Know Thyself. Get a Job By Doing So

Don’t know what you want to do with your life? Try starting with a list of what you know you don’t want to do. Working backward can make it a lot easier to see the possibilities that are in front of you. With this crazy world we live in, there are so many occupations out there. You, however, are stuck with the task of choosing just one—we’ve already got one. Take your time, and know yourself. Now start writing. I’ll do your first one for you: milk man.

Okay then. Now you have a list of things you absolutely, positively would never want to do. What do all these things have in common? Aside from the obvious turn-offs, really look at what the majority of them have in common. Do they have to do with selling something? Are they creative-minded? Right brained, left brained? They are probably all things you aren’t good at. Create a new list of whatever these attributes are.

Alright. Now that you know a little bit more about yourself and your talents, think about what you might be good at and/or want to do with the rest of your life. Make another list of these types of things. Be creative and don’t limit yourself. Indulge your fantasies.

So now you have all of these lists in front of you. Go through the list of what you could be good at and cross off the ones that would involve things from the attribute list. For example, if you know you are not a people-person and you could never be good at a job where you had to interact face-to-face with people, then cross out all of the items on your list that would have personal interactions with the client as a possibility. Same with selling. If you are not a salesperson, you better make sure all of your choices have no selling involved.

Now you have a revised list of things you A) could be good at, and, B) would actually want to do. The only thing left is a little research. What’s out there that has all of the ingredients of your carefully concocted recipe for a successful employment future? Well don’t look at me, look at your paper!