It's about time we all took charge of our careers. This is a glib statement to be sure, and not a task that's easily achieved, but one that is certainly achievable.
An example: I once worked with a man who had been employed for 18 years by one of America's largest companies. He was very good at what he did and had advanced quickly through the ranks. He had job security and was making good money. He loved his job (he said) but was having problems with his marriage.
The fact was, he hated his work. The resentment he felt towards the job was being transferred to his wife and children. However, since he was a success by work-ethic standards, he developed a denial mindset that said, "The job is great - the problem is my wife."
Once he came to the realization (through intensive reflection) that the opposite was the case, he broke away from the job, placed himself in a position better suited to his talents, and his marital problems cleared up. What's more, even though he was making less money, the personal and life-style adjustments brought on by the change allowed him to save more of his money than he ever had saved before.
This man was saddled with an all-too-common combination of personality traits that forces us to succumb to societal pressure and to be content with our jobs. He also had the typically American attitude that if you do a good job, some wealthy potentate will recognize your talent, elevate you to a higher position, and reward you with more money. Dreams give way to the pressure to make more money than your neighbor or to societal expectations of being a "good provider." A career, rather than being an integration of one's unique talents for the attainment of personal goals, becomes nothing more than a series of jobs.
Sound familiar? I'm sure many of you reading this will think it does. You're probably also wondering what you can do about it. Start by constantly questioning yourself. First, are you really using your best talents? Are you using your latent talents? We tap into only 10 to 20 percent of our potential in a lifetime. Until we tap into the rest of that potential, we're unlikely to be satisfied.
Second, are you being honest about your feelings for what you're doing now, or are you giving in to the pressures out lined earlier? Are you feeling trapped? None of us does our best work when we're feeling trapped. Are you entering the job market for the first time? Are your fears of rejection keeping you from making the contacts you need to make? It is important to face and manage that fear.
Third, question your level of commitment. How willing are you to take the steps necessary to make a change?
If you conclude from all of this questioning that a change in career is the proper destination, there are many different roads you can take to get there. Two things you don t want to do, however, are to approach a friend in the wrong way or take a vocational preference test.
Friends, unfortunately, all too often will tell you what they think you want to hear or they'll say something like, 'With your talent, you should have found something weeks ago." They mean this as a compliment, but it's probably going to make you feel worse.
Standardized vocational preference tests are designed to take your input, which may be less than objective, and compare that input with various common denominators of people in various occupations. These tests become crutches, take away the onus of decision making, and fail to consider many intangibles.
For instance, a survey some years back found that 89 percent of all nurses were unhappy with their jobs. If a preference test found that you were best suited to be a nurse (because you share many common denominators with nurses), it would be steering you toward a job in which you would have a nine in ten chance of being unhappy.
So, what to do?
First, you must learn how to communicate effectively what your abstract talents are. Second, you must develop the ability to teach others about yourself. Third, your product (you) must sell itself That is, you must know your product and believe in it. Finally, you need an effective means of getting the message across.
This process can be learned. There are no guarantees that it will be easy, but as Thoreau said, "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
