8 ms·

Evidence on how to find the right career

214 points by robertwiblin 10y ago

cup 10y ago
I think we really need to have a conversation on what "right career" actually means. Case in point. I'm a scientist, working on drug delivery technology. I absolutely love research as a career. What I hate though is the poor pay, non-existant job security, irregular work life balance and cult of self-sacrifice. In retrospect, could I go back 20 years and start again I would have pursued a career with greater job security and pay, less stress and more flexible working conditions. Such jobs include regional train driving, trades-crafts or administration to name a few (in my region). These days I value less my career and more my free time with which I can pursue my hobbies. Subnote: With the advances in automation I think we should also consider whether spending x0,000 hours to become great at a career is really important anymore. Is it ethical to tell someone to sacrifice huge swathes of their time/life for a career that might not exist when they're ready? 2nd Subnote: I want to expand my comment again after finishing the article. I think we need to bear in mind that theres a lot of unspoken assumptions in this guide. For instance, the assumption that theres time to explore possible careers or that one can even trial different careers. A lot of people I know from more difficult backgrounds never had the luxury to try things. They had to make money to support their family so they took what they could get. Alternatively, they never had exposure to other fields so didn't know what was out there anyway. "Finding the right career" is in retrospect an extremely telling phrase about ones socioeconomic and political position.
- robertwiblin 10y ago
  Hi Cup - yes you're right, what people are looking for in their career is complicated and varies by people. This is part four of our career guide; the first article is all about what actually creates job satisfaction: http://80000hours.org/career-guide/job-satisfaction http://80000hours.org/career-guide/job-satisfaction . I think we say everything you said on your comment, and a lot more. While people are varied, there are a few factors identified in the psychological literature that are highly predictive of overall job satisfaction and fulfillment for most of us. :)
  - cup 10y ago
    Do you think It's fair to push idealism over realism on (presumably) young people, where wasting time looking for a 'dream' job might distract from living a happy life with an ordinary/respectable job? I like the intention and amount of work you've invested in this but I can't help but feel uneasy about something.
    - robertwiblin 10y ago
      Hi Cup - our career guide is explicitly focussed on "talented young graduates." We would shift the focus a bit for different audiences (more on financial security for example). Though that's already implicit in our discussion of the point at which money stops increasing happiness. But actually if you read on the career paths we recommend in the career guide involve developing highly practical and marketable skills. We just think that turning those valuable skills towards improving the world will provide people with fulfillment in the long term.
- blazespin 10y ago
  Yeah, the grass is always greener.. I do agree about the bit regarding AI, however.
- BenjaminTodd 10y ago
  Hey there - just adding to Rob's comment: I actually think automation makes it more important to gain strong skills rather than less, because it's increasing inequality. It's just you need to gain transferable skills that are resistant to automation. We go into much more detail here: https://80000hours.org/career-guide/career-capital/ https://80000hours.org/career-guide/career-capital/ I also think it's possible for everyone to take an empirical approach to their career to some degree, but it's certainly true that it's more important if you have more options.
- randomsearch 10y ago
  Speaking from personal experience, I would strongly recommend against seeing a job as income solely and pursuing your passion in your free time. You spend a huge amount of time in your work. We are mostly privileged enough to choose the job we take. Don't stay where you're unhappy. Don't settle for a job you don't find fulfilling.
- tome 10y ago
  > could I go back 20 years and start again I would have pursued a career with greater job security and pay, less stress and more flexible working conditions Why not do this now?
bcherny 10y ago
I like the argument made in So Good They Can't Ignore You, which is in line with this article. Specifically, the author argues that based on studies, people most satisfied with their jobs are not those with a natural aptitudes for their work. Rather, job satisfaction is well predicted by (1) expertise in the given field, (2) quality of coworkers, and (3) freedom to do what you think is right. For me, I'd say this is pretty accurate. Generally, there are a few popular models of job satisfaction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_satisfaction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_satisfaction.
- robertwiblin 10y ago
  Hey bcherny, we also love So Good They Can't Ignore You, and discuss its findings in part 3 of our career guide: https://80000hours.org/career-guide/career-capital/ https://80000hours.org/career-guide/career-capital/ We also interviewed the author of 'So Good' about their latest book just 2 weeks ago: https://80000hours.org/2016/08/is-deep-work-the-most-underappreciated-skill-for-career-success-an-interview-with-cal-newport/ https://80000hours.org/2016/08/is-deep-work-the-most-underap... Here are our extensive thoughts on the job satisfaction literature: https://80000hours.org/career-guide/job-satisfaction https://80000hours.org/career-guide/job-satisfaction . I think it's a pretty fun read. :)
