Does my perfect career exist?
Today's post is brought to you by: My Shower Thoughts. They're Random.
One of the soundtracks constantly playing in the background of my mind, much like elevator music (read: who's in charge of that? I've always been curious), is what I want to do as my career. Although it may seem like I'm late to the party, I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do with the rest of my life for the last 5 years. Coincidentally that time frame matches up perfectly with when I started my first post-college job.
Though I've been working for a short period of time, I've done a variety of jobs and thankfully, I didn't hate them all. The problem is that I've enjoyed certain parts about all of them. As a little background, I have done the following jobs since I began working at the age of 17.
- IT Help Desk Technician (x4)
- Residential Life Assistant
- Cyber Security Analyst (This sounds fancy, but I was an intern for just a few months and the best part was the free bagels on Monday)
- Veterinarian Assistant
- Account Manager
- Fitness Instructor
- Technical Writer (What I do currently)
Out of these jobs these are the 3 I've liked the most and what I like about them:
Veterinarian Assistant - I got to do activities that required me to follow specific steps and make follow-up calls to the owners of pets after their visits. This appealed to my need to have specific instructions to follow when doing something.
Fitness Instructor - I loved the exercise and enjoyed curating playlists for each class. I also really enjoyed leading people through a class and cheering them on. This appealed to my social side.
Technical Writer - I have a lot of autonomy with my schedule and don't have to rely on others for work to do. I also get to start and finish work when I want since I'm not beholden to clocking in and out. This appeals to my desire for freedom and designing my own schedule.
So out of the stuff that I like from each of these jobs, my theory is that my dream career is hiding in the nooks and crannies. When I break it down, what I want from my career seems to be:
The ability to call the shots
Some way to express myself creatively.
The opportunity to do something that helps people improve themselves or make their day brighter.
Cool. So I know what I want to do...how do I get there? To be continued!
Me @ You:
Last 3 posts