Quest for the Career Grail

I let this thing go.

I want to get back to it someday.

In the meantime go look at http://www.pandora.com/

This was filled out way back on March 8th.

The following list describes a wide variety of satisfactions that
people obtain from their jobs. Look at the definitions of these
various satisfactions and rate the degree of importance that you would
assign to each for yourself, using the scale below.

1 = Not important at all 4 = Reasonably important
2 = Not very important 5 = Very important in my choice of career
3 = Couldn't give a flip one way or the other, mate

___3___Help Society: Do something to contribute to the betterment of
the world I live in.

___4___Help Others: Be involved in helping other people in a direct
way, either individually or in small groups.

___3___Public Contact: Have a lot of day-to-day contact with people.

___3___Work with others: Have close working relationships with people
as a result of my work activities.

___3___Affiliation: Be recognized as a member of a particular organization.

___4___Friendships: Develop close personal relationships with people
as a result of my work activities.

___1___Competition: Engage in activities which pit my abilities
against others where there are clear win-and-lose outcomes.

___3___Make Decisions: Have the power to decide courses of action,
policies, etc.

___1___Work Under Pressure: Work in situations where time pressure is
prevalent and/or the quality of my work is judged critically by
supervisors, customers or others.

___4___Power and Authority: Direct the work activities of others and
have the authority to make decisions.

___4___Influence People: Be in a position to change attitudes or
opinions of other people.

___1___Work Alone: Do projects by myself, without any significant
amount of contact with others.

___5___Knowledge: Engage myself in the pursuit of knowledge, truth and
understanding.

___4___Intellectual Status: Be regarded as a person of high
intellectual prowess or as one who is an acknowledged "expert" in a
given field.

___3___Artistic Creativity: Engage in creative work in any of several art forms.

___5___Creativity (general): Create new ideas, programs,
organizational structures or anything else not following a format
previously developed by others.

___4___Aesthetics: Be involved in studying or appreciating the beauty
of things, ideas, etc.

___3___Supervision: Have a job in which I am directly responsible for
the work done by others.

___4___Change and Variety: Have work responsibilities which frequently
change in their content and setting.

___2___Precision Work: Work in situations where there is very little
tolerance for error.

___1___Stability: Have a work routine and job duties that are largely
predictable and not likely to change over a long period of time.

___4___Security: Be assured of keeping my job and a reasonable financial reward.

___3___Fast Pace: Work in circumstances where there is a high pace of
activity, work must be done rapidly.

___5___Recognition: Be recognized for the quality of my work in some
visible or public way.

___4___Excitement: Experience a high degree of (or frequent)
excitement in the course of my work.

___2___Adventure: Have work duties which involve frequent risk-taking.

___3___Profit, Gain: Have a strong likelihood of accumulating large
amounts of money or other material gain.

___5___Independence: Be able to determine the nature of my work
without significant direction from others; not have to do what others
tell me to do.

___4___Moral Fulfillment: Feel that my work is contributing
significantly to a set of moral (to be defined by your) standards
which I feel are very important .

___5___Lifestyle: Find a place to live (town, geographical area) which
is conducive to my life style and affords me the opportunity to do the
things I enjoy most.

___3___Community: Live in a town or city where I can be involved in
community affairs.

___1___Physical Challenge: Have a job that makes physical demands
which I would find rewarding.

___4___Time Freedom: Have work responsibilities which I can work at
according to my own time schedule; no specific working hours required.



Name the four values of most importance to you.

1.__________ Knowledge___________

2._____ Creativity (general)_______

3.____________ Lifestyle____________

4._________ Independence_________

1. Tell me something obvious about you.
- I am a male.
2. Tell me something about you that many don't know.
- I have Attention Deficit Disorder
3. What is your biggest fear?
- Embarrassment and/or failure.
4. Do you normally go the safe route or take the short cut?
- yes.
5. Name one thing you want that you can't buy with money.
- Peace.
6. What is your most treasured possession?
- my music collection... probably.
7. What is the one thing you hate most about yourself that you do often?
- the results of question #2.
8. Tell me something sexually about you that people don't know.
- right.
9. Tell me something sexually about you that everyone knows.
- I'm not gay.
10. What is your favorite lie to tell?
- I feel better after losing 70 pounds.
11. Name something you've done once that you can't wait to do again.
- visit San Francisco (in spite of #9).
12. Are you the jealous type?
- more than I'd care to let on.
13. What is the one person, place or thing you can't say no to?
- Music.
14. What is the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?
- be my parents.
15. If you could do something crazy right now, what would it be?
- quit my job and drive to California.
16. When was the last time you cried?
- almost did earlier this evening - almost did last night, before that it's been2-3 weeks.
17. When was the last time you felt so good that nothing else mattered?
- May 14, 1970 @ 11:30 AM.
18. Do you feel comfortable in public with no shirt on?
- no.
19. Name something embarrassing you did while being drunk.
- puke profusely. Ask Eric.

Hey, so I FORGOT to journal for the last 7 weeks... SORRY!

More on Po Bronson's What Should I Do With My Life? (see the January 12th entry)...

Fast Company has a great condensation of the major themes in the book here.

However, if you are at all interested, I heartily recommend reading the whole book, as I plan on doing.

TTFN,
Berfle

I took a test on the net that a friend sent to me. The site is iVillage Work & Career.

I don't think he knew the whole site is intended for women, but the test may still be valid. Anyway... I took it and my results are quite funny. To wit:

What career will suit your personality?
This description is a generalisation. If it rings true, you've found your career type. If it doesn't, return to the quiz, decide whether you answered truthfully, and not by what you think you should answer. Redo your answers and read your new results.