- beachstartup 10y ago
  i can say that the thing that upsets me the most at work is when i can't do what i think is right -- for whatever reason. this is especially true about the things that may have long-term impact, because i know it's going to screw us down the line.
  - cle 10y ago
    I don't know your specific situation, but I've seen others with the same mindset who are actually wrong, e.g. trying to optimise for a hypothetical scenario that is unlikely or whose costs outweigh the benefits...they just don't realize it because they don't have enough context or domain expertise. I'm not saying that's you, but it might be. If you have this trait, you better be right a lot, or nobody will want to work with you.
blazespin 10y ago
This is actually great advice for a startup, as well.
- BenjaminTodd 10y ago
  Yeah, we learned from startup strategy when thinking about career strategy. For more on that: http://www.thestartupofyou.com/ http://www.thestartupofyou.com/
BenjaminTodd 10y ago
Hi everyone, I'm the lead author of the post and happy to answer questions.
abraae 10y ago
This post introduced me to a concept I had never seen before. Not the content though. Instead I'm referring to some new web chicanery with the janky popup that appears when you mouse your mouse off the page in preparation for navigating back. Normally these just invite you to join an email list or whatever. But this one seems to be actually personalized based on referer - I saw "Sorry to do this to you HN.". I had instinctively closed it as always before it struck me this is the first time I've ever seen that. I guess there's some kind of database somewhere of referers, with a groovy customized "sorry you're leaving" phrase for each one?
- cookiecaper 10y ago
  I couldn't get this to fire, even after disabling my ad blocker.
  - robertwiblin 10y ago
    Hey Cookiecaper - yeah there's something going on making our appeals not show for some people. For better or worse I'm trying to fix that. :)
    - dorfsmay 10y ago
      A/B testing?
- neogodless 10y ago
  I'm on mobile, and I was simply scrolling down when I got the pop-up, asking me to subscribe.
rch 10y ago
The only right career is owning a small farm with sufficient output to provide for one's family. Everything else is supplemental.
- f0rfun 10y ago
  I struggle with this. Often, I find myself asking why should the primary purpose of my life be providing for the lives of others? I should spend my life living for myself to the fullest and in so doing, hopefully it enables me to provide for my family and if not, at least I have little regrets. Of course, if I choose to have kids, then this course would alter. I would have to shoulder the responsibility of being my kids' sole provider til they are able to fend for themselves. If I'm married and have taken the vow, then I would abide by my spouse til death do us part. I would also without a doubt, see my aged old parents whom did not managed to save for retirement well into their golden years. All that above is only when I have made the conscious effort to start a family. Otherwise, providing for one's family cannot be the motivator for starting a firm and letting all else - things pertaining to my self-interests and ambitions take a back seat don't seem logical to me at all. I know reality is crushing. I also know I have the power to think and to change things. I will not succumb.
  - robertwiblin 10y ago
    The evidence from postiive psychology is clear that pursuing a goal greater than yourself (that is, trying to help others) is associated with higher levels of happiness and fulfillment, so it's sensible to follow that path even if you are purely selfish: https://80000hours.org/career-guide/job-satisfaction https://80000hours.org/career-guide/job-satisfaction
    - nononosisisi 10y ago
      I guess everybody is different. Having anybody depend on me makes me feel depressed. The only thing that truly makes me happy is working on my own projects. Anything that seriously distracts me from doing this is my enemy. I'm ok with spending a small percentage of my time with family but more than that and I will probably fall into deep a depression followed by a really angry backlash from me. Which is why I will probably never have a family. I don't think I can dedicate them the time they deserve.
peterlk 10y ago
This reminds me of one of my favorite talks of all time[1]. Applied to careers, I take the talk as implying that trying things is the secret. After a certain level of experience in your career, you'll know whether you like it. Branching off of that, it might even be the right thing to do to find a new career. One of the best pieces of advice I have ever received is "successful people do stuff. It doesn't matter what that stuff is, just do stuff and you'll eventually be successful". Some people will be luckier than others, and be successful at their stuff at a higher ratio, but overall, the ratio is about the same, and you just need to keep doing stuff. Also, one of my favorite illustrations/cartoons of all time[2] speaks to this point. Basically, if you pursue the same career for your entire life, you're probably wasting your time. once you have your x,000 hours of work in, do something new where you can cross-apply that knowledge into domains that need it. [1]https://youtu.be/l_F9jxsfGCw https://youtu.be/l_F9jxsfGCw [2]http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2722 http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2722 Edit: sloppy link formatting
- yodsanklai 10y ago
