As a career consultant I have the privilege of testing and advising people on subject and career choices that will best match their personality, talents and skills. As an advisor looking from the outside it is not difficult to give an unbiased opinion. Yet
the candidate still has the choice to follow the advice or not.
Wrong motives
Unfortunately people often choose careers for financial reasons instead of what will resonate with who they really are. Youngsters still at school often decide to take the same subjects or to enrol for the same course as their best friends. But the fact that you are great buddies, does not mean that you will be happy in the same job as your friend.
While you are young it is perhaps bearable to do a job that you don’t really like. Many people think that your employment is any way a curse and not something to be enjoyed but to be endured. Yet when people reach midlife the wrong job often becomes unbearable. But remember, although it was your choice, you are not a tree planted where you are, you still have the choice to stay or to make a move.
Too many choices
In our modern world we are actually spoilt for choice.
Too many choices though can also be a problem; a dilemma faced by many young people today. There are so many directions in which you can study, so many motor car models you can choose from, so many cell phone models and contract options, so many different washing powders, etc., etc.
Extreme example
The following exaggerated funny story, once placed on Facebook, is a good example of how discouraging too many choices can be.
THE REASON WHY I DON’T LIKE VISITING RICH PEOPLE
Host: What would u like to drink…fruit juice, soda, tea, milo, hot chocolate or coffee?
Visitor: Tea please.
H: Ceylon tea, Rooibos tea, honey bush tea, ice tea, green tea?
V: Ceylon tea please.
H: How would u like it? Black or white?
V: White please.
H: Milk, whitener or condensed milk?
V: Milk please.
H: Goat milk or cow milk?
V: Cow milk please.
H: Milk from Holstein or Jersey cow?
V: Holstein cow please.
H: Warm or cold?
V: Warm please.
H: Full cream, low fat or fat free?
V: Umm … ill rather take it black please.
H: Would u like it with sweetener, sugar or honey?
V: With sugar please
H: Beet sugar or cane sugar?
V: Cane sugar please
H: White, brown or yellow sugar?
V: Just forget about the tea. Can I have a glass of water instead please.
H: Mineral or still water?
V: Mineral water please.
H: Flavoured or non-flavoured?
V: …..
Let us remember that
more options is not always a benefit.
Offering too many options may confuse clients and lead to higher costs.
# Choosing the right career
So why do some people put so much emphasis on choosing the right career while others simply say that a job is a job? The counter question is what your future holds when you just take on any job?
Midlife predicament
As a career advisor I also regularly see people in their midlife who suffer the consequences of being in the wrong job. On two different occasions I met people who were qualified engineers as well as medical doctors and still not happy in their careers. The one came for a Career Direct assessment on the verge of cancelling registration as a medical doctor. The report pointed out that a career as artist and writer would have been a better match with the person’s natural talents and personality.
Another person, a qualified scientist, worked at sixteen different companies before age sixty. A Career Direct assessment showed that this person was very creative and strong with arts and crafts which turned out to be a fairly well paying hobby. Giving feedback afterwards I pointed out “I do not see a scientist in this report” on which the client replied “but I am not a scientist.”
The right job for you
Knowing who you really are, is the key to finding the job that is right for you. In 2 Pet 1:10 we see “Therefore, brothers, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble.”
Do you feel like that square peg in a round hole in your job or business and you don’t know why? If that is you, contact me for a Career Direct Assessment (available online) which will help you understand. It will not only show who you are, but will also point you in the right direction.
