the career meme
Okay, so I did the career quiz that's been going around like wildfire. I don't know what to make of it.
My #1 is le cool-private investigator, which I do think I'd be good at (I briefly but seriously considered being a police officer, but think my contempt for hierarchies would prevent me from thriving in that environment). And there were other legal/government things in there that didn't come as a surprise (judge, mediator, parole officer, criminal attorney, criminologist), plus a handful of healing and service professions (addictions counselor, psychologist, tour guide).
About half of my answers were good ol' blue-collar jobs: pest controller (5), glazier (6), drywaller (11), fast food worker (14), butcher*, plumber, flooring installer, tilesetter, insulator, aesthetician, tailor, and so on. Perhaps I would have been better off not going to college, apprenticing in a trade, using my people skills to satisfy clients, taking pride in working with my hands, which I do like to do but have little skill in (kitchen aside).
Or maybe I should've gone to law school.
Or maybe I shouldn't be afraid of having a job that requires something more of me than my mere presence and skills I can do in my sleep, and that is of true, satisfying interest to me. It's hard to start fresh at this age, though. I've had one new career gone awry already-I don't regret it, but I can't again make the sacrifices that that risk required. Financially, mentally, time. I'm willing to work harder than I am right now (which wouldn't take much) but I'm not willing to sacrifice my health to do so (working in a restaurant at night to gain experience while I copy edited at magazines during the day-I learned a lot, and didn't sleep at all, and had no social life). I like my life. I'd like to change what I do during eight hours a day of it, but I'm not willing to give up what I have during the other sixteen in order to make that change. To a degree, sure, but there's nothing that really excites me enough to want to make those sacrifices. And so: career ennui.
Incidentally, cook was at #25.
Editor was nowhere to be found.
*Coincidentally, I'm taking a knife skills class right now-because, yes, I am not suited for my current job and am exploring the idea of becoming a recipe developer-and the last portion of the class is about deboning poultry and fish, which I've never done and am excited to learn. There may be a butcher in me yet!
My #1 is le cool-private investigator, which I do think I'd be good at (I briefly but seriously considered being a police officer, but think my contempt for hierarchies would prevent me from thriving in that environment). And there were other legal/government things in there that didn't come as a surprise (judge, mediator, parole officer, criminal attorney, criminologist), plus a handful of healing and service professions (addictions counselor, psychologist, tour guide).
About half of my answers were good ol' blue-collar jobs: pest controller (5), glazier (6), drywaller (11), fast food worker (14), butcher*, plumber, flooring installer, tilesetter, insulator, aesthetician, tailor, and so on. Perhaps I would have been better off not going to college, apprenticing in a trade, using my people skills to satisfy clients, taking pride in working with my hands, which I do like to do but have little skill in (kitchen aside).
Or maybe I should've gone to law school.
Or maybe I shouldn't be afraid of having a job that requires something more of me than my mere presence and skills I can do in my sleep, and that is of true, satisfying interest to me. It's hard to start fresh at this age, though. I've had one new career gone awry already-I don't regret it, but I can't again make the sacrifices that that risk required. Financially, mentally, time. I'm willing to work harder than I am right now (which wouldn't take much) but I'm not willing to sacrifice my health to do so (working in a restaurant at night to gain experience while I copy edited at magazines during the day-I learned a lot, and didn't sleep at all, and had no social life). I like my life. I'd like to change what I do during eight hours a day of it, but I'm not willing to give up what I have during the other sixteen in order to make that change. To a degree, sure, but there's nothing that really excites me enough to want to make those sacrifices. And so: career ennui.
Incidentally, cook was at #25.
Editor was nowhere to be found.
*Coincidentally, I'm taking a knife skills class right now-because, yes, I am not suited for my current job and am exploring the idea of becoming a recipe developer-and the last portion of the class is about deboning poultry and fish, which I've never done and am excited to learn. There may be a butcher in me yet!