Thoughts on my "career"...

Wrote this for a discussion posting in my Human Resources Management class...it turned out to be more reflective, thought-provoking that I had expected.

My personal experience with career development has been somewhat limited. But maybe “limited” is not the right word. I’ve worked a number of jobs and learned a lot about the workplace, people problems, and work ethics. I’ve discovered little things that I generally enjoy doing, but have found myself unable to settle into a single this-is-my-calling sort of job. There’s a tendency to look down on myself or feel somewhat “behind”—especially when I see friends my age succeeding along paths they seem to truly enjoy. The General Career Periods chart is actually kind of encouraging to me. I’m still a “twenty-something,” who can fit into the Early Career period—identifying interests and exploring different jobs. I sincerely hope that this not knowing what I want to do is just a phase.

My working life thus far has been…scattered. I worked for a couple of years in a franchised restaurant, then for a while in a small, privately-owned eatery. I enjoy cooking, serving, and even cleaning, but the frantic pace of the restaurant business is not something I’d care to settle into. Two years as a manager at a movie theater opened my eyes to the wonderful world of supervising teenagers and dealing with a plethora of customer service, um…issues. Threading projectors, splicing film, fixing mechanical problems….that was a lot of fun. Now I’m working for a small non-profit organization that I feel is lacking vision. I do a lot of office work and graphic design…overall enjoyable, however tedious it may be at times. Through all of these work experiences has been my ongoing, intense involvement with my church. I lead worship services, help with the kids program, and head-up the youth group. This has given me a LOT of experience in dealing with people.

The common thread running through my jobs at the theater, the non-profit, and my church...what intrigues me…is the idea of articulating and executing a vision. Re-imagining the organization…thinking about what it would look like if it were at its best….and then thinking about ways to help the organization become that. But I am more and more convinced that I want to help PEOPLE in living deep, abundant lives....not corporations improving the bottom line. That’s generally what I hope my work life is based on in 10, 20, 30 years. I just haven’t decided the context in which I’d like to do that sort of vision finding/casting/execution. I've thought about teaching...counseling. By the time I started cnsidering these, though, I had too many hours in business areas to change degree plans. The program I'm hoping to start for my master's is in Spiritual Formation and Leadership. This will be an aid to me in my personal life...and will help me to lead others into a with-God kind of life. But I've wondered if I should go for a degree in teaching or counseling instead....or maybe I'm already on the right track. Maybe the MSFL will help me to gain clarity on this.