Steve Davidson, Ph.D. - Career Choices

Career

A career might be thought of as a system composed of Abilities and Interests
funneled into specific Tasks and Training, which are then aimed at achieving selected career Milestones and an End.

Ability: "What am I best at?" Your strengths offer sign-posts as to where you might
want to go with your career. Strengths can display themselves in a variety of ways -
exceptional performance in school courses, praise for jobs well done, receiving
coveted assignments or promotions if you are already working. You may take your greatest gifts for granted, since they come so naturally; therefore, it can be helpful to just sit down and make an objective list of your strengths.

Interests: The classic interest question is, "What do I do in my spare time?"
Leisure-time activities are often a good indicator of where your heart really lies. At
school or work you may go out of your way to participate in certain activities.
These, too, are an indication of your real interests. Write them down! Take a look!

Tasks: The classic career question is, "What would I really, actually like to do 8-10
hours a day, every day?" This nuts-and-bolts question helps eliminate fantasies
which somehow sound appealing, but if you thought about it, right away you might
say, "No, I don't really want to be doing that all day long!" Here again, it can be helpful to just jot down what comes to mind, and take a look at it.

Blending Ability, Interest, and Tasks: OK, now you've got a sense of your real
interests and abilities. So, intuitively make a list of your top five career options. Look over the list. Play around with it, rearranging as needed. See which ones feel right, seem to fit you best. Now circle your top two. Now pick your number One. Check it out. Is that you?

Training: Once you have your field figured out, look at the training required, and
make sure that you are comfortable with it. For example, you might select "medicine" as your career field - it feels right, but do the training requirements feel OK? Does it work for you?

Remember that in any give field there are different levels of credentialing, and a less demanding level may be perfectly satisfactory. For example, you may like numbers,
finance, and accounting but decide that a full CPA qualification is a bit much.

Milestones: What are the basic "stages of your dream"? What are the specific points
you need to arrive at as you go along? For example, for architect, the milestone list
might be something like this: 1) college degree in architecture; 2) job, where you can work while you prepare for your final credential; 3) position as a fully qualified
architect. You can note the length of time required for each milestone. Too much
time? If so, you can always cycle back to previous stages, and recalibrate your dream with your motivation so that it's a good fit - exciting, but not overwhelming.

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