How to Choose a Career When You're Interested in Everything
For many young adults, entering the workforce can be jarring.
Throughout your life, you’ve been told the importance of becoming a
well-rounded individual. So you tried different activities, studied
various subjects, and developed a wide variety of interests. Then you
have to pick a career path.
Suddenly, it feels like you need to pick between your love of
technology or art; politics or cooking. You have to decide what will be
your career and what will be demoted to a weekend hobby.
Or do you?
There will be tough decisions. Some interests will have to take
priority over others. But if you’re smart in your choices, it is
possible to find a flexible career path that doesn’t confine you to a
suffocating box. You just have to take some time to explore all of the
options open to you.
Here’s how to choose a career when you’re interested in more than one thing:
Figure Out What You Can't Live Without Doing
A 2015 Gallup survey
found that among employees who had been with their company for more
than three months, 60 percent stayed because their job allowed them to
do what they do best. That factor had an even bigger impact on
employees’ satisfaction than having an increased income. Why is that?
It’s simple — people are happier when they get to go into work every
day and do what they were meant to do. The trick is figuring out what
your calling is. The first step in that process is thinking about what
makes a dull task more bearable for you.
For example, imagine that you had to spend an entire day cleaning:
Would it seem less odious if you could work with a team? Or if you had
to solve riddles to correctly identify the cleaning products you needed?
Your answer to these questions will help you get to the core of what
you need out of a career.
To dig deeper into what motivates you, consider taking online personality assessments
or using career exploration apps. You might be surprised by what they
reveal about you and how they help you narrow down your options.
Find an Industry That Interests You
Your education does make it easier — or more difficult — to get
certain types of jobs, but it doesn’t completely limit the industries
you have to work in. If you majored in biology, you’re not restricted to just medical or scientific fields. If you’ve taken classes in computer programming, that doesn’t mean you have to get a job in the tech industry.
Many of your skills are transferable from one industry to another. A 2015 Burning Glass study
found that research skills were ranked in the top 10 most important
skills for various industries, ranging from marketing and PR to
healthcare and IT.
Look into a variety of industries and find out which skills are most
important in them. Think outside the box and consider what your unique
experience can bring to an industry. For example, say you’ve always
loved music, but are tone deaf. Instead of learning the guitar, you
studied web design. You can always embrace your interest in music and
use your skills by designing websites for bands or record labels.
Look for Organizations That Embrace Collaboration
Whatever career you choose, chances are its responsibilities and
duties won’t satisfy each and every one of your interests. That’s just
the way of the world. But that doesn’t mean you need to be locked away,
never interacting with people from other departments ever again.
An organization that encourages cross-departmental projects and
collaboration can enable you to be exposed to other things, even if
they’re not part of your job. If your job is in sales, for instance, you
can work with members of the design and marketing teams while creating
literature on your products. Or with programmers to create a new
purchasing page for the website.
Truly collaborative organizations offer you fluidity in your role. Of
course, you’ll still have your designated duties, but you should have
opportunities to engage in a range of related activities as well.
When considering which company you’d like to work for, reach out to current employees and ask them how teamwork
is actually practiced in the office. Find out how cross-departmental
projects are structured to see how involved an employee can be with
different aspects of the process.
Focus on Organizations With Career Development
As someone who is interested in many different things, chances are
you won’t be satisfied unless you can continually experience new things
and learn new skills. That means you’ll need an organization that
supports career development.
And just because a job seems like a great fit right now, that doesn’t
mean it will continue to fit in the future. What will make the
difference in your long-term happiness is how well the organization
supports your curiosity.
When researching employment opportunities, find out how a company approaches training and development.
Do they put all employees through the same generic training and rote
distribution of responsibilities? Or do they allow employees to choose
what they learn and explore skills and duties not directly related to
their current position? If you don’t feel like you’ll have the chance to
continue exploring different interests, chances are it’s not the right
place for you.
Take the Time to Consider Your Options
Being a well-rounded person is never a bad thing. But it can make it
difficult to define the right career path. As long as you take the time
to look at all your options, you’ll see that you can find a career that
satisfies your desire for multi-dimensional work, instead of
pigeonholing you into one role for your entire career.
SOURCE: www.thebalancecareers.com
SOURCE: www.thebalancecareers.com
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