Cannot decide on career path, what to do???

ora_43

Sun, Jun 28 2020, 9:39 am

A few more thoughts

- given your focus on creativity and interpersonal relationships, I'd be wary of some of the medical-adjacent jobs you mentioned earlier. Eg being an ultrasound tech seems like it wouldn't give you any of what you find most interesting.

- "we can't imagine dishing out more money towards something I can't ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEE I'll stick with" - there are no guarantees in life. Look for either: 1. something that doesn't require a degree at this stage, or 2. a degree that could be useful for a variety of jobs.

- Mostly, look for something you can commit to for the next several years. NOTHING is going to sound good enough to do for the next 40 years, so focus on the next 5-10 years. Worst case scenario, you get a job as a lab tech (just for example), realize you hate it, work as a lab tech just long enough to pay off any school-related debt and save up some money, and then retrain for something else.

- Remember, it's not your job history, so much as your ability to tell a convincing story about it.

Meaning, like, if in 10 years you're sitting opposite a hiring manager saying, "I started off in teaching, but I didn't like that, so then I tried being a lab tech, but I didn't like that either, and then I tried selling baked goods, but it didn't make enough money, so now I'm planning to try work in account management and see if I like that" - that's not going to go so well.

But if you say, "I started off in teaching, which was great for me in a lot of ways because I love working with people. I switched to work as a lab tech for a while because I really enjoy science and I loved the intellectual challenge, but after a while I just missed the interpersonal aspect. I ran my own business for a while, and I found that my favorite part of that was building a relationship with clients and anticipating their needs. So now I'm looking to move away from the more technical aspects of the business and toward something that's really focused 100% on client relationships, because I've found that that's the part I really enjoy and really excel in" - that might work.

Like, yes, look for something you think you'll be interested in for more than a year, because you don't want to jump from one field to another every 3-4 years BUT don't be too afraid of career change, either.