I think we have all asked ourselves these questions, or at least I know I have. Are you ready for a new career? These questions are a good place to start. But the Missouri Career Center can also help you come up with the answers.
We have a monthly workshop on Career Exploration. In addition we provide an online service called Choices where you can do in depth career research. Come to the Center so we can give you the online ID and password for Choices. You may also use our computers to find other sites that give information about the careers you are curious about. Do online research in the occupational studies area of MERIC, the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. Its online address is http://www.missourieconomy.org. Its career exploration tool will assign a grade to the professions you access.
If you are thinking of going into a new field, you need the grade to be above a C. You can also come in and ask to speak to one of our career counselors. We all try to stay as up to date as we can on industries in this particular area and what it takes to be successful.
I asked some of our Career Center employees the same three questions Carpino asked of his celebrities. Here are some of the answers. To what do you like about your career, Janet Smith replied that she genuinely enjoys working with students and job seekers and enjoys seeing them succeed. She fell into this line of work after starting at the Missouri Extension office teaching nutrition and food preparation classes, which led to stints at other government agencies. She has been with Missouri Career Center over 14 years.
The thing she likes least about her job is working with people who have unrealistic expectations. This is all the more reason for you to do your homework so that you present yourself to employers as someone who understands themselves and where you fit in the world of work. Know what strengths you have to offer, and evaluate your weaknesses for work areas you should avoid.
Sheila Schembri, on what she likes about her job, said “I feel I have a calling in life to help people in their biggest time of need. I have the privilege of letting them know they are not alone during this period in their life and there are people and opportunities available at our facility to help them regroup, find a new direction, and start on a new path to a new beginning.”
What Sheila doesn’t like is that sometimes our system seems to be too concerned about numbers, numbers served, numbers coming in the door (which by the way is up about 1500 people a month from this time last year), and numbers getting a job. The focus on numbers gives us less time to focus on the real needs of our clients. “Numbers don’t cry in your office and need a pat on the back and a word of encouragement.”
She entered this line of work because she discovered early on that she is good one-on-one with people so she sought out positions where she could use those skills.
If I were to ask myself those same questions I would have to say that what I like about working here is the ability to use all types of media to deliver needed information to a varied audience and I enjoy learning and keeping up with all kinds of careers. I started out in school getting a degree in journalism, only to find like many other people that there is no real work for writers in this area. If I had looked at the MERIC site writers would probably have gotten a D here. And I was frustrated for many years working at a warehouse while I tried to find the right career.
Be realistic about the kinds of work available in this area, but pack your resume with as much information about your talents and interests as possible. Often employers will think of a place where they can use those talents now or in the future and hire you over someone with just what skills the job requires.
Volunteer work may be a way for you to indulge your interests and talents that the job can’t use. Find a place in your life where you can scratch those itches that the world of work can’t reach. And perhaps later down the road you will be able to work those talents into your work life as well.
So come to the Missouri Career Center and let us help you figure out what you like, what you don’t like, and plan your path to a career that will give you joy and satisfaction.
Flo Williams
Missouri Career Center
Site Manager/Case Manager
