Most of us are "programmed" into the type of job we are in, and into the methods required to seek jobs.
If we are to be truly "self-directed" in life, career and job, there is required a complete reversal of the attitude and method instilled in us by society. Instead of a passive role, in which employers (through representatives, such as a personnel department) are permitted to examine and evaluate our background, there is required the eminently active role, in which we communicate, not what we have done somewhere else (the resume and standard interview), but rather, our internal talents and abilities as they pertain to a given situation.
This, of course, is difficult. Communication among people is generally hazardous. When it has to do with things which are internal to each of us (such as talents, personal needs, desires, etc.), it becomes more difficult because these are abstractions. It requires special handling to communicate abstractions, such as to teach a course in philosophy. Teaching a course in automotive mechanics, which allows for concrete diagrams and models, is less demanding. When the abstractions pertain to ourselves, it is an even greater challenge. Complicating the problem still further is the fact that we never study, nor are we encouraged to study, how to communicate who we really are.
Teachers are required to study how to communicate in class rooms. Lawyers and judges must be licensed to communicate in courts of law and generally in the legal profession. Companies require their employees to learn how to communicate the benefits of washing machines to customers, stocks and bonds to a specialized clientele, insurance policies to potential customers, and so on in an unending list. But we are never encouraged nor taught how to communicate the most complex entity on Earth: Ourselves. Instead, in the job search context, we are encouraged to recite our past activities. We should instead communicate the internal talents and abilities which we carry around within us at all times, and which enabled us to do whatever it is we have done to this point in our lives.
When it comes to job and career, we are taught to be eminently rational and practical in making those decisions. Schooling, years of experience, and other historical considerations (such as family circumstances and social setting), dictate the kind of job we should seek. On the other hand, there are emotion-laden situations, such as the decision to marry, in which it is difficult to be rational and practical.
Any truly valid decision must be based on the whole person - not only the rational side of us, but also the emotional/volatile side. However, we are so conditioned to be entirely reasonable in job and career activities that it is relatively impossible without special effort to allow ourselves to identify what we want to do. It is from the emotional/volatile part of our natures that our convictions come. And when we do something out of conviction and a sense of personal pride, we are at our most enthusiastic, impressive and energetic.
Many forces militate against any other approach to career decisions than the rational. The existing system simply calls for a recitation of past experiences upon which managers can base a decision about who should be invited to apply for a job. Or, a series of social adages lock us into place: "It's a lousy job, but I cry all the way to the bank," "A job isn't supposed to be fun," "At least it supports my family," "At least I get two days off a week and a vacation once a year," (Teachers: "It certainly is nice to have the summers off"), "Of course I like what I do - would I have spent 25 years doing it if I didn't?" and so on and on
Social forces operate so strongly on all of us that it becomes, as I said, relatively impossible for us to clearly identify what we want to do, what we can enjoy, what we can take pride in, what we can be enthusiastic about
The following pages are devoted to helping you divest yourself of the restricting forces, both internal and external, which ultimately reduce freedom of career choice.
When we freely decide what we want to do and know how to pursue that goal professionally, we are the satisfied, fulfilled practitioners of the Self-Directed Career?
