Selected a Career? Is It the Right Choice for You?

It’s late August, so many of you are heading back to college or high school. Perhaps you have already decided on a future career, and if you’re in college, selected a major based on that choice. Or if you are thinking about a career in the trades, you are considering an apprenticeship. However, is it the right choice for you? Let’s explore why I ask.

Sometimes, a certain career can be very appealing. Maybe it appears exciting, glamorous, or pays exceptionally well. Perhaps it is something that has interested you for years or is related to a favorite hobby. Many such reasons can attract a person to a particular career. The natural next steps are to choose a college, declare a major, and select coursework leading to a degree in that field, or, if the career is in a trade, apply for an apprenticeship. Although correct, these typical steps can be expensive and consume considerable time from your life, utilizing valuable resources you don’t want to waste, especially if you later decide the career choice was not right for you!

Think about this. How many times has something “looked good on paper” but ended up being not so good? Did you ever hear about a product that sounded awesome online or in a TV advertisement, but later, you were less than impressed when you had it in your hand? The same thing can happen with a career. Consider two options to help you decide if you are making the right choice.

Job Shadowing

A few years ago, I had the privilege of serving on a panel to judge presentations given by high school seniors. As a condition for graduation in my state, seniors are required to develop formal career plans. Over several days, I listened as students detailed their goals and the steps needed to achieve them. As you might expect, the goals were as varied as the students who envisioned them. One thing that stood out to me was how some students had already gone so far as to do “job shadowing” with individuals in their chosen careers. Others, unfortunately, had not.

Names such as “job shadowing,” “work shadowing,” “day on the job,” and so forth can mean different things to different people. As used here, the term refers to the practice of literally following around someone in a particular line of work to learn what the job is really like, or at least as best as one can while observing for just a few hours or days. The terminology may differ, but the end goal is the same.

For those students who did not job shadow, the scary truth is that they likely know very little about the realities of the career fields they have chosen. Sure, you can read about a career field online, but nothing beats first-hand experience and talking to people who do the job day in and day out.

Job Shadowing Helped This Student Avoid a Potential Mistake

I know an individual who is a gifted artist. To him, architecture seemed like a natural way to blend his artistic talent and interest into a career. While still a senior in high school, he researched the field and went for a “day on the job” at an architectural firm. Architecture is a fine and respected profession, but after that visit, he concluded it was not at all what he thought it would be. Subsequently, he decided on a completely different career path, one in which he later became very successful.

What if he had never had that day on the job? Without that reality check early on, he may have invested several years in college, spending time and considerable money taking courses aimed toward a degree and a career that was just not for him.

Get a Student Job in Your Chosen Field

Here's another option, one that hits close to home for me. When I started college, I had a career in mind and began a curriculum in a medically related field. The program called for three years of college courses followed by a one-year, for-credit clinical internship in a hospital program. After completing that program, I would receive a bachelor’s degree and be eligible to sit for the required license examination. Yup, I had it all figured out. Or so I thought.

After my first year of college, I landed a full-time summer job as a student assistant working in my area of interest in a hospital.  I could earn some money, plus get hands-on experience performing the type of work awaiting me in my future career. How great was that?

I continued working that job part-time through my second year of college. However, much to my shock and disappointment, I came to the realization that this field just did not have the appeal I initially thought it would. Unfortunately, this conclusion also meant that most of my college work thus far was obviously headed in the wrong direction and even possibly wasted. Now what? Well, at least I avoided a serious career mistake. On the bright side, it turned out that the experience introduced me to what was, at the time, an entirely new and emerging field! Not only was this new field still medically related, but it was also very electronics and technology-oriented, one I found considerably more interesting. Recognizing this, I was able to shift my career path in that direction.

In retrospect, without that on-the-job experience, I am sure I would have simply plodded along as originally planned. In doing so, I would have wasted both time and money on the wrong degree and career path. It makes me sad to think about how many individuals have probably made that exact same mistake and still do. Don't be one of those people!

Look Closely at Your Desired Career

Whether you are a high school student, college student, or working individual wanting a new job or field, take time to examine your desired career field up close. To summarize:

• If you are a high school student, consider a job shadowing experience when exploring careers. Do this with several companies or individuals because jobs vary greatly. You do not want your perception influenced—good or bad—by one person or company.
• While in college, if at all possible, get a summer or part-time job in your area of interest. Not only will you see the job up close, but you will also develop a network of people who may serve as references or who may even end up hiring you later on. Explore student helper or internship opportunities. See if the job continues to fuel your passion for the field. If so, it will also motivate you to keep working hard at your college courses.
• If you are already working but know you want to change jobs or even careers altogether, make sure you have a realistic idea of how green that grass is before taking the leap. Use a vacation day or two and create your own day on the job with someone you know in the field. At a minimum, talk to several others already working in the area of interest. Some companies even have internal job shadowing programs designed to help their employees advance into new areas rather than lose a good employee to another firm. Companies are often willing to assist individuals in transitioning to another position where they may find more satisfaction. If your company has such a program, check it out.
• Additionally, as an extra measure, examine what the future of your job may look like. Check out the Career Lantern post What is the Outlook for Your Career Choice?

Agree? Disagree? Share your experience or thoughts? Feel free to leave a comment.

Featured image courtesy of August de Richelieu – pexels.com