  > Applied to careers, I take the talk as implying that trying things is the secret. After a certain level of experience in your career, you'll know whether you like it. You'll know whether your like it, but it may be too late to change. And some careers require a long initial investment. Let say I graduate in CS/Math at 23 and that I work 3-4 years in a company, is it too late to become an MD? or start a PhD? some people manage to do it but it's difficult.
  - dsacco 10y ago
    I interpret it like so: there are careers which require a very particular training path and careers which do not. Additionally, many training paths are widely applicable to several distinct industries. If you graduate with a degree in math or computer science, you can work in just about any division of tech, you can work in just about any division of finance (maybe not traditional investment banking, but most analyst/trading/quant roles), you can work in certain applications of biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, genetics or other sciences, you can work in many areas of advertising, you can work in many areas of marketing...you could start your own company, you could publish a novel...frankly you could do just about everything other than be a lawyer or a doctor. Writing all this out, it actually sounds like the optimal career path is to get formal education and training in the most difficult or restricted fields, because you'll still have so many options anyway. Then you can cross-pollinate your knowledge in other fields.
sreeharianil 10y ago
Thanks , Dude it was Helpful
lordnacho 10y ago
Well of course exploration would help, but it's often very, very hard to get an opportunity to try something to any depth. Who's going to write a better job application, someone who already knows what the job is about, or a tourist? The advice about keeping your options open is IMO basically advice to do a STEM degree. It is plausible that someone who studied science could read a lot and become a political consultant. It's a lot less plausible that someone who studied politics is going to pick up a book on fluid dynamics and work on formula one cars. Neither should logically be impossible (it's just books after all) but what will most employers' intuition be? Both are small industries where opportunities are limited. What's needed is more transparency. Nothing throughout school or university showed me anything relevant about work. For instance, what salary can you get from various careers? I was left with some leaflets with rough estimates for finance and consultancy. And I had an offer in Engineering. But apart from that, no clue. What would make sense would be if firms got some kind of incentive to let young people come in and have a look. And young people would be sent to do various things, not just the ones they (or their parents) think will be best. I remember one 18 year old intern who somehow knew she wanted to work in investment banking (what she was doing in quantitative finance is a good question).
shanusmagnus 10y ago
I agree with this article 100%, and it makes me sad because that belief comes way too late to be of much use. I'm too damn old and established in various aspects of my life to try a lot of new things (things that are fundamentally and profoundly new to me, I mean) without blowing everything up. And I'm not willing to blow up my life. The simulated annealing that's possible with youth is astounding. I wish I hadn't been so stupid at the time.
- tbihl 10y ago
  I'm committed to my job for about the next six years, having already been in it about five years already. The people are great, the mission is pretty good, and the culture has some strong aspects. Having said that, I'm squirreling away most of my earnings so that I can make a careful step to my next career without needing to rush. It should be another one with pretty good earnings; tack those savings up with the ones from my current job, and the next job, when it comes, can be almost anything, with little regard for level of income. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm staying very conservative in my finances so I can stretch further in other dimensions of life without risk of over extending.
dsfyu404ed 10y ago
Mix things up all you want but finding a good fit early and doubling down on making a career out of it will get you farther down that path. Bouncing around between grad school and different fields (or specializations within a field) is an expensive (mostly in terms of opportunity cost) luxury many cannot afford and many that can afford cannot justify.
lighttower 10y ago
This advice was similar to what I got from my therapist when I was 19 in pre-med at college. I liked physics most, but everyone in my family was in medicine. So my therapist said, go job shadow people who have jobs in each of the fields that you are considering. So I shadowed a respirologist for a day I shadowed and electrical engineering firm that did wiring for department stores and big box stores and I shadowed a satellite engineering and manufacturing company. The respirologist, so very highly paid, was absolutely the worst job I could possibly imagine for myself. The patience that he saw that day, all had elements from manufacturing sector jobs, where their lungs were basically shot. He prescribed a whole bunch of steroids on schedules that the patients didn't understand (most of them did not speak English). It was so depressing. The electrical engineering firm that designed the big box stores, that was super boring to. AutoCAD and sitting at your desk all day long. The one that I like the most was the satellite engineering and Manufacturing Company. So I went into aerospace engineering. Then eventually changed to electrical engineering, but the passion for Aerospace remains. What I wish this article addressed, I was how to refund your career when you're now in your mid-thirties.

