Interview

Likely you’re not the first person to pursue this calling. Find others that have gone before you. You’ll

be surprised at the amount of connections you have directly or indirectly that work in a variety of fields that you’re interested in. An in-person interview is best but there are hundreds of blogs that detail the day-to-day life for occupations ranging from companies like Intel to Target. Most of your connections work for companies you’ve never heard of doing interesting things. Contrary to public opinion, adults LOVE to talk about themselves and their journey if for nothing else but to warn the next generation about their mistakes. Get to know the interviewee as a person to understand if you would respond to their experiences in the same way. As a junior in high school, I interviewed all my uncles and I still recall those conversations that shaped my career exploration process. In hindsight, I wish I would have interviewed more people even from professions that I didn’t think I was interested in.

Sample Interview

Intern

If the interview was promising, ask if you can try it out first hand. Job shadow for a day, work for free, pay them, whatever it takes it’ll be worth it to know if this is for you. It’ll save you in the long run.

Place a much higher priority on jobs that will develop you for potential careers over the traditional summer jobs.  You may not make as much money in the short-term but it’ll pay off big time in the long-run.  Personally, in college I had an internship abroad that paid $1.43 per hour that I’m still reaping the benefits from.

Acquire Relevant Skills

This Career Cluster Interest Survey is a great way to discover what

activities would develop skills related to your interested field. Click on Get Started and once you have your results, select a Career Cluster. Review the list of options to get more exposure.  Another way to get a better sense of career options within a general field is to click on the Pathways in this Cluster.

Volunteer

Other opportunities abound to develop your calling and utilize your skills. A quick search at a volunteer website such as Christian Volunteering, or an article highlighting the top ten volunteer abroad opportunities or other sites like VolunteerMatch.org and idealist.org will reveal lots of options. For those with degrees, domestic options like AmeriCorp and international options like  Peace Corps or JVC are available.

At this point, you are likely pursuing multiple options and practical experience is the quickest way eliminate poor fits or solidify your favorite choice. Based on the feedback from the interviews and a real world check, you may be ready to invest in your future.

Invest

This could be with time and/or money to continue to develop your calling and obtain competency in

the field you’re interested in. Only invest monetarily what you could reasonably expect to return from it. Total student loan debt at graduation should be no more than the borrower’s annual starting salary. This rule of thumb may require that you seek more cost-effective way to gain skills or credibility in your field.  For example, liberal arts degrees could be pursued at a community college and public universities rather than expensive private institutions. i.e. If you’re interested in being a teacher then you probably wouldn’t want to pursue that degree at Harvard.  Also, through the Interview and Intern steps or self-education you may achieve the technical skills needed.  i.e.  For example, some of the best artists, photographers and musicians were self-taught, had an apprenticeship and/or practiced to  develop expertise without a formal degree.

Maximize your Educational ROI

There are several great ways to test the waters without the big financial commitment of college. MOOC (massive open online courses) give you access to an Ivy League education for free or on the cheap if you want a certificate. This article outlines which MOOC provider could be best for you (scroll to the bottom to get the summary table and recommendations). iTunes U also is great resource to audit college classes for free or explore your prospective field at your pace.

If you’re trying to pursue multiple careers in a parallel path to discern over time or you are attempting the Best of Both Worlds approach (one career for income, another career for satisfaction),  distinguish between careers that require a college degree or technical certificate versus careers that be self-developed.  Invest more monetarily in careers that have hard requirements.  These careers are typically technical in nature such as science, medicine, engineering, information technology or required advanced degrees as lawyers and professors. Limit your  investments in careers that have soft requirements such as the performing arts- music, art, photography- in which a degree isn’t required unless you’re teaching them in an accredited institution. It’s ok to get a degree in these fields, just be conscious of the investment required versus the income expected.

Investment Takes Time to Pay Off

If you decide to invest in a general degree such as business or communications make sure you spend extra time on the Intern step to start developing some specialized skills.  For example, I pursued a Business Management degree but the reality is that no company is going to let a 22 year old kid manage their business without real world experience. So I had to invest extra in personal development through several part-time jobs and internships in which I gained practical skills in project management, data analysis and facilitation that translated into my first real job.  These were valuable skills that weren’t available in a formal academic setting.