You would most enjoy a career that allows you to meet new people. You would also be happiest in a career that allows you to be free and flexible, and allows you to be extremely creative. Some careers that would be perfect for you are:

• Stockbroker
• Secretary
• Receptionist
• Director
• Recruitment Consultant
• Politician
• Marketing
• Human Resources Manager
• Religious Minister
• Teacher
• Lawyer
• Advertising
• Consultant
• Financial Adviser
• Financial Planner
• GP
• Physical Therapy
• Occupational Therapy
• Public Relations
• Estate Agent
• Travel Agent
• Restauranteur
• Hotel Manager
• Events Organiser

You are a great leader. You genuinely enjoy being around other people. Your relationships with others are very important to you. You love talking and meeting new people. You are very enthusiastic about work and about all that you do and have in your life. You love being the focus of attention. You enjoy a fast pace. You are very socially oriented. Therefore, you are much happier being with others than you are alone. You crave interaction with others.

You are very spontaneous and often act before you think. You are always quick to answer when you are asked a question, even if you aren't sure of the answer. It is easier for you to improvise as you go along. You enjoy thinking out loud, and are most creative when brainstorming with friends or colleagues. You enjoy being involved in many activities.

You are very easy to read, and often wear your heart on your sleeve. You are never afraid to tell people what you think. You are very empathetic and genuine. You can sometimes be seen as over-emotional or too involved by others. But that is only because you tend to get so involved in the things you do that they become personal. You want to be adored, loved and appreciated. You like to please others and to make sure people are happy.

You trust your gut instincts. You are easily inspired and trust that inspiration. You are very innovative. You analyse things by looking at the big picture. You are concerned about how what you do affects others. You worry about your actions and the future. You tend to use a lot of metaphors and are very descriptive and colourful in your choice of language.

You are very creative, and get bored easily if you don't get to express yourself. You like to learn new things. You don't like the same old routine. You like to leave your options open.

See? Freakin' Hilarious!!!

Oh, BTW I just finished listening to the abridged audio version of Po Bronson's What Should I Do With My Life?. I am checking out his website now and found some more questions to answer:

Ask yourself, “What am I naturally curious about, even if I can't imagine making a living at it?

Ask yourself, “What are the assumptions I made when young about what I'm good at and not good at, about what I'm supposed to do and not supposed to do?”

Ask yourself, “What are the expectations put on me by my parents?”

Ask yourself, “Who can I surround myself with that will be supportive and help me make bold choices?”

Ask yourself, “Have I tested the assumptions I've made about how much money I need?”

Ask yourself, “In what ways have I become trapped by my own success?”

Ask yourself, “What discomforts has life dealt me that I have tried to ignore or get past, rather than mine for a purpose?”

Ask yourself, "What are my weaknesses, and how can I begin the long process of turning them into my strengths?"

Ask yourself, “Am I willing to give it years before it manifests itself in my life?”

Ask yourself, “Until the time comes that my children need me less, how can I keep my interests alive?”

Ask yourself, “Am I letting the fears which are triggered by these questions rule my life?”

Hmmm... I did spend about 10 minutes today answering some of the questions I posted several days ago. Nothing concrete yet, but I'll spill it all out here.

Toot-toot,
Berfle

“Who do you think you are?”

I am:

a chemist
a person that likes to analyze data
a person that likes to derive systems to describe or prescribe behaviors
a person that uses humor to relieve stress
a person that loves music
a person that likes to surf the internet
a person that loves to learn
a member of a loving group of family and friends

I was just looking back over my entries and realized that there are a lot of "I'll get to that later"-type statements. Perhaps that means that I don't like typing or that I would rather spend my time reading and learning something new than filling in this journal.

I need to do both.

Anyway, I just finished a free quiz that I had taken several years ago. This time the answer came up:

"...your heart's desire is Design and the Arts"

You have a number of attributes that make you an excellent candidate for a design or artistic-related career. You understand how important it is to follow your heart, express your feelings, and do what you love, so it's likely you're already in a design-related field or have created a way to make your non-design-related job more artistic and expressive.

If you're currently stuck in a job that does not allow you to throw your heart into your work, it's likely you're an unhappy soul and are not living your life's purpose. Until you get yourself back on track, the life you dream of may never arrive.

What exactly does this 'dream job' look like? The answer lies in the combination of visions that you have... If you can find a way to creatively combine the various attributes of each of your dream lifetimes into one career in this lifetime, you'll be well on your way to fulfilling your heart's desire.

Ha ha. Interestingly enough I always seem to get pushed into the "ARTISTIC" career path by this type of test. The bad news is that I have no real artistic talent.

Oh well, more on that later (you knew I was going to say that didn't you?)

BWHAHAHAHAHA,
Berfle

PS: Did you know that there are 21,202 books about careers on Amazon.com? (No, I won't provide a link!) The strange thing is that there are also 2,505 entries in "Apparel" under 'careers'... go figure!

PPS: Most of the 'Career' entries under "Apparel" look like shoes.

I can't get back to sleep so I'll quickly tell you about my newest audio book purchase, a used copy of Love Is The Killer App by Tim Sanders.

I't basically uses "love" as a method to spread information among businesses. I am most intrigued at Tim's directive to be a voracious reader and learn to annotate and properly digest all the books and articles you read to be used as info to share the "love".

Time to get some more winks in before sun-up...