The Interest You Left Behind

We all have subjects that particularly interest us, that capture our attention. It could be a skill, a hobby or just a topic you follow very closely. Try taking note of the articles that attract you online or in the newspaper and you’ll have your answer. Have you incorporated that interest into the job you have today?

As much as we are told, to use a trite term, to “follow our passion”, many times life leads us down a different path and we leave that interest behind. It can be for all kinds of reasons, but they are almost always practical. Maybe you couldn’t figure out how to make a living using that particular focus, or most likely, you reacted to market conditions and something else came along and you took it. No matter how it happened, it’s worth considering whether you want to attempt to integrate it into your work going forward.

We know that market conditions change all the time, and if like me you’ve been in the workforce for 15+ years, during that time the pace of change has sped up more than during any period in history since the Industrial Revolution. Impediments that existed when you first entered the job market may no longer exist. It’s also likely that your goals have changed as you’ve gained experience. Maybe this is the right time to design a new career that favors that neglected area of interest, or at least partially incorporates it into your current path.

In my own life and career, I was an early adopter of romance languages and spent my teens and twenties learning French, Italian and Portuguese while I lived. and later worked, abroad. During years spent in marketing and branding I sought out jobs that would utilize my language and cross-cultural skills. While I love the work I do today and know it uses many of my talents, it is the only time in my career when being able to communicate in a foreign language has not been a specific asset.

Do you have an example from your own life? While I’m working on finding the right intersection between my language skills and my work as a career advisor, I’d love to hear your stories. To get in touch, contact me here.

Photo by Nina Matthews Photography

Discover Your Career with Three Questions

My clients who are still in college or just graduating worry that they’ll cut themselves off from opportunities by choosing one path over another. When you’re in college, you can take any class that interests you, join a club or do an internship or volunteer gig—all without making a commitment to one specific thing.

Yes, it’s tough to choose and yes, you can change course at any time. Careers are fluid and today it’s not uncommon to have numerous careers during one’s working life. However, to move forward towards a career, some important questions need to be asked and some decisions need to be made.

In my assessment, here are the three key pieces of the puzzle new and recent grads need to address: the sector, the role and the organization. Until you’ve decided to at least explore a career path, you must identify these three things. Here’s how:

The Sector or Industry
What sector (s) captures your imagination? For some clues, try paying attention to what industries attract you. Do you like to read articles about politics? Technology? Healthcare? Journalism? What classes have been your favorites? Any noun that appeals to you can represent a sector in your career. Try plugging in a sector name, followed by the word “careers” in the Google search bar and see what comes up, for example, “Scuba diving careers”.

The Role or Function
Do you imagine yourself being the creator or designer of something, or would you be better served leading, presenting and promoting a team of experts by matching “client” needs with solutions designed by others? This question can be tough to answer without concrete work experience, but understanding your personality type and taking some career assessments can give you some clues. Speaking very generally, most people who create or design things show up on the “Introvert” side of the scale on a Myers-Briggs assessment. Those whose types are “Extrovert” derive more energy from working with groups of people, presenting and guiding, and therefore tend to choose professions enabling them to lead. This distinction can get fuzzy at times, but it’s a good general rule to consider early in your career.

The Organization or Company
Do you imagine yourself working in a large corporation? A small non-profit? An NGO? Some recent studies suggest that Millennials are more comfortable in small, entrepreneurial environments, although that may not necessarily correlate to job satisfaction. Because cultural fit, how well an individual fits in at an organization, is the single most important determinant of long-term success, factors such as chemistry with one’s boss may be more important than working at a specific organization. This means that interviewing with many different prospective employers and in many different environments is the best way to find your right career, once you’ve figured out the sector and role.

The most important thing is: Don’t get discouraged. Keep track of the choices you are making—write them down, discuss them and assimilate them in your job search. You will be rewarded by becoming a much better candidate and more successful in your career in the long run.

Should You Change Your Major to Agree with Your Myers-Briggs Type?

Penelope Trunk’s blog post today on what college students should do now offers some great wisdom. But the one tip that really caught my eye was her suggestion to take a Myers-Briggs test to understand what you’re good at. She also suggests that if your score doesn’t agree with your chosen major, you should change it.

I applaud taking assessment tests as early as high school—they can provide some direction about a career path when little exists. I would, however, caution against jumping to immediate conclusions based on a test score. For example, the test Trunk cites is not an actual Myers-Briggs test, but an approximation. The good part is that you can take it online and it’s free; the bad part is that it may not reflect your most accurate results. In my case, for example, it gave me a different type than the actual MBTI I’ve taken in the past.

And as far as changing your major to suit your type? I would say that it very much depends. For example, if your major is pre-professional and your MBTI score doesn’t fit, you may want to consider making a change in the future. But I would gather more data first. You should gain some experience through internships, volunteer work and informational interviews before taking such a bold step.

If your major is not pre-professional, and your career path is under development, it may not matter anyway. Your career choice will likely evolve over time, and although your MBTI score can be informative this is not information that is black and white.

Check out my favorite book on the subject, called Do What You Are. It offers perspective and career advice for all of the MBTI types, so you can decide whether your score is accurate for you—or not.

Tough Times are a Litmus Test for Whether You’re in the Right Job

You don’t need me to tell you that the business climate is very uncertain, to say the least. So many industries are taking a hit, and everyone is asking you: “How’s your business?”

It’s likely that you’re busier than ever. If you have clients, they need hand-holding and persuading. If you’re at an organization, it is likely to be very lean at the moment; you may be doing the job of two or three people. The question on the table, that you may be too preoccupied to ask yourself, is: Have you considered your own career lately?

Now you may scoff at this question. After all, you may have logged many years in your position or industry, it may feel like your calling. And perhaps it is. If it is, you can stop reading here, no need to consider this further, you have more than enough on your plate. But if this question strikes a chord, or at least gives you pause, you may want to read on.

The truth is, it’s never a bad time to assess your career. If you’re forward-thinking you make it your business to do it periodically, just to make sure you’re on the right track. There are many ways to conduct a career assessment, and I’ll address that later. The point is: right now, in a down economy, do you have the time and inclination to work on yourself? That depends on how satisfied you feel in your career today. You may say: How can I feel satisfied in my career when the market is in such bad shape? There’s so much pressure right now, how can I really enjoy the work I’m doing?

What would you say if I told you that the right career is one that feels that way most of the time? It should not feel right when business is up and wrong when business is down. You should feel confident most of the time that you are engaged, growing and making a contribution, whatever that means to you. I’m not ignoring the fact that work may be frustrating right now, but that shouldn’t bring you down, day after day. If you start your days feeling challenged and regularly end with a sense of failure, something is definitely wrong. You may not be in one of the few industries that is currently growing. But putting aside that you might not be as financially successful this year as during the last few years, what does your career really mean to you? What aspects of the profession keep you charged up and ready to dig in each day? Do you have the interest, skills and talent to stay where you are or should you invest your energies elsewhere? If you are feeling frustrated and enervated in a tough market, you may want to explore some new career tracks. It’s never a bad time to investigate, you don’t have to make a move until you’re ready. Join me here next time as I provide some ideas on conducting your own career assessment. Meanwhile, I welcome your questions and comments.