<p>I have a few questions about choosing a career, changing careers and what place exactly people find their careers to have in their lives.</p>
<p>As a sophomore, I see my graduation date approaching more and more and I've been trying to decide on a clear path to follow when that D-Day arrives. Possible options would be grad school in my major and then academia (research and teaching); medical school (biomedical research and practice); law school combined with MA or PhD econ, international relations, political science (public service); or maybe professional sports. The reason for such a wide range of considerations is that there are a lot of fields that I'm interested about. I read about virtually everything and I've so far enjoyed all of my classes, hard and applied sciences, philosophy, social studies, etc....</p>
<p>The thing is that I feel like ultimately, the field in which one works is quite irrelevant and that one should just pick one and stick to it. Maybe once one chooses a field and persistently thinks about it, do things related to it, one starts to feel a real passion for it? Also, how common/easy is it to switch careers if one realizes they don't really love the one they have? What are the most common sources of dissatisfaction at work? Is it mostly about the environment/people one works with?</p>
<p>All that matters to me is that my job would be intellectually challenging, occupy a lot of my time, and that I would not be micromanaged by anyone.
Thanks</p>
<p>This faculty developed his own football ranking algorithm…and teaches sports economics.
[Brook</a> Says Alabama, Oklahoma State Are Most Productive College Football Teams - News & Events - Tippie College of Business - The University of Iowa](<a href=“News & Events - About”>News & Events - About)</p>
I found the work I was doing in my previous career extremely tedious and often repetitive. It was hard for me to sit doing it for hours at a time. It was also an extremely stressful profession. Not to say there weren’t rewards, but it was a profession which frequently seemed to manifest with signs of stress on the health of long-timers. In addition, I was laid off 3 times due to bad economic situations.</p>
<p>For someone who is not sure what career is for them, summer internships and jobs can help point in the right direction. I would also recommend a year or two working in your proposed field (or as close as possible to) before committing to graduate or professional school. Many young adults change their direction once exposed to the working world.</p>
<p>Thank you. I think that I should indeed seek more career-oriented activities to do during the summer. Would you have any suggestion about economics and law-related internships? I have already done some research things that I have greatly enjoyed and I have a fair idea of what work in my major is like.</p>
<p>I think what worries me most is that all of these insights have been rather short and superficial and that I have no idea of what having a job on a long-term basis is like. I’m also concerned about how “dispersed” my resume now looks. Is it OK to avoid listing formal research positions and internships or even degrees unrelated to the field one is applying to for a job?</p>
<p>Actually, I think it’s a PLUS to list all the experiences you have had, as that makes you a person with more breadth and can set you apart from other applicants. If you can highlight the aspects of study and research/jobs that most directly apply and list the others as well, that would likely be best.</p>
<p>For law-related internships, you could check your local attorney general’s office, prosecutor’s office, public defender’s office, ACLU, Legal Aid, law school, or even some of the judges in your area to see if any accept interns. Not sure where you’d get internships in economics–try asking your local college if they have suggestions.</p>
<p>What matters to you now may not be what matters to you when you are older and circumstances change. For example, having a high paying job now might not be a priority but if you have a disabled child, this may be much more important. If you are not sure what path to take, take the one that gives you the most choices and flexibility.</p>
<p>To me, the key is finding a field & job where you at least like parts/most of it. Nearly ALL jobs, school and even play have elements that are tedious, boring, irritating, difficult or worse. It is good to explore different areas by volunteering or working or shadowing so you have a good idea of what the field is like. You can also join clubs in different areas to find out more about the fields. One other way of learning more is talking with folks who are in a field you have interest in–find folks who LOVE their field as well as some who aren’t quite so enamored to get a balanced view.</p>
<p>When our kids started school in the 90s, we were told that they would likely have 4 - 7 or more CAREER changes in their lifetimes, so they needed to be creative problem solvers and get along well with people as well as being able to work well independently. These are all important skills, no matter what field you may be earning your living doing.</p>
<p>Freakonomics is an interesting book & a different take on economics & some things re-analyzed from an economic point of view. I believe there is also a sequal out about it.</p>
<p>It can be useful to work after getting your bachelor’s degree before more schooling, so you can be more focused and have some real life experiences to make your study more applicable to a career.</p>
<p>Use the summer to get a job-any job. That includes tedious office jobs. Sometimes you learn more about what you don’t like from opportunities like this. It is possible, even likely that you will change careers even if you have it well-planned. The majority of the positions 20 years from now probably don’t exist in their current state. If you haven’t used your career center at school, go when you get back. they can help with interest inventories, aptitude assessments and nuts and bolts things like resume writing, applying for jobs/internships.</p>
<p>I am now on my third career. The first two required advanced degrees, and I worked in them for many years. I’ve switched again, and my current career is different but builds on the experiences of the first two. The field I’m in now didn’t even exist when I graduated from grad school. My husband is also on his third career. I know very few people who haven’t switched focus if not careers entirely.</p>
<p>The idea that one is in one career for one’s lifetime is quickly dispelled. Industries and businesses do not have the “lifetime loyalty” to their employees that they once did. Careers are displaced either voluntarily or involuntarily by changes in economies and technology.</p>
<p>Flexibility is the key. Keep your mind and your options open. Remember that aside from things like parenthood, nothing is forever and nothing is irrevocable.</p>
<p>I am in a different career from when I started as well. I started in law. Stopped out to be a community volunteer & VERY active in PTA & fund-raising. Switched to a few other careers and am now in public health. H has been with the same employer all decades of his career (federal government), but his job has continually changed–computers, phones, pagers, and all things technical. It’s important to be flexible and adapt or become obsolete.</p>
<p>Cramming one’s head with “facts” and “trivia” isn’t nearly as important as figuring out how to work well with people and create a cohensive team to get things done. It’s important to get the credentials needed for the job that it is needed for rather than just abstract credentials.</p>
<p>Two more thoughts,
Different professions attract different personalities. Social workers are different from bankers or those in the entertainment profession. It’s great when you have simlliar sensibilities to your coworkers and it’s really uncomfortable when u feel like no one gets you.
