The Right Career for You?
by Elizabeth Best
How do you REALLY know what work suits you? Have you been told by someone else what you’re good at or what you should do or what job will bring most prospects? Have you taken jobs in the past which you discovered you didn’t like or you weren’t good at? How did you make the mistake of thinking you’d enjoy that work?I have some suggestions on how you can find out.
This is a great exercise to discover where your preferences lie.
Take this exercise seriously. The conclusions you will come to from carrying out these suggestions are important. Take your time, consider each question for a while, ponder, then write down your thoughts.
Answer all these questions honestly. You won't ever have to tell anyone what you think.
Carry a note book with you while you're thinking about this, you'll get ideas all the time, don't loose them. Every thought will be a gem and of great use.
1. What is the WORST job/life situation you can imagine for yourself?
List the elements first.
Mine would be:
- working essentially/exclusively with women
- a job with a 9am start
- having to drive around areas I don't know looking at a street map
- having to wear a uniform, especially one in colours I hate
- having to follow company rules and not use my initiative.
I could go on and on but you get the idea.
Now create a story for yourself, “a day in the horrible life of me”. Give detail.
Let me give you mine to read, it will help you to think in the way you need to for this exercise.
Elizabeth
is an agent for DooDaa Corporate Party Products. She drives into the
city center every Monday morning for a 9am meeting with her supervisor
and the team of 11 DooDaa girls. They all look so cute in their pink
suits and they wear the cutest little blue caps with the DooDaa logo.
The first half hour is fun and the girls have coffee and chat about
their social life and movies they’ve seen recently.
At 9:30 their supervisor gives them their new geographical area and targets for the week. She reminds all the girls about the rules for completion of the order forms and forms detailing the length of visit with each company and the time taken to drive between potential clients. The meeting ends with the company song. All fired up and excited, the girls set out to cover a new town every day, cold calling on potential customers. Sometimes they have an evening products party planned at head office where new recruits to DooDaa Corporate Party Products are shown the product range during a fun girls evening. When she finishes work, Elizabeth goes home to complete her paperwork.
On the weekends Elizabeth and her husband have to spend a lot of time on their large yard. Elizabeth likes their yard to look good but neither she nor her husband really enjoys gardening. It’s just another necessary chore to keep their home as good as their neighbours. Everyone around keeps their yard perfect.
At 9:30 their supervisor gives them their new geographical area and targets for the week. She reminds all the girls about the rules for completion of the order forms and forms detailing the length of visit with each company and the time taken to drive between potential clients. The meeting ends with the company song. All fired up and excited, the girls set out to cover a new town every day, cold calling on potential customers. Sometimes they have an evening products party planned at head office where new recruits to DooDaa Corporate Party Products are shown the product range during a fun girls evening. When she finishes work, Elizabeth goes home to complete her paperwork.
On the weekends Elizabeth and her husband have to spend a lot of time on their large yard. Elizabeth likes their yard to look good but neither she nor her husband really enjoys gardening. It’s just another necessary chore to keep their home as good as their neighbours. Everyone around keeps their yard perfect.
I’m sorry if this actually seems a wonderful life to you but I’d hate it. It wouldn’t suit me or my personality. We’re all different…..
But I hope you get the idea.
2. List the things which you love to do, are fun, give you pleasure.
List the things that, when you're doing them, you don't notice time pass. List everything. Don't think about whether it would earn money or not - that's not relevant yet.
Now write your ideal job/life – the opposite of # 1 (your worst situation)
List the elements first as you did before then:
Write your story
3. What do you love about your current work and why? I'm not talking about what you're good at necessarily but what you love.
4. What do you dislike about your current work and why? Again, I'm not necessarily talking about what you're bad at but what you dislike
5. What are you good at? Do you want to continue doing that? (I'm good at a number of things but many, I feel I’ve finished with and I don't ever want to do them again)
6. What are you bad at? Does it matter? Will it prevent you from getting the job you really want? If it will, do something about it.
7. Where is the best place in the world for you to live? Why?
8. Where would you hate to live? Why?
9. What living situations have you loved being in during your life? (i.e. people-numbers/types/genders etc)
10. What living situations have you disliked?
11. Do a yearly budget exercise. What do you want/need to spend money on?
- Car.
- Mortgage
- Essential services - gas/electricity/fuel/various insurances/phones
- Fun
- Clothes
- Appearance
- Vacations
- Etc
How much money do you want?
How much money do you NEED?
How much money do you NEED?
If you’ve done all that work, you should now have some valuable information about yourself.
Think about it all.
What does it all tell you about what you should/shouldn't do to make the money you want?
