Second Chance
One of the questions that historically children are asked is “What do you want to be when you grow up?” And, while that initial answer may change several times before that child goes onto further education toward their degree or take on an initial job, a mindset can often be set from an early age. In working with the clients that I do, and even thinking back on my own life, often the way we start out down a career path can be influenced by those around us such as family and friends.
In my own case, I was encouraged to study engineering as I made my way through high school and was ready to move onto college. Why was I encouraged to do so? My mother knew that a couple of my older cousins were going to school for that discipline. Being part of a blue-collar family, my mom and the relatives of that generation wanted better for the next generation, (and having no experience at what the college process was like), their major focus was that their child be employed in a job where they would receive a steady paycheck and make a good income. As it turned out one of those older cousins used his engineering degree throughout his working life, the other quickly found out the discipline was not for him, and he went back to school for a teaching degree which is how he made his living.
As for me, life fell somewhat in-between. My first job out of school, (after obtaining my degree in Industrial Engineering), proved to me that I was not cut out for the discipline. That job was in a manufacturing plant in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The work site was a manufacturing floor. I was a “fish out of water,” and within a few months, my bosses and I agreed I was not cut out for the work. Fortunately for me, there was a quick rebound. I did have an analytical mind. I could quickly learn concepts. I was more than comfortable in a business office environment. That led me to a career as a computer programmer and ultimately a manager over programming teams. It built on both my love for the work environment, and the business courses that were built into my Industrial Engineering curriculum.
This came to mind for me over this past month based on a conversation I had with one of my most recent clients. He has for years worked in the Information Technology computer support field. While he has done well in the field, he confided in me that he was “guided” into that direction by family that wanted him to have a “good paying job.” He in his heart always wanted to be a teacher, but was discouraged from doing so by the parental and family influences in his life. Now that he is in his 50’s, he is considering exploring pursuing his first passion in some form or another.
One of the things working in the field I have been in over the last 12 years is that people can go back and pursue passions from earlier in their life and use them later in their career journey. While it may not be a full-scale entry into the profession, it may take the form of some aspect of the field. Perhaps certification trainings qualify someone to enter some aspect of a particular discipline. In other instances, it may be that the skills they have developed over the years in other lines of work may be transferable to a particular aspect of a passion that was always a calling. And, in other instances, now free of the influences and restrictions that may have held them back in the past, (negative voices, financial restraints, family obligations), they now are free to explore that which called to them earlier in life, and devote their time or energy to that discipline.
Are you aware of those fields or job roles you may have considered doing in the past. Have you taken the time to do a bit of self-assessment, capture those thoughts, and identify why you felt you might want to have pursued a particular field. Do you still gain satisfaction and pleasure when you accomplish something that has characteristics that have seemed to call to you throughout your entire life?
While there are those who might try to discourage you from “living in the past,” there is nothing wrong on building from those items in the past which gave you satisfaction or wonder, and explore them in the present. And, who is to say that some aspect of that past passion may become a part of your future as you move forward to that next aspect of your career journey.
