Don’t Just Find a Job…Launch Your Career!
CAREER COUNSELING / By Andrea Weiss
Career Counseling
You may have had jobs in the past that paid your bills, covered your education costs, or provided you with a little extra spending money while still receiving support from family. While important in building basic employment skills, these experiences, may, or may not, have been in a field that held deep interest for you, involved the types of tasks you most enjoyed, or had the potential for career growth.
Now you may be thinking you want something more than just a job… you want a career! And yet, many people have never had the opportunity, support, or time to think strategically or be intentional about their career development. In fact, they may have seen friends and family go from one job to the next, liking some positions better than others but never feeling truly excited about or connected to their work. Or seen a parent or other family member, “suffer” through long years in a career that left them drained and simply waiting out the years until retirement.
You probably know this is not how you want your own career to unfold, but the often heard advice to “follow your passion and the money will follow” seems unrealistic, especially if your passion is ultimate frisbee! I would suggest taking time to understand yourself, explore a variety of career fields, collect data to make informed decisions, and create a plan for pursuing your goals and put that plan into action. By taking these steps you can significantly increase your chances of finding a meaningful, sustainable career that you truly enjoy.
A career is a person’s professional journey that unfolds over their lifetime. It encompasses internships, volunteer work, paid positions, and life events outside of work that build transferable skills and expand your knowledge. All of these experiences come in to play to shape our career path, though not always in an upward linear fashion.
While we’ve all heard the analogy of climbing a career ladder, for most it is more like rock climbing – sometimes you have to move laterally or go down a step or two to start heading back up. Some people’s career trajectory is linear but for many, the path is not so clear cut, but rather filled with twists and turns, missteps and mistakes, successes and failures, and life can throw us challenges when least expected that impede our career growth for a number of years. Mix in some luck and coincidence and you have the makings of your own exciting and unique adventure!
If you’re hoping to build a career not just find another job, reach out, I’d love to assist you!
