subject: Career Choices [print this page] Career Choices Career Choices
We are subjected to the pressures of contemplating our career choices at a very young age. Which grade one class doesn't house a handful of firefighters, several police officers, and a healthy mix of teachers and nurses?
Ironically, we all know that it is highly improbable for kids to have the capacity, at that age, to make a lifelong commitment to their career choice. So why are we unable to resist the temptation as ask a six year old "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
The reality is that youngsters, and even many adults, have no real clarity on their career aspirations until their mid to late thirties, and often never at all. And interestingly, often career has little impact on happiness.
Indisputably, is it important for kids to learn to set goals, and be encouraged to dream. But in the end, the right career choice will not remotely resemble what they wrote in a third grade essay assignment. A simple rule of thumb for kids and grown-ups alike: when the time comes to go to work, find something you're good at, and stick to it.
By that time in your life, you will likey have had exposure to a number of different things through social engagements and conversations, and networking etc. You are far more likely to latch on to a career avenue by "fluke" than by being forced to pick something at a young age, just to satisfy societey's need to peg you in a category.
Give yourself the time, and the opportunity to discover through natural progression what it is you enjoy, and excel at, and then following it through will come naturally and with far less effort than learning something you've never tried.
Rachel Landry is a professional writer with a background in career transition counseling, and has written two books on the subject.
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