Also, doing well and succeeding in one career is a fairly good predictor for your next job. The soft skills, work ethic and organizational skills are all transferable.
My other advice has to do with certifications. Where ever possible get the license. For example get the nursing degree if your thinking about public health or the ba in architecture for interior design or the cpa for finance. It means a lot to most hiring companies and really sets you apart.</p>
<p>You need to get into some work environments to get a better handle on what works well for you and what doesn’t.</p>
<p>Get a job or internship – it doesn’t really matter what kind at this point. See what you like and don’t like about the entry-level work you’re doing. Find out all you can about what the more experienced employees do, and try to judge whether or not you would like to do that, too. (It’s often mentioned that many young people may dislike their entry-level work but would love to do what the higher-ups in their organization do. What’s mentioned less often is that some people like the entry-level work in a field but would not want to spend their days the way their bosses do.) </p>
<p>If you’re considering a PhD program or research-oriented master’s program, get some undergraduate research experience. Next semester is a good time to talk to faculty members in your major department (you can start with the one in charge of advising undergraduates) about undergraduate research opportunities (which may or may not be defined as “honors”). For some people, undergraduate research confirms their opinion that research is something they would like to do. Others learn that they absolutely hate it. Either way, they’ve learned something valuable about themselves.</p>
<p>Also, you may want to make an appointment at your college’s Career Center. Explain your career uncertainties to the counselor and see what kind of help you can get. You’re paying for this service as part of your tuition. Why not use it?</p>
<p>Rather than thinking in big categories, try looking at craigslist and other sites (or your college career office for that matter) to get an idea of the variety of jobs out there. Your first job may not relate at all to your major.</p>
<p>Or it may relate very directly to your major.</p>
<p>Both of my kids are in their first full-time jobs. In both cases, their jobs relate directly to their majors (computer science for one, economics for the other). They would not have gotten their current jobs unless they had majored in these fields or closely related ones.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for your answers. This has given me a fair idea of where to look. I just have to keep trying new things I suppose. I think out of the research and various office, clothing and food-related jobs that I’ve done there is nothing that I’ve really disliked (well, I do suppose I would not really like to serve pasta to people or sort documents for living), but nothing which has felt like “Wow”. I don’t really care about money either. My family has been both rich and poor and it has hardly affected our happiness. Anyway, thanks, I’ll just keep looking.</p>
<p>You could probably get some fascinating insights by asking your parents to talk about how the changes in their financial circumstances affected them. How did they feel about being rich or poor?</p>
<p>I suspect that if the changes in your family’s financial circumstances did not affect your happiness, one (or both) of the following things was true:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Even at the less affluent level, your parents were able to meet all of your family’s basic needs. (Adults generally find it hard to be happy if their children must go to bed hungry, wear shoes that are falling apart and clothes that are drastically too small for them, live in a homeless shelter or on the street, or go without needed medical or dental care because the family cannot afford these things.) </p></li>
<li><p>Your parents made an effort to protect you (and your siblings, if you have them) from their worries about financial hardships and, as much as possible, from the hardships themselves. (They may have discussed money problems only when you weren’t around and/or may have gone without things that they needed themselves to that their children could have the basic necessities. For example, they might have postponed their own dental care so that you could get a cavity filled when you needed it.)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I think most parents here would agree that it is possible to live happily at a variety of economic levels. But it is difficult to do so in a situation of true poverty in which people cannot meet their basic needs.</p>
<p>Some people have a predisposition to be generally “happier” than others. The main exception are those who cannot feed/house their selves and family. Once basic needs are met, research shows that money doesn’t have that much of an effect on overall happiness. But job satisfaction does play a large role. </p>
<p>Finding a job that both challenges and fulfills you is important. You might not necessarily enjoy it on a day-to-day basis, but since you sound like an intelligent young person, being challenged will probably be important for you (look into some psych research on the concept of “flow”). Which means you will probably want to stay away from jobs with repetitive tasks and look for ones that will constantly have you on your toes. Research may sound interesting in academia, but depending on where you end up it may not be what you hope. Profs at small LACs tend to focus much more on teaching than research, whereas large state unis and other research institutions tend to care more about quality of research than teaching. So teaching at a small LAC might leave you bored while researching at a large uni might be fascinating. But you have no idea where you’ll end up after graduate school, and times are tough for PhDs. </p>
<p>I graduated last year with a degree in psychology. I planned to go to graduate school first for social psychology, then I became interested in marketing and consumer behavior. I took a year off and started working as a retail manager, then moved into the human resources position at my store. I love working with the associates, but I’ve seen how ugly the stress of retail management can make a person. So now I think I would like a job working more with people (rather than research) but step away from management. I’m now considering nursing, and perhaps pursuing a graduate degree to specialize in psychiatric nursing. It’s amazing how much I’ve learned about myself and my career interests in just the 1 year I took off of school. So my best advice is to follow your interests and passions, learn as much as you can, and gain as much hands-on experience as you can. Reading about something online or from a book is not the same as doing it everyday for months or years.</p>