How not to be anal about finding a good career

June 23, 2007 3:09 AM

How to stop obsessing about the perfect career? Trying to choose between becoming a librarian or speech pathologist.

I'm looking for some help in trying to decide between two different careers--basically, becoming a librarian or a speech pathologist. I've been doing the whole informational interview/talking to a career counsellor and getting tested/reading up on the fields bit, but I'm still nervous and just vaguely dissatisfied with everything (my counsellor had told me I'm too hung up on finding the perfect, ideal career, and she may be right). I did my undergrad in English (with a stint in pharmacy, which was not my cup of tea), and I'm a little leery of jumping into yet another health profession (although the idea of helping people is appealing). On the other hand, I love books, but I'm not that fond of computers.

What helped you decide on your career? My passion actually lies elsewhere (and I can't seriously consider making a living from that at the moment), so I can't use passion as a leveraging factor. I'd love any stories or just advice you wish you'd been given early on about choosing a career that's right for you--or maybe how not to obsess so much about the "perfect" one. I tend to take my work seriously and put a lot of myself into what I do, though I know work doesn't need to define my life. Anything on being a librarian or speech pathologist would be awesome too!

Thanks!

posted by elisynn to work & money (19 comments total)

To be both cliched and blunt, get a job. The world is littered with theoretically perfect career plans (including several of mine) that failed due to unforeseen realities. You'll have a much better read on both potential career paths if you can compare them with your current job, and you may find other paths that you're more passionate about.
posted by backupjesus at 3:38 AM on June 23, 2007

Have you ever worked in a library? I hope this doesn't sound dismissive, but the job requirements are a LOT more extensive than just a love of books. If at all possible, get a job in a library, or just volunteer in your local public library, so that you can see what we do up close. There are lots of web sites like becomealibrarian.org that offer insights, but I think after a few months of being in a library every day you'll know for certain whether it's right for you. Then you can look for an MLS program near you (yes, a Master's degree is a requirement to be a professional librarian nowadays) that fits your schedule and interests. But don't make a decision until you've worked somewhere for a little while.

And remember, you'll most likely change jobs or even careers several times over your life, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. View each new work experience as a learning opportunity and you'll be fine.
posted by arco at 3:55 AM on June 23, 2007

Seconding arco regarding libraries.
Also check out this thread.
posted by needled at 4:34 AM on June 23, 2007

Can your counselor set up work experience, or shadowing? My company has been hosting high school students to spend a week 'on the job', in a combination of informational interviews, watching people work, sitting in on some of our meetings, and actually doing some of the work that doesn't require training. I doubt anyone left with a burning passion to work in insurance, but I'm sure they realized whether or not they'd be happy here, which the standard job interview process after graduation wouldn't have told them.

About your two specific choices, the one thing that strikes me about both is that they both involve working with the public. Do you *like* the public? I don't, which is why I am quite happy crunching numbers in my current job. I could probably be content in just about any industry so long as I was doing more technical work than people work. And there are plenty of people who are the reverse. Figure out which you are, and let that be the first criteria in narrowing down jobs. An extrovert stuck in an introvert's job will be miserable, and vice versa, regardless of the actual job title.

Oh, and don't take your career so seriously. Once you have a family, it will just be the place you go between weekends that pays the bills. What you'll want then is a job that you are good at, that pays well, and that doesn't make you miserable. Most of us manage two out of three.
posted by happyturtle at 4:35 AM on June 23, 2007

My advice to anyone entering the workplace these days is to not get hung-up on defining a specific career.

As has been pointed out, you will probably change jobs (if not whole careers) multiple times over your lifetime. Many (most?) of those changes will probably not be of your own accord and therein lies the whole reason not to get deeply attached to a particular direction so early in your life. There are simply too many vagaries in the workplace today. And trying to stay motivated or interested in a career that is undergoing a huge amount of volatility can prove to be quite soul-sucking.

I assume you are relatively young. I suggest you take the job that offers the greatest potential for real learning and intellectual challenge (if such things motivate you, of course) and get as much from it as you can. But allow yourself enough breathing room to be able to investigate other potential directions.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:59 AM on June 23, 2007

I'm a speech pathologist. I settled on it for two reasons...