Nuance over Novelty

After investing in a variety of foundational skills, make sure you pursue expertise in your chosen field. It’s easy to be attracted some new interest but if you want to be valuable as an expert you’ll need to master the art of finding excitement in the everyday task of becoming better and deeper in your field.  That’s the secret of high achievers according to Anders Ericsson, author of the book Peak and the guru of deliberate practice.

Understand the Career Pathways

If you pursue a more specialized field recognize that you’ll likely either become more specialized or manage specialists.  For example, you might study Computer Information Systems in college but in the field your first job is in application development and you get really acquainted with programming in SQL.  So over the long-term you likely have two options for growth; you’ll become the Subject Matter Expert in SQL or manage the SQL developers.  Scroll up to the Intern section and explore the Career Clusters and Pathways.

Check out the College Criteria Matrix to rank which institution meets your needs best.

Internalize

The most important step. You’ll do this before and after the previous three.  Unfortunately most people only do this step, go to school forever and realize all their decisions were based o n the hypothetical. Take time to assess and reflect on the interviews and experiences. Interviewing others and trying out roles first hand make this step much easier. 

1. 1. (1)Ground your decisions in prayer, such as Ignatian Spiritual Exercises.  Outlined here is The Examen, a simple daily reflection.  For those for need more guidance or you’re on the go, check out these great audio Examens by Pray-As-You-Go or find them on SoundCloud.
      

   2. (2)Question your motives. If your personal mission is successful, so what? What’s the outcome? What do you want your legacy to be? See One Sentence Summary.
      

   3. (3)Did you reject your passion based on financial considerations? If it’s truly your calling, money and time investment is secondary. It’s not just how much you make, it’s how much you spend. A teacher may only start at $30k/yr but it’s possible to keep your expenses below that depending on what tradeoffs you’re willing to make (as a family of two we spent $24k/yr for several years living in rural America). If you’re creative and you desire it, your lifestyle doesn’t have to be a constraint on your calling. This website has practical advice for how to trim costs in each major cost category. Also see Dave Ramsey to get your financial house in order.
      

   4. (4)Utilize the WRAP process to double check your decision making.
      

   1. Widen your options- understand yourself and check out careers that fit your personality type.
      

   2. Reality Test- interviews, internships
      

   3. Attain Distance- bounce ideas off trusted friend or good contrarian. What will this decision look like in 10 years? See the Life Phases page to see scenarios of how different people have tried to balanced their skills, satisfaction and style.
      

   4. Prepare to be wrong- Some talented people might struggle paring down their passion to one thing especially early in their life.  It doesn’t have to be a this OR that situation. It could be a this AND that situation. If both fields are technical then a double major could take just another year.  If you have multiple passions, likely they can be developed on parallel paths.  Unless you want to teach, many creative passions (such as photography, music, art) can be self-taught or developed through a mentor relationship without a formal education requirement.
      

   5. (5)First things first. How does my personal mission satisfy Jesus’ 2 commandments?
      

2. 

   
   

6. (6)How does it satisfy the beatitudes directly or indirectly? Jesus, The Life Coach tells us to:
   

7. feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty
   

8. clothe the naked, shelter the homeless
   

9. visit the sick, visit the imprisoned and bury the dead.
   

7. (7)The Life Coach reminds us to not only take care of the physical needs of their neighbors but also their spiritual needs.  He tells us to:
   

1. counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant
   

2. admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted
   

3. forgive offenses, bear wrongs patiently and pray for the living and the dead.
   

8. Congratulations! You’ve made it to the end of the Discern phase.  This phase can take awhile so give yourself plenty of time to interview people who may hold your dream job, get real world experience via internships and invest in your educational and professional development.  Most importantly allow time to internalize all these experiences and remember why you’re pursuing your Personal Mission.
   

Part 6: Personal Mission- Decide