214 points by robertwiblin 10y ago

cup 10y ago

I think we really need to have a conversation on what "right career" actually means. Case in point. I'm a scientist, working on drug delivery technology. I absolutely love research as a career. What I hate though is the poor pay, non-existant job security, irregular work life balance and cult of self-sacrifice. In retrospect, could I go back 20 years and start again I would have pursued a career with greater job security and pay, less stress and more flexible working conditions. Such jobs include regional train driving, trades-crafts or administration to name a few (in my region). These days I value less my career and more my free time with which I can pursue my hobbies. Subnote: With the advances in automation I think we should also consider whether spending x0,000 hours to become great at a career is really important anymore. Is it ethical to tell someone to sacrifice huge swathes of their time/life for a career that might not exist when they're ready? 2nd Subnote: I want to expand my comment again after finishing the article. I think we need to bear in mind that theres a lot of unspoken assumptions in this guide. For instance, the assumption that theres time to explore possible careers or that one can even trial different careers. A lot of people I know from more difficult backgrounds never had the luxury to try things. They had to make money to support their family so they took what they could get. Alternatively, they never had exposure to other fields so didn't know what was out there anyway. "Finding the right career" is in retrospect an extremely telling phrase about ones socioeconomic and political position.

robertwiblin 10y ago
Hi Cup - yes you're right, what people are looking for in their career is complicated and varies by people. This is part four of our career guide; the first article is all about what actually creates job satisfaction: http://80000hours.org/career-guide/job-satisfaction http://80000hours.org/career-guide/job-satisfaction . I think we say everything you said on your comment, and a lot more. While people are varied, there are a few factors identified in the psychological literature that are highly predictive of overall job satisfaction and fulfillment for most of us. :)
- cup 10y ago
  Do you think It's fair to push idealism over realism on (presumably) young people, where wasting time looking for a 'dream' job might distract from living a happy life with an ordinary/respectable job? I like the intention and amount of work you've invested in this but I can't help but feel uneasy about something.
  - robertwiblin 10y ago
    Hi Cup - our career guide is explicitly focussed on "talented young graduates." We would shift the focus a bit for different audiences (more on financial security for example). Though that's already implicit in our discussion of the point at which money stops increasing happiness. But actually if you read on the career paths we recommend in the career guide involve developing highly practical and marketable skills. We just think that turning those valuable skills towards improving the world will provide people with fulfillment in the long term.
blazespin 10y ago
Yeah, the grass is always greener.. I do agree about the bit regarding AI, however.
BenjaminTodd 10y ago
Hey there - just adding to Rob's comment: I actually think automation makes it more important to gain strong skills rather than less, because it's increasing inequality. It's just you need to gain transferable skills that are resistant to automation. We go into much more detail here: https://80000hours.org/career-guide/career-capital/ https://80000hours.org/career-guide/career-capital/ I also think it's possible for everyone to take an empirical approach to their career to some degree, but it's certainly true that it's more important if you have more options.
randomsearch 10y ago
Speaking from personal experience, I would strongly recommend against seeing a job as income solely and pursuing your passion in your free time. You spend a huge amount of time in your work. We are mostly privileged enough to choose the job we take. Don't stay where you're unhappy. Don't settle for a job you don't find fulfilling.
tome 10y ago
> could I go back 20 years and start again I would have pursued a career with greater job security and pay, less stress and more flexible working conditions Why not do this now?

bcherny 10y ago

I like the argument made in So Good They Can't Ignore You, which is in line with this article. Specifically, the author argues that based on studies, people most satisfied with their jobs are not those with a natural aptitudes for their work. Rather, job satisfaction is well predicted by (1) expertise in the given field, (2) quality of coworkers, and (3) freedom to do what you think is right. For me, I'd say this is pretty accurate. Generally, there are a few popular models of job satisfaction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_satisfaction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_satisfaction.

