Gig – “What Do I Want to Do When I Grow Up?” and Other Typical Career Questions
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Submit to SlashdotIn January, I wrote about The Teenager’s Guide to the Real World by Marshall Brain. I discussed how this book could be very useful to high school students, especially with seniors. It is a great guide on living successfully in today’s society. The Teenager’s Guide to the Real World kind of touched base with advice on choosing a livelihood. But it didn’t really give any ideas on possible occupations.
Many students today are asking classic questions “What do I want to be when I grow up?” and “What do I want to do with my life?” They usually don’t request any help from a guidance counselor. And most role-model adults would suggest the typical career track:
- Go to college
- Get scouted by corporate headhunters
- Interview on campus
- Intern at the company
- Work there full-time with great benefits and a decent pay
- Start the cycle again with the next generation
Most of the time, students want to pursue one of the common careers that we hear about everyday. I can’t count how many times that I’ve heard of somebody wanting to be a nurse, a doctor, a teacher, a lawyer, a computer programmer, an actress, or an engineer. Many times, we don’t get past these highly generalized professions. It’s almost like we didn’t get much past the typical childhood ambition, “I want to be a fireman when I grow up!”
Looking Beyond the Ordinary
Certainly, this career track and these occupations are surefire ways to stability. But most often, people end up working a different job in a different way. I kind of cringe when people say that they want to be a doctor because it is so hard to get into the field, it is extremely expensive, and – annoyingly – most people choose this occupation in the beginning. But if you work hard, you’re loaded with money, and that is your strong passion, by all means go for it.
There are many more career choices than a doctor. How often do you hear of a young person wanting to be
- a corporate headhunter
- a bar owner
- a funeral home makeup artist
- a pharmaceutical drug sales representative
- a porn star !:)!
- a bus driver
- a flight attendant
- a florist
- an escort
- a professional Lego builder
- a food stylist
- an anchorman
- a sound technician
- a loss-prevention district manager
- an entertainment agent
- a security officer
- a hedge fund manager
- an FBI agent
- a congress lobbyist
- or a palm reader
Broaden your horizons! Look past the first-thought professions. Research what else is out there. And choose something more specifics!
Gig
Where do you find out about these jobs? That’s where another book comes in. “Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs” is a compilation book of anecdotes from people in various, sometimes of-the-wall, occupations. Most of the careers that I listed above are in Gig. How come this book is so groundbreaking? Many of us are too lazy or too shy to ask somebody about his or her job let alone request a “shadowing day.” The interviews in Gig are candid and honest. It talks about day-to-day things you never think about happening on the job. You’ll find people in the work force who love their career and other disenfranchised employees that despise their job.
Read this book. It’s both entertaining and informative. It will give you ideas of what else is out there besides a doctor and a fireman. Just remember what Marshall Brain said in his book. Do you what you love. If you’re going to be working 40 hours a week (25% of your time) you might as well be doing something that you are passionate about. Do something that brings value to other people. And remember, it’s not about the money.
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Posted on Thursday, April 5th, 2007
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