Finding Your Dream Job

I was reading an article today on careerealism.com about finding your dream job. While it's a short article, it got me thinking about finding a dream job and all that entails. It's not so easy as saying "I like this, so therefore it will be a great job." I learned that lesson the hard way. So after reading this article I wanted to answer the three questions it poses for finding a dream job.

What Makes you Really Angry?

The biggest issue that gets me really angry is animal cruelty. It absolutely breaks my heart when I see an animal suffering or see one being neglected. Unfortunately, my anger is often clouded over by my sadness--I feel too much that I literally make myself miserable thinking about these things. My dream as a kid was to become a veterinarian. Upon realizing I would have to take more physics (the bane of my existence), I went towards my other passion, writing. But on top of physics, I realized I would have to put animals down. I know it's necessary for the animal's well-being sometimes, but the idea of doing it personally breaks my heart. I was in the waiting room at the vet one day with my dog and an older woman came in carrying her dog silently crying over it. The vet tech came out and immediately brought her to the back without saying a word. I almost burst into tears in the waiting room just seeing that--I can't imagine actually being the one to do it. A few weeks ago, my parents had to put down our eleven-year-old golden retriever. We got him when I was twelve. I rushed home from work and just barely made it in time to say goodbye to him. The vet came to our house and sedated him before putting him down. I respect so much that she is able to do that and be with a family as they go through one of the hardest life decisions and events, but I know I could never do it. So despite my anger over the pain and abuse, I could never make a career out of it lest I want to be perpetually depressed.

What are the Biggest Personal Challenges You've Overcome?

I'm going to be honest-I really haven't had many personal challenges. I've had a pretty easy, cushy life. Not to say I haven't been sad or lonely or gone through emotional turmoil, but in comparison to some problems in the world, mine are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. The one thing I could say about this is that I've had multiple people tell me I should go into counseling or be a life coach--so while I haven't dealt with many personal challenges of my own, I have been there for friends going through their own personal challenges and allegedly I give good advice and am good at listening to their concerns. I don't know how this question exactly helps me find a dream job, but it did help me think about my listening skills and words from my friends, so in that sense, it could help.

What  are your Most Exciting Passions?

As I've mentioned on the blog before, my two passions are writing and helping people. Writing about life and thoughts and ideas is something so thrilling to me, and yet, I find myself shying away from it for fear of criticism (hence the blog; it's an attempt to force myself to write regardless of fear). Helping people is my other passion. From doing physical labor to giving directions to a lost student or parent, I truly enjoy helping others. I think this question is the one that will help me find my dream job. My love of writing and helping people will hopefully come together one day to create a nice environment for me to spend eight hours a day, five days a week. That's how work should be--spending those hours doing something you love. If I could figure out how to do that from home a few days a week, then I would be set.

Questions were from http://www.careerealism.com/find-dream-job-clues/#!RZmbc

Path to Career Coaching

I wanted to expand a bit more on my last post about my career plans.

I am currently working toward a Master of Education with a concentration in higher education.  My goal for this is to become qualified to be a career coach.  One of my greatest joys in life in helping others, so after a year and a half working as a book designer, I realized I needed a career that was more interactive.  While my first love is still writing and editing, I wanted to find a career that combined my joy of helping others with my love of editing and writing, while also adding in a bit of teaching, consulting, and one-on-one conversations.  I started looking around and met with a career counselor at my alma mater to take the Strong Interest Inventory.  My top job matches were HR positions, but third on the list was 'career counselor.'  I started doing informational interviews with counselors at my school and realized that this seemed like a perfect career fit.  I applied and was accepted to a career services office to gain experience first-hand.  This has helped solidify my desire to work as a career coach, but I still find myself wavering sometimes, missing my first career in publishing.

But I digress.  Since I am working toward being a career coach, I started thinking about different options available to me.  Some questions I've had to ask myself include: who do I want to work with? what obstacles do they face? what services will I provide to help them overcome their obstacles?  These questions are important because they will help me maintain focus as I work my way through my graduate program.  I want to be able to hone in on what types of jobs I want to apply for and what types of people I want to work with (whether a specific program or a more broad, university-wide student body).

Back to my earlier digression about missing publishing, I have also started thinking of ways to combine these two careers.  Maybe I can write career books after I have some experience in the field?  Or maybe there is a magazine I can work for where I write career and relationship articles?  At this stage in my life, all the doors seem wide open, which is a pretty scary point to be at.  I know the world is my oyster right now, but having so many options open can be a little intimidating at times, especially as a generalist that finds joy in many different things (I had two earlier career options of dietitian and financial planner).  I feel like I need to nail everything down and have it all figured out, but I definitely do not (which as a planner, is an extremely difficult point to be at). 

Hopefully all of these hours spent trying to figure out a career path will benefit me and my clients when I finally become a career coach.  Since I was filled with so much uncertainty at times (and still am sometimes), I feel I will be able to help students come to terms with their own uncertainty and help them realize that just because they don't have it all figured out doesn't mean that they will fail.

Why I Chose My Job

Fear.  

My whole career path has been chosen by fear.  Fear of failure, fear of not making enough, fear of being looked down on.  Ninety percent of my choices in my job decisions have been decided by fear.