robertwiblin 10y ago
Hey bcherny, we also love So Good They Can't Ignore You, and discuss its findings in part 3 of our career guide: https://80000hours.org/career-guide/career-capital/ https://80000hours.org/career-guide/career-capital/ We also interviewed the author of 'So Good' about their latest book just 2 weeks ago: https://80000hours.org/2016/08/is-deep-work-the-most-underappreciated-skill-for-career-success-an-interview-with-cal-newport/ https://80000hours.org/2016/08/is-deep-work-the-most-underap... Here are our extensive thoughts on the job satisfaction literature: https://80000hours.org/career-guide/job-satisfaction https://80000hours.org/career-guide/job-satisfaction . I think it's a pretty fun read. :)
beachstartup 10y ago
i can say that the thing that upsets me the most at work is when i can't do what i think is right -- for whatever reason. this is especially true about the things that may have long-term impact, because i know it's going to screw us down the line.
- cle 10y ago
  I don't know your specific situation, but I've seen others with the same mindset who are actually wrong, e.g. trying to optimise for a hypothetical scenario that is unlikely or whose costs outweigh the benefits...they just don't realize it because they don't have enough context or domain expertise. I'm not saying that's you, but it might be. If you have this trait, you better be right a lot, or nobody will want to work with you.

blazespin 10y ago

This is actually great advice for a startup, as well.

BenjaminTodd 10y ago
Yeah, we learned from startup strategy when thinking about career strategy. For more on that: http://www.thestartupofyou.com/ http://www.thestartupofyou.com/

BenjaminTodd 10y ago

Hi everyone, I'm the lead author of the post and happy to answer questions.

abraae 10y ago

This post introduced me to a concept I had never seen before. Not the content though. Instead I'm referring to some new web chicanery with the janky popup that appears when you mouse your mouse off the page in preparation for navigating back. Normally these just invite you to join an email list or whatever. But this one seems to be actually personalized based on referer - I saw "Sorry to do this to you HN.". I had instinctively closed it as always before it struck me this is the first time I've ever seen that. I guess there's some kind of database somewhere of referers, with a groovy customized "sorry you're leaving" phrase for each one?

cookiecaper 10y ago
I couldn't get this to fire, even after disabling my ad blocker.
- robertwiblin 10y ago
  Hey Cookiecaper - yeah there's something going on making our appeals not show for some people. For better or worse I'm trying to fix that. :)
  - dorfsmay 10y ago
    A/B testing?
neogodless 10y ago
I'm on mobile, and I was simply scrolling down when I got the pop-up, asking me to subscribe.

rch 10y ago

The only right career is owning a small farm with sufficient output to provide for one's family. Everything else is supplemental.

f0rfun 10y ago
I struggle with this. Often, I find myself asking why should the primary purpose of my life be providing for the lives of others? I should spend my life living for myself to the fullest and in so doing, hopefully it enables me to provide for my family and if not, at least I have little regrets. Of course, if I choose to have kids, then this course would alter. I would have to shoulder the responsibility of being my kids' sole provider til they are able to fend for themselves. If I'm married and have taken the vow, then I would abide by my spouse til death do us part. I would also without a doubt, see my aged old parents whom did not managed to save for retirement well into their golden years. All that above is only when I have made the conscious effort to start a family. Otherwise, providing for one's family cannot be the motivator for starting a firm and letting all else - things pertaining to my self-interests and ambitions take a back seat don't seem logical to me at all. I know reality is crushing. I also know I have the power to think and to change things. I will not succumb.
- robertwiblin 10y ago
  The evidence from postiive psychology is clear that pursuing a goal greater than yourself (that is, trying to help others) is associated with higher levels of happiness and fulfillment, so it's sensible to follow that path even if you are purely selfish: https://80000hours.org/career-guide/job-satisfaction https://80000hours.org/career-guide/job-satisfaction
  - nononosisisi 10y ago
    I guess everybody is different. Having anybody depend on me makes me feel depressed. The only thing that truly makes me happy is working on my own projects. Anything that seriously distracts me from doing this is my enemy. I'm ok with spending a small percentage of my time with family but more than that and I will probably fall into deep a depression followed by a really angry backlash from me. Which is why I will probably never have a family. I don't think I can dedicate them the time they deserve.

peterlk 10y ago

This reminds me of one of my favorite talks of all time[1]. Applied to careers, I take the talk as implying that trying things is the secret. After a certain level of experience in your career, you'll know whether you like it. Branching off of that, it might even be the right thing to do to find a new career. One of the best pieces of advice I have ever received is "successful people do stuff. It doesn't matter what that stuff is, just do stuff and you'll eventually be successful". Some people will be luckier than others, and be successful at their stuff at a higher ratio, but overall, the ratio is about the same, and you just need to keep doing stuff. Also, one of my favorite illustrations/cartoons of all time[2] speaks to this point. Basically, if you pursue the same career for your entire life, you're probably wasting your time. once you have your x,000 hours of work in, do something new where you can cross-apply that knowledge into domains that need it. [1]https://youtu.be/l_F9jxsfGCw https://youtu.be/l_F9jxsfGCw [2]http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2722 http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2722 Edit: sloppy link formatting

