Digging Up a Career's Downsides
Uncomfortable about approaching people you don't know? No need to be. Haven't you ever stopped a stranger on the street and asked for directions? Asking for career advice is no more of an imposition. Some people might be crabby and beg off. But most people like to talk about their careers. And by reading up in advance, you'll sound informed.
Here are some questions that might help dig out the dirt about a career, as well as its delights:
– Would you walk me through your own experience in this career, from your training through today?
– What should I know about this field that might not appear in print?
– Are there particularly desirable and undesirable ways to get trained?
– Does this field have particularly desirable and undesirable niches?
– Why might a person leave this field?
Step 3: Try. There's no better way to assess if you'll really like a career than by experiencing it firsthand. Here's the easiest approach: Ask people in that career if you can watch them at work for an hour or two. Identify candidates just as you did in Step 2.
After that, if the career still excites you, consider taking an internship or job in which you get to work with people in that career.
How do you know when you've done enough career snooping? When you can answer yes to all four of these questions: Do you believe you will:
–Get into a good training program for this career?
–Get hired in this career?
–Be good at it?
–Enjoy the work?
If so, congratulations. You've found your career!
More from the College Grad's Career Kit:
• Commencement Clichés, Debunked
• Eight Ways to Thrive at Your New Job
• The Case Against Grad School
• How to Start a Business ... When You're 22
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