1. I could help people without seeing blood (and remember, even if you don't like health professions you can always work in a school!)

2. The demand for SLPs is excellent

I like the idea of job shadowing, but if that doesn't help you decide I'd go with the field that has more of a chance that you'll be able to get a job after graduation.

For what it's worth, I've never regretted my decision to become an SLP.

Good luck!
posted by christinetheslp at 5:11 AM on June 23, 2007

I'm a teacher who has worked in a self-contained special ed school that had numerous SLPs on staff. I'll second what Christine says -- SLPs (and any professional who provide special education services) are a growth industry. On the other hand, I feel like I very often read how the job conditions of librarians are getting more and more miserable.

Also...nthing the idea that you have to try some of this stuff out instead of just theorizing about it. Maybe you could find a way to tutor some kids with learning disabilities in order to get a little bit of a sense of the sort of population you might work with as an SLP?
posted by HeroZero at 5:52 AM on June 23, 2007

Seeing as you don't care which you get:

1) Which is the best paid job?

2) Which has the quickest and/or least costly training?

3) Which offers the best chances of you actually getting employed upon graduation?

For example, here in the UK, friends tell me that being a librarian is a crappy job. Lots of expensive college for a dull job that has a severe ceiling on career advancement—in short, a strict pyramid structure with not enough senior positions. And it's badly paid too, apparently.

So I'd go with the speech thing.
posted by humblepigeon at 7:02 AM on June 23, 2007

to answer your question, it was working and schooling that helped me decide upon my career. but to answer your problem, as to choosing between speech pathology and librarianship, why not do both?

a wicked little secret formula for creating an academic career is the following: PhD (in any subject) + MLS = academic job. (this is what i and a whole bunch of friends from library school did, and we're all pretty happy with how it turned out for each of us!)

now, of course, ymmv, especially with respect to subject matter. in other words, after completing the formula above, it's still easier to find a job if your PhD is in the hard sciences than if your PhD is in the liberal arts.

examine the kinds of schools you'd go to for a post-baccalaureate degree in speech path. those students must do research, no? now, imagine a librarian trained in speech path. and library science. wouldn't that librarian bring much value to that school?

i'd look into ways to combining these two dream careers, if they're really dreams of yours. you might be surprised at what you find.
posted by deejay jaydee at 8:00 AM on June 23, 2007

The problem is you are equating your self worth with whatever job it is you have. Draw a line down the middle of a sheet of paper and write down the advantages of equating your self worth with your job on the left hand side and the disadvantages of equating your self worth with your job on the right. Repeat as necessary.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:07 AM on June 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Why would anyone want to be a librarian in the age of the internet? Speech pathology is more useful, so do that.
posted by markovich at 9:38 AM on June 23, 2007

Oh my lord - uh, we still have librarians, markovich, because there are still these ancient artifacts that many citizens around the world still have, called, uh, BOOKS. You'll find them in those equally out of date things like 'bookstores' and 'libraries'. Librarians often help us find things on the Internet, too - a lot of them become information architects. To say one profession is more 'useful' than another is pretty silly - or that one should only have a 'useful' job.

elisynn, you mentioned that your "passion actually lies elsewhere" - where does it lie, and why can't you incorporate it somehow into your plans, even on a part-time basis? Ideally one's career should be something one is passionate about on *some* level.
posted by rmm at 10:14 AM on June 23, 2007

I second the idea of going out and working for a while. I thought I wanted to be a teacher who'd freelance write on the side. But I knew I needed a little more volunteer experience. So I got a job in business and decided to do volunteer work at night. I ended up loving my job so much that I never went into teaching. Now I have an MBA and run my own business. This career wouldn't have presented itself if I'd stayed in school.

So, work for a year. See what you like and what you don't like. Set aside money for school. If you are still undecided, you can always take the quicker, richer path -- work for a while, set aside money, and go back for the other degree.
posted by acoutu at 11:24 AM on June 23, 2007

If your passion lies elsewhere, base your decision on how much either plan contributes to doing your passion. Ie, will one or the other make it easier to sock away enough money to "retire" early and just do [art]? Can you [write your novel] while sitting at the reference desk? Can you easily schedule your speech appointments around your [band's touring dates]? Will stress about Joe getting braces or that bookbinding order spill over and usurp time you'd otherwise be spending [grooming the horse for the big show]? Will [updating the library's website] help you learn skills to [put your painting portfolio online]? Make your passion the priority.
posted by salvia at 11:51 AM on June 23, 2007 [3 favorites]

Are you crazy? Go for the one that is not "librarian" every time. Buy a bookcase and fill it up with all the books you love. Join a book club.

