
79
Answers
Cupertino, California
Updated
Peter’s Answer
there is always tell-tell sign when you going through school, there a particular subjects that are more interesting than other. you can examine those interests and see why they attract you and see if there is a career path to it. E.g., I like tinkle with stuff when I was young, so engineering was a perfect career for me.
Marisol Montanez
Registered Nurse
6
Answers
Riverside, California
Updated
Marisol’s Answer
Hibah great question ! As far as my background is concerned, in Healthcare, some signs are moodiness, feeling like I dont want to go to work, or my feelings when I first started my career have changed . There are some exams, I believe PF16 test can help guide you to a career that matches you personality. The beauty of life and your career is you have the freedom to change and it is ok. You just have to embrace that and find a way to switch when you feel like it is necessary and figure out how to switch. You posted a great question ! You will do well in life !