After speaking to many college graduates and reading many
articles about career paths that college graduates are entering, one
thing stands out above the rest.
I haven't heard one person say that the career they have chosen is something they feel passionate about. Instead, I hear them talk about an emerging industry or that the pay is good, or that the job market in those areas is good.
What many people don't realize is that the job market changes according to the economy. A career may be in high demand today but it may be like a sinking ship five or ten years from now.
Careers that look promising today, may not be valued five or ten years from now or they may be flooded with applicants as qualified, or more qualified, than you. But, even more significant, is the fact that with technology moving at warp speed, the very jobs that look so secure and promise fantastic wages, may be replaced by newer and more efficient methods, and your job may become obsolete.
Over the last several decades, people have had more opportunities to get into jobs they love and feel passionate about after graduation, but they don't seem to go that route. And, this alone, will probably explain why, in later years, they will feel depressed, unappreciated and undervalued in their job.
These are the kinds of people who will work to pay the bills but count the years until they retire, at which time, they will still not love anything about their life.
I always tell my clients to find something they feel passionate about and I'll help them find a way to make money doing it. And what do I hear in return? "I don't know what I feel passionate about."
If you don't know what you feel passionate about during your college years, when are you going to discover what gives meaning to your life?
This is more than just asking yourself what you'd like to be when you grow up. It's not necessarily gearing you up for choosing a career. It's about what animates you, excites you. It's about what makes your juices flow.
Find that passion and you will have a career that you love and that supports you in the toughest economy. If it takes a degree, go for it. If there isn't a field for it, make one. If there isn't a name for what you feel passionate about, give it a name. But, most of all, find it and make it your life's work.
I haven't heard one person say that the career they have chosen is something they feel passionate about. Instead, I hear them talk about an emerging industry or that the pay is good, or that the job market in those areas is good.
What many people don't realize is that the job market changes according to the economy. A career may be in high demand today but it may be like a sinking ship five or ten years from now.
Careers that look promising today, may not be valued five or ten years from now or they may be flooded with applicants as qualified, or more qualified, than you. But, even more significant, is the fact that with technology moving at warp speed, the very jobs that look so secure and promise fantastic wages, may be replaced by newer and more efficient methods, and your job may become obsolete.
Over the last several decades, people have had more opportunities to get into jobs they love and feel passionate about after graduation, but they don't seem to go that route. And, this alone, will probably explain why, in later years, they will feel depressed, unappreciated and undervalued in their job.
These are the kinds of people who will work to pay the bills but count the years until they retire, at which time, they will still not love anything about their life.
I always tell my clients to find something they feel passionate about and I'll help them find a way to make money doing it. And what do I hear in return? "I don't know what I feel passionate about."
If you don't know what you feel passionate about during your college years, when are you going to discover what gives meaning to your life?
This is more than just asking yourself what you'd like to be when you grow up. It's not necessarily gearing you up for choosing a career. It's about what animates you, excites you. It's about what makes your juices flow.
Find that passion and you will have a career that you love and that supports you in the toughest economy. If it takes a degree, go for it. If there isn't a field for it, make one. If there isn't a name for what you feel passionate about, give it a name. But, most of all, find it and make it your life's work.
Connie H. Deutsch is an internationally known business consultant
and personal advisor who has a keen understanding of human nature and
is a natural problem-solver.