yodsanklai 10y ago
> Applied to careers, I take the talk as implying that trying things is the secret. After a certain level of experience in your career, you'll know whether you like it. You'll know whether your like it, but it may be too late to change. And some careers require a long initial investment. Let say I graduate in CS/Math at 23 and that I work 3-4 years in a company, is it too late to become an MD? or start a PhD? some people manage to do it but it's difficult.
- dsacco 10y ago
  I interpret it like so: there are careers which require a very particular training path and careers which do not. Additionally, many training paths are widely applicable to several distinct industries. If you graduate with a degree in math or computer science, you can work in just about any division of tech, you can work in just about any division of finance (maybe not traditional investment banking, but most analyst/trading/quant roles), you can work in certain applications of biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, genetics or other sciences, you can work in many areas of advertising, you can work in many areas of marketing...you could start your own company, you could publish a novel...frankly you could do just about everything other than be a lawyer or a doctor. Writing all this out, it actually sounds like the optimal career path is to get formal education and training in the most difficult or restricted fields, because you'll still have so many options anyway. Then you can cross-pollinate your knowledge in other fields.

sreeharianil 10y ago

Thanks , Dude it was Helpful

lordnacho 10y ago

Well of course exploration would help, but it's often very, very hard to get an opportunity to try something to any depth. Who's going to write a better job application, someone who already knows what the job is about, or a tourist? The advice about keeping your options open is IMO basically advice to do a STEM degree. It is plausible that someone who studied science could read a lot and become a political consultant. It's a lot less plausible that someone who studied politics is going to pick up a book on fluid dynamics and work on formula one cars. Neither should logically be impossible (it's just books after all) but what will most employers' intuition be? Both are small industries where opportunities are limited. What's needed is more transparency. Nothing throughout school or university showed me anything relevant about work. For instance, what salary can you get from various careers? I was left with some leaflets with rough estimates for finance and consultancy. And I had an offer in Engineering. But apart from that, no clue. What would make sense would be if firms got some kind of incentive to let young people come in and have a look. And young people would be sent to do various things, not just the ones they (or their parents) think will be best. I remember one 18 year old intern who somehow knew she wanted to work in investment banking (what she was doing in quantitative finance is a good question).

shanusmagnus 10y ago

I agree with this article 100%, and it makes me sad because that belief comes way too late to be of much use. I'm too damn old and established in various aspects of my life to try a lot of new things (things that are fundamentally and profoundly new to me, I mean) without blowing everything up. And I'm not willing to blow up my life. The simulated annealing that's possible with youth is astounding. I wish I hadn't been so stupid at the time.

tbihl 10y ago
I'm committed to my job for about the next six years, having already been in it about five years already. The people are great, the mission is pretty good, and the culture has some strong aspects. Having said that, I'm squirreling away most of my earnings so that I can make a careful step to my next career without needing to rush. It should be another one with pretty good earnings; tack those savings up with the ones from my current job, and the next job, when it comes, can be almost anything, with little regard for level of income. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm staying very conservative in my finances so I can stretch further in other dimensions of life without risk of over extending.

dsfyu404ed 10y ago

Mix things up all you want but finding a good fit early and doubling down on making a career out of it will get you farther down that path. Bouncing around between grad school and different fields (or specializations within a field) is an expensive (mostly in terms of opportunity cost) luxury many cannot afford and many that can afford cannot justify.

lighttower 10y ago

This advice was similar to what I got from my therapist when I was 19 in pre-med at college. I liked physics most, but everyone in my family was in medicine. So my therapist said, go job shadow people who have jobs in each of the fields that you are considering. So I shadowed a respirologist for a day I shadowed and electrical engineering firm that did wiring for department stores and big box stores and I shadowed a satellite engineering and manufacturing company. The respirologist, so very highly paid, was absolutely the worst job I could possibly imagine for myself. The patience that he saw that day, all had elements from manufacturing sector jobs, where their lungs were basically shot. He prescribed a whole bunch of steroids on schedules that the patients didn't understand (most of them did not speak English). It was so depressing. The electrical engineering firm that designed the big box stores, that was super boring to. AutoCAD and sitting at your desk all day long. The one that I like the most was the satellite engineering and Manufacturing Company. So I went into aerospace engineering. Then eventually changed to electrical engineering, but the passion for Aerospace remains. What I wish this article addressed, I was how to refund your career when you're now in your mid-thirties.