Did you choose your career or did you just happen into it? Many people I work with who report “falling into” a job did so because they couldn’t choose what they wanted to be when they grew up. They had Career FOMO (CaFOMO?), which, annoyingly, lead to no career path at all.
But don’t fret! It’s never too late to change things. Most of us will have professional lives that last or even exceed 50 years (I know, but don’t be scared to read that), so we have decades to invent and reinvent our careers. And remember, you don’t have to choose what you want to do in life, just what you want to do next. You don’t need that ol’ CaFOMO. You can do lots of things! Just not all at once.
So how do you get started? First, really identify what you want: salary, responsibilities, hours, tasks, coworkers. Get really specific here. “I want a job I like” isn’t going to motivate you nearly as much as something that really paints a picture in your head.
Then grab a pen and paper (or whatever works for you) and start brainstorming all the careers that appeal to you. We’re not worried about what’s realistic right now, so go a little crazy. Include things people have told you you’d be good at and things you heard about but don’t understand. Capture it all. (And if you just don’t even know where to start, next week’s post is for you!)
And then walk away. Do something else and don’t think about this info for at least an hour.
After your break, pick your notes back up. What stands out? What makes your heart beat a little faster? Put a star by the things that really appeal to you. If lots of things swim to the top, choose the ones that hold the most interest and maybe star those items twice. You want to get to a manageable number so your next task isn’t so overwhelming.
What is that next step? Research! No, not the boring kind. Grab those top jobs or industries and plug them into sites like O*Net and CareerOneStop. Take notes on each career you look up. Do the tasks track with your interests? Do the salary ranges sound good? Are there barriers to entry? Capture all that information somewhere, and then see if your interest has changed.
Then, taking your top couple areas of interest, pop over to last week’s post about informational interviews and get some of those set up with people in your fields of interest. That will help you get clear on where to focus your attention for your next role.
And who knows? You might wake up in 6 years and decide it’s time to start this whole process again. But you also might not. So just let things unfold as they will. You won’t miss out on anything, so beat that CaFOMO into submission.