I went to university to study English to become an editor and writer.  My fourth year of college, I had an internship in publishing and was hired by the company full time once I graduated.  It was such a relief.  I didn't have to worry about finding a new job in a city that really only has one big employer.  I didn't have to face the uncertainty that comes with having a bachelor's degree but no job to call my own.  I was set in the field I had chosen to go into.  And naturally, I realized it wasn't what I wanted.  But it was safe, and it was familiar.  So I stayed for a year and a half before I made the one unfearful choice in my career.  I landed a job in an entirely different field.

I've now been here for a little over six months.  I love my job, I'm starting my master's degree in education to work my way up, and I truly enjoy what I do.  But I realized that these decisions are still based on fear.  The fear of going out of my comfort zone, of trying something truly hard for me.  

I've figured out what I want in a career: a steady paycheck, reasonable hours, and the ability to help people. I thought I had figured out what that meant, and to some extent I still do, but part of me still isn't sure because if I were completely honest with myself, I would still say I want to be an editor and writer.

But I'm scared.  I'm scared of not getting enough money to live to my standards of comfort.  I'm afraid that I will get bad reviews and comments and that I won't be able to handle that criticism.  I'm nervous that I would work so hard  but still wouldn't be able to think of anything to write. 

On the other hand, I want to believe that fear makes for a more passionate and fulfilling career.  Having fear on your side is a powerful motivator as long as you don't let it consume you.  Being afraid of failure can help drive you to success.

I guess the point I want to make is this: I love my job, my colleagues, and my city.  For now, this is where I need and want to be. But I want to remember that what drove me here first was fear.  And I want to remember that it's okay to takes risks and try something I find fearful.  And maybe one day I'll go back to my childhood dream, my passions in high school and college, and become a professional editor and writer. And hopefully, if I'm lucky and work for it, I'll be able to find a way to combine my career choices, career advising, writing, and editing.

   

I learned a lot about myself and my goals by playing it safe and I hope one day I will learn a lot by taking a risk.

"Why Salaries Shouldn't be Secret"

https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140515050804-10400206-why-salaries-shouldn-t-be-secret

I really like this article, though don't necessarily agree with all its points.  I think that talking about salary is a good way to learn about money management and to learn more about others and their situations.  The article mentions how Henry Ford used to discuss his employees salaries to let people know that his company pays above market rates.  This lets people make more informed decisions about what jobs to take when they know the industry standards.  By paying people what they're worth, companies can create happier and more loyal employees, which in turn increases productivity and strengthens the middle class.

In Virginia, all state staff and faculty job salaries are available for anyone to view.  I think this has both pros and cons.  The biggest con to me of having this information available is it shows the disparity between job titles among staff.  Since state jobs do not give raises very often at all, it can be discouraging to see a new hire making the same as someone in a similar position who has been there for five years.  This happens because while state employees tend to not get raises, new jobs have to follow inflation-protected hiring ranges.  So the hiring range increases each year, without similar current employees getting raises (according to a past supervisor).

All of this leads back to my belief that people should talk about money more often.  I think the topic is a little too taboo.  Since personal finance is a big hobby of mine, I want to talk about it with people, but I don't know how to broach the topic since so many people seem to shy away from the conversation.  While I don't necessarily want to discuss my salary with people, I would love to get the conversation started about budgeting, saving, and investing.  These are such fun things to me that I'd really like to share this passion with others, but always feel that I can't bring the topic up.

I know no one reads this blog right now, but maybe one day these questions will be answered. What do you think about discussing financial matters?  Do you think it helps build community or do you think it breeds more contempt?

Welcome to the Generalist Blog

The generalist blog is just that--a blog about whatever thoughts are in my head at the time I feel like writing and posting them here.  No rhyme nor reason, just looking for a place to get my thoughts down in an easy format, with everything all together.

A few days ago, I asked my dad what made me unique.  He said "I don't think you can really define what makes someone unique.  We all have more in common than unique but it's the combination of things that makes us unique." (This is a great quote that I shall keep with me. My father is a very wise man). I asked him too what he thinks is my biggest strength.  He told me I'm a generalist. At first, I was slightly offended. I, a generalist? I have no great standout strength? (He did say I have a great sense of humor which is too often in short supply). I thought about his generalist comment more and realized how happy I am with that response. At 24, I'm not expected to be super-skilled at anything. I have some strengths, sure, but nothing that I absolutely and completely excel at. And that's okay, because I'm fine with being a generalist. I can talk about whatever I want with no need to constantly be expected to discuss one topic. I can speak with a variety of people on a multitude of issues and at least know generally what I'm talking about. Sure, I won't be the authority on the topic, but that's the fun in talking to people--I can learn from them about the topics that they love and be completely interested in what they have to say. Maybe one day I'll find my topic (I don't think Harry Potter counts), but for now, I'm happy to be a generalist. It opens up a lot of doors for me.

Since I am a generalist, this blog will follow suite. The topics most likely to pop up are those that I love: dogs, food, local products, writing, finance, nutrition, hiking, culture, and eating. I am making no pretenses about length of posts, content, or regularity. This is purely an outlet to get the writing juices going because I'm not a fan of handwritten journals.