What do you want to be when you grow up?
When little children are asked this question they might come up with the usual suspects – teacher, doctor, nurse, firefighter. Some will want to be spacemen or fairies. One little chap in a local nursery said he wanted to be a dinosaur but I am not sure he really had the hang of what he was being asked.
Jump forward and ask teenagers in secondary school this and there will still be some who are sticking to their original plans, others might have moderated them slightly and still more will shrug and respond with “no idea”. When making study choices – those with a career plan should be clear. For others this is likely to be a lot more vague.
Moving forward again to graduates from college or university hitting the job market. Where does that leave those with the previously unplanned career path?
With their whole lives ahead of them and with time to try out different jobs and develop skills and recognise their talents. But just as this might sound like a great plan ( or lack of it…) most young people have to start earning a living to at least pay of student debts never mind set up in their own place, buy a car etc. And getting onto that first step can be such a challenge in 2010 - but it is just the first step.
For the more grey haired amongst us though who might grumble about Generation Y approach let me ask this question -
Are you doing now what you said you would when you were little?
If not how did you end up doing what you are doing now?
Did this take you back? Is it making you smile – or cringe???
Now think some more. Is what you do now what you started out doing in your very first job? Even if you have a profession – eg lawyer, accountant, teacher - are you doing now what you were doing then? Do you now have managment responsibilities? Are you using new technology?
Here’s yet another question -
If money was no object would you do what you do now for the rest of your working life?
Lots of people love what they do for a living ( far more than we think). . They may have started out with a clear idea of what that would be but there is a fair chance that they didn’t. For most of them they tried out different things to get there.
So if you don’t love what you are doing now why not go back to the kindergarten question
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” – there is still time!
Jackie,
I have no idea what I want to do when I grow up.
For now, I’m perfectly happy where I am.
Any other questions?
-A-
Totally agree. Some of us are still trying to find out what we want to be.
The whole range of opportunities opened to the current student populace gives them that flexibility and unless you are doing something like medicine you need to know quite clearly.
One of my bugbears about university though (in my experience) is the lack of emphasis placed on work experience. I think that sandwich courses should be standard fare for most students so they can get a flavour of working outside of academia.
Great post as always
As one of the gray-haired (who never grumbles about Gen Y), my answer is that, “Yes, I’m doing what I wanted to do when I was a child.” That did not happen in straight lines or neat plans and it surely didn’t turn out the way I imagined. That was the fun of it. I suspect it will continue to be the fun of it,too.
You prove my point then…you are happy doing what you are doing now! Thinking of my next question!!!
You make a great point – as always! In my experience we forget to or undervalue what we learn through doing – at work, in education, whilst having fun. Workplacement – timed well – can give students a chance to do what they are learning about. At Edinburgh Napier most of the students I am working with are studying while working and they are assessed on their Work Based Learning. …and they are learning a lot about themselves in the process.
Thank you for chipping in
Thanks for sharing that Wally. You know when I was at school I wanted to be a teacher. I was even accepted by Edinburgh University to do a BEd but realised that I was neither ready to do that ( at 17) nor sure that was the right road for me anyway. Fast forward 35 years and here I am spending a lot of time running workshops. Though I am not teaching -I realise I am playing to my strengths. It took me a while…. and I love it!
And like you I am having fun!
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Great post, Jackie. Been working on this question a lot in the last year and among many books that I’ve read or dipped into, Maria Shriver’s lovely Just Who Will You Be? stands out, a reflection on her time as the new-ish First Lady of California when she found herself out of TV journalism and unsure of her future role.
Like so many women in midlife, Maria Shriver discovered that she needed to figure out what her next job should be but also who she should be. “Most importantly I will try to live an authentic life that feels true to me – which means living life as myself, not an imitation of anyone else, and not the reflection of myself in anyone else’s eyes. Above all else, I will be a work in progress, because when I told my daughter ‘I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up’ I meant it.”
So much truth in your conclusion, Jackie, “there is still time”. Sitting down this month, at the great age of 45, to write a Pledge to myself about who I want to be and then determined that the what will follow. Good luck to everyone who also finds themselves back in the Kindergarten in later life – it’s not such a bad place to be!
Thank you for sharing this lovely story Fiona and what a great example you are to others who might have given up:-) I am so looking forward to hearing how it goes!
I’m not even doing what I thought I would be doing two years ago, let alone what I projected oh so long ago as a child. For me the question has transformed from “What do I want to do when I grow up?” into “What will I do next?”
Maybe I’ve been touched by the spirit of Peter Pan, but truth is growing up seems to have been put off so long that I’m not sure I want to wait till then for the next big thing.
What a great way to look at it Fred. And it is accepted that this is the way that Gen Yers will approach their career…but hey – we got there first!
Thanks for sharing.
I grew up in the heyday of Gemini then Apollo, so like every other red blooded American boy, I wanted to be an astronaut. Decades later, my feet remain on the ground.
HR came into my life early on. Only then, it was Ham Radio. Which led to my Air Force career in radio maintenance and beyond. But not into the wild blue yonder of space.
My Air Force career led me back to HR. This time Human Resources.
When money becomes no object, I will expand my freelance photography efforts. Until then…..
I can always rely on you to tell an illuminating story – thanks for sharing that one