By: CLV Phoenix Writer
I always thought picking a career path for the entire rest of my life was a very daunting prospect - that’s why I didn’t. I ended up just taking subjects I was interested in and deciding to figure the rest out later. It always felt though, like it would be much more sensible to have a career path in mind at the start. After all, what if by the time I finally chose it was too late and I hadn’t taken any of the right courses?
Everyone is looking for their ‘dream’ job. A job that is fulfilling and pays well, gives them opportunities for things like travel and also allows flexibility. A job that encompasses everything about them as a person. The job that will last them a lifetime. But does this really exist? Sure, there is the odd person that will hold the same career for their entire life. I guess that person might tell you that the dream job exists. For most people though - it doesn’t…The Bureau of Labour Statistics stated that before the age of forty, most people will have 10 jobs! This statistic is only increasing. So if having more than 10 jobs before the age of forty is completely normal, why do we expend so much effort trying to find one that lasts a lifetime? In fact, it is projected that in the lifetime of the generation just about to start (that's you) seven entirely different careers will become the average.
If you work hard, get good grades in… something - whatever you’re interested in - you’ll be absolutely fine. There’s no need to stress about what your dream job might be when you get to try so many different ones! For me at least, that is very good news.
One thing that is definitely worth some thought though, is how to actually choose all these jobs. There’s no fixed formula that’s going to work for everybody, however there are some things that we should all think about. Someone recently told me that they think it’s important to have a criteria that determines whether or not you actually accept a job. This is after the whole application process. When they pick you and offer you it. His criteria was very simple but astoundingly effective, and not something that had ever occurred to me in the past. Upon receiving a job offer he’d ask “Why me?”. If they gave an answer that didn’t sound like him then he’d turn it down. Why would you want to work somewhere that doesn’t really know you? Somewhere that only accepted you because of a persona you were able to put forward for an hour in an interview. It would be fine for a while I’m sure, but how long can you really keep up being someone you’re not?
Find a job that really saw you in your interview, and that values you. Somewhere that wants you to be part of their team as you. Find somewhere that sees you as a person, not a skill set. That’s when they’ll look after you. That’s when you’ll be happy in your job.
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