Breadcrumbs

When I question whether this is the right career for me, I sometimes look back on my life and it's striking how I seem to be preparing for this job my whole life.  I mean, it certainly never seemed clear to me through high school and college.  I felt like I was flying blind on my first professional job search, "Marketing and public relations, that sounds good, I'm a people person."  And it turned out I was incredibly well-suited for it, a fact that I was clueless about but my mentors saw clearly.

Looking through the papers I inherited from my mother, I found some evidence of the groundwork laid for this career:

• My first publication, a newsletter for my junior high school
• A journal from my eighth-grade internship with a "advertising agent."  Actually, she seemed to be a work-at-home, freelance creative director.

In ninth grade and again in the 11th grade, I wrote for the school paper.

The thing that is a bit questionable about this line of thinking is that I don't believe there is ONE right career (just like I've said I don't believe in One True Love or One Perfect Baby).  There are a number of possible options that can match your abilities and skills. Take a look at this list of possible careers for ENFJ.  Of those, my current career has encompassed: Writer, event coordinator, manager, and consultant.  It was actually my first mentors who had me Myers-Briggs tested, and it really helped my sense that it was a good career path.

But when I think about exploring other options, I consider careers in psychology, social work, clergy, and teaching - all good fits for my personality and character.

Another fun thing from my mom's records is a report card from my fifth-grade teacher:

"K is a bright, articulate and energetic person.  Unfortunately she does not apply herself to her school work with consistent effort that reflects her abilities. If the tasks can be completed without too much of an expenditure of energy, she will do a good job.  She resists having to really work at solving a problem or completing a task."

I think pretty much every teacher from high school and college - and every boss - would say these exact same words about me.   This one doesn't include the comment that was on most of my early report cards: "K needs to stop talking to her classmates."

I'd still pretty much rather just play and hang out with friends than work.  Like I said, I'm a people person.