Why Career Advice Usually Stinks
You have to accept the fact that you are the only person that can find your career. It’s not up to your mother or grandfather. It’s up to you. So, to find the career for you, you need to listen to yourself. When people need help with a career, they are really saying, “Help! I don’t know who I am!” The only problem is that other people know less about you than you.
Testing
You can take career testing and you might find some trends. It also depends on how you feel that day. If you liked fixing your shoe last week, you might say that you like to repair shoes. However, that doesn’t mean that something else might be more fun. And, it doesn’t mean you will like a repetitive shoe repair job. People have emotions and they change. I may feel like repairing something today and tomorrow feel like going on vacation. Therefore, one day I get a mechanics recommendation and the next travel agent. You can’t figure yourself out by a test that asks do you like this and do you like that.
Counseling
The counselors will simply ask you what your strengths and weaknesses are and give you a test. You are back to square one again. Nevertheless they can sometimes convince you that something is right for you. And, whether it is or not, you leave their office for a few years on the “right path”.
A good counselor does one important thing. It’s called reflective listening. See, because you do not know how to listen to yourself, they repeat it back to you so you can see what you are really saying. So, does that mean you need a counselor? I will say yes if they know how to listen.
One of the greatest thing anyone can do in life is to know themselves. The sad part is that most people don’t really understand who they really are. This makes career counseling very difficult. You are asking someone else to decipher something that few people ever master.
If you really want to know, you better start praying and listening. Get up early, read books, contemplate, and try out stuff. You certainly can’t get there by dreaming.
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