CAREER OPTIONS: Expand Your Horizons
Don't know what you want to do for a
living? You're not alone: thousands of
students at Cal State Fullerton don't have a clue
what they want to do after they graduate. And
those that think they do often find themselves
doing things they never imagined. Still others
discover that they don't enjoy the career they
worked so hard to achieve. So why plan
ahead now? Because there are rewarding and
valuable career paths that you may well find very
personally rewarding. We human beings find great
satisfaction in work--but only when the job not
only meets our economic needs, but engages our
intellect, employs our creativity, and requires
responsibility. Here's the good news: there are
lots of jobs out there like that.
Three things to keep in mind:
1. You are living in a very complex
society. It may go without saying, but the
social organization of our economic and cultural
life is very complex. Whether it is the
government, the world of commerce, or the realm
of science, there is an almost incomprehensible
array of complex interactions and dependencies
between various parts of this vast machine.
On the one hand, this can be very overwhelming
and daunting, but on the other hand, this
complexity demands a great deal of specialization.
That specialization requires individuals in niche
roles performing specialized tasks.
Again, this specialization has a downside,
mainly that it is easy to be alienated from the
larger whole, but there is also an upside: opportunities
are almost endless. We are not living in an
agrarian society where there is a small number of
conceivable social roles one could occupy. Given
the wealth of contemporary American society, the
basic freedoms we enjoy, and the complexity of
our social world, there are a vast array of
possible careers options for you to choose among.
That's good news: it means that quite possibly
you can do what you love and get paid for doing
it.
2. Most careers options are invisible.
Most of us have only a surface knowledge of the
workings of society, seeing a façade projected
by the media. We have limited in-depth experience
of any one sector of society, and consequently
only see the public part of an enterprise. We see
the actors on the stage, but not the stage hands,
the directors, the set decorators, the script
writers, the make-up artists, the publicity
persons, the musicians, the investors, the
insurance agents, and so forth. There are
vastly more possibilities for employment than you
have ever imagined.
3. Finally, we also live in a very competitive
society. For better or worse, part of the
driving force behind the complexity of our
contemporary world is the competitiveness between
individuals for positions of wealth and prestige.
Regrettably, much of this is tied to the
consumerism of our culture, but it is not all
bad. Competition helps us to do our personal best
and to overcome seemingly insurmountable
obstacles--and there's no shame in reaching your
potential.
Whether you are competitive or not, other
persons most certainly are. This means one thing:
you need to do your best. This can be done
without 'defeating' other persons or 'trampling
underfoot' interpersonal cooperation. Your best
strategy is to pledge to do your personal
best--not simply because it will open career
goals, but also because you will find it
intrinsically rewarding and fulfilling.
Top of Page
|
