Who could help me make one of the most important decisions of my life?
December 18, 2011 4:57 PM Subscribe
Is there a reliable service that will help me figure out what to do with my life, when it comes to my career?
I would like to find a counselor or a testing service that will point me in the right direction. Preferably on line, and it would be great if it recommended specific post graduate programs for me.
I wouldn't like to fork out more than 100 dollars, but if it's necessary, I could come up with a little bit more than that.
My issues are:
- I don't know myself well enough (skills, likes and dislikes)
- I don't know what my choices are, coming from a science background. I just know I want to do something more humanities related, but with numbers, if that makes sense. Like a mixture of statistics and amazonian indigenous tribes, or dendrology and shamanism.
Thank you!
I would like to find a counselor or a testing service that will point me in the right direction. Preferably on line, and it would be great if it recommended specific post graduate programs for me.
I wouldn't like to fork out more than 100 dollars, but if it's necessary, I could come up with a little bit more than that.
My issues are:
- I don't know myself well enough (skills, likes and dislikes)
- I don't know what my choices are, coming from a science background. I just know I want to do something more humanities related, but with numbers, if that makes sense. Like a mixture of statistics and amazonian indigenous tribes, or dendrology and shamanism.
Thank you!
Best answer: The career counseling office at your college may do this for free, even for recent alumni.
I think, though, if you don't know yourself well enough, the best/only thing to do is to get out there and try stuff and talk to people. Your first job doesn't have to be the beginning of your career. I pursued one career for a few years and left it because although it seemed perfect for me on paper, I just didn't like it. I got into a related field (that I thought I would hate, btw) because I managed my career transition badly and needed a job fast, and it turned out to be a much better fit than I ever would have dreamed.
All this to say, I don't think there's a test you can take that will tell you which direction to go. All it can do is narrow the field a bit.
Also, try not to get bogged down into getting the right job. Very few people have their dream jobs. Most people just manage to find something to like (or love) about the jobs we have and channel the interests that the job doesn't satisfy into hobbies.
One thing you might consider, with a number/science background, is getting an MBA with a concentration in health care. Some places will take you right out of school, but if you aren't sure what you want to do yet, I wouldn't invest in the MBA until you've had a few years of experience in the field (also, if you are lucky, your employer may foot some or all of the tuition).
posted by elizeh at 7:50 PM on December 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
I think, though, if you don't know yourself well enough, the best/only thing to do is to get out there and try stuff and talk to people. Your first job doesn't have to be the beginning of your career. I pursued one career for a few years and left it because although it seemed perfect for me on paper, I just didn't like it. I got into a related field (that I thought I would hate, btw) because I managed my career transition badly and needed a job fast, and it turned out to be a much better fit than I ever would have dreamed.
All this to say, I don't think there's a test you can take that will tell you which direction to go. All it can do is narrow the field a bit.
Also, try not to get bogged down into getting the right job. Very few people have their dream jobs. Most people just manage to find something to like (or love) about the jobs we have and channel the interests that the job doesn't satisfy into hobbies.
One thing you might consider, with a number/science background, is getting an MBA with a concentration in health care. Some places will take you right out of school, but if you aren't sure what you want to do yet, I wouldn't invest in the MBA until you've had a few years of experience in the field (also, if you are lucky, your employer may foot some or all of the tuition).
posted by elizeh at 7:50 PM on December 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I used a book called What Color is Your Parachute?. I second what elizeh mentioned about trying new things and seeing how they fit with you-- you'll never know until you try. Career counselors can help hone you in on your skills, but they can't create a position, job, etc for you. The book might help save you $$ and also help to organize your thoughts and passions and steer you in the right direction.
posted by melizabeth at 5:24 AM on December 19, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by melizabeth at 5:24 AM on December 19, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Oh, yeah, what melizabeth says is a really good cost-effective approach. I used What Color...? in my early 20s and honestly, it was incredibly helpful and I still draw on it today. It was clarifying. But I usually put in a plug for the accompanying workbook, which distills a lot of the discussion in the book into easy and fun-to-complete exercises which help you reflect on your life and skills and interests, prioritize the ones you most enjoy doing, classify them in terms of career possibilities, and make concrete plans to pursue them.
posted by Miko at 8:20 AM on December 19, 2011
posted by Miko at 8:20 AM on December 19, 2011
Best answer: The university careers advisor that I saw (note: I'm in the UK) told me to use this website, Prospects. They have a section called 'What jobs would suit me?', where you answer a bunch of questions about your skills and interests, and it lists types of jobs that you might be interested in, with quite a lot of information about what the jobs involve and what the entry requirements are and so on. A lot of the specific information is UK focused, but it may still give you some ideas of what jobs to consider. You have to register with the site to use it, but it's free.
posted by maybeandroid at 12:34 AM on December 20, 2011
posted by maybeandroid at 12:34 AM on December 20, 2011
Response by poster: You guys, thank you. I am requesting that book from my library, and we'll see. Unfortunately, my school is in South America, plus it didn't offer counseling! So I will have to figure this out on my own.
You have given me a lot to work with. As usual, thank you!
posted by Tarumba at 6:55 PM on December 21, 2011
You have given me a lot to work with. As usual, thank you!
posted by Tarumba at 6:55 PM on December 21, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
I can't answer your question about services. I know a little about career counseling, but face-to-face only, and more expensive.
However, I will say that you have the exact interests and perhaps skill set of a program evaluator. Evaluators work in all kinds of humanities-related fields - education, social work, museums (that's where I interface with them) and they are at the intersection you describe - great with numbers, good at data collection and analysis, methodical but like people and want to do something meaningful. Just throwing it out there.
posted by Miko at 7:37 PM on December 18, 2011