I worked in libraries for ten years and I've seen people do this over and over again. They have a qualification in something really good but they get all chicken shit about it and get a job as a drudge at the library. Everytime I saw them they were too depressed to get out. I'd look at them and think "WTF is wrong with you? Get outta here!" They rarely did.
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 3:06 PM on June 23, 2007

Succeeding at work is a matter of choosing something you don't hate to do that the world finds useful enough to pay you for doing. An English undergraduate degree is useful (I have one), but you will probably have to specialize in something in order to realize the benefit of it. Have you considered grad school? If any sort of academic/higher ed career interests you, that's the ticket for admission.

I second the other posters who have said to keep a line between who you are and what you do. Conflating those doesn't help you much. Or it didn't help me, at least, back when I based a lot of my self-worth on my choice of career and job performance. I'm good at what I do for a living--and that helps--but there's more to me, and to you, than what you do for a living.

Get over your computer fear. Computers are a huge part of library work these days. They're also a huge part of teaching, especially in higher education. They are your friend, in all of this. Ever tried doing serious research in the days of card catalogs? It wasn't much fun.
posted by wheat at 3:38 PM on June 23, 2007

Seconding the ideas above that shake out as becoming a librarian/information architect specialising in your secret passion. Get a modern course and try to avoid the "drudge" jobs.

I am not so keen on the "look around a bit" advice -- presumably the need to have a career didn't just come to you suddenly last Wednesday, and you have already taken years to reach this point.
posted by Idcoytco at 3:42 PM on June 23, 2007

rmm (and everyone else)--should have been way more specific about what I love to do, oops--I love to write, but it has to be specifically storytelling and creative writing, and in speculative fiction (ie. the whole fantasy/horror/sci fi bit). And it takes a lot of time to be good enough at it. I can't do journalism or tech writing or a magazine column unless it's the occasional article or such--it'd drive me nuts to turn it into a career. I'd never get any personal writing done.

So, this is more like finding a good day job that would give me the peace of mind to work consistently at what I want, and something I wouldn't mind spending 40 hours a week doing.
posted by elisynn at 6:20 PM on June 23, 2007

How to stop obsessing about the perfect career?

So, this is more like finding a good day job that would give me the peace of mind to work consistently at what I want, and something I wouldn't mind spending 40 hours a week doing.

I think the reason people obsess about finding the perfect career is that they've got conflicting ideas about what "perfect" means. You spend half your time thinking the perfect career is the one that you're passionate about, the one that defines who you are. And you spend the other half of your time thinking that the perfect career is the one that will allow you to pursue your real passion in your free time, without driving you crazy during your 40 hours on the clock. You try to figure out what this perfect career might be, but you're chasing a moving target as your idea of "perfect" flip-flops between these two extremes. Of course you come out feeling confused and unsure and obsessed!

It seems to me that the key to not obsessing is to determine what it is you really want. What do you really mean by "perfect career"? From what you've said, it sounds like you prefer the second option - the job that pays the bills and doesn't drive you crazy. Luckily, that's a much easier thing to find than the career that makes you jump for joy each morning when you show up at the office.

Now, the hard part is figuring out what kind of job won't drive you crazy, but you've gotten plenty of advice here about how to do that - informational interviews, shadowing, volunteer work, self examination, etc. The key is that no job will ever be ideal in all respects; every job will have aspects of it that you don't completely love. If you can come to terms with that, you'll be much happier. Jobs, much like relationships, will quickly make you miserable if you're always on the lookout for something better. At some point you have to decide that you like the job well enough to commit to it, the good parts and the bad. Much more than the tasks required in your job, it's your active decision to be satisfied with that job that really determines whether you will be satisfied.
posted by vytae at 11:12 PM on June 23, 2007