I was walking down the streets of Chicago, enjoying a pleasant, but seemingly average day. I looked up, and a sign in big letters stating, “50% off all books” was staring me in the face. Being one who can’t pass up a good deal, I decided to walk in the store and check it out.
Perusing through the store, I found a book titled “What Should I Do with My Life” by Po Bronson. Intrigued, I read the back cover, and sure enough the book was a collection of stories (a social documentary if you will) about people who were engaging in career exploration, attempting to find career’s that fit their identity, personality and that they were passionate about. Little did I know, this book would change my life.
My chance encounter with this book could not have come at a better time. I had just graduated college. I was starting a job as a paralegal at a big international law firm in about two weeks. I was debating what career I should enter, essentially, asking myself “What Should I Do With My Life?” Now, I promise I won’t talk too much about myself within my future articles on TheCanned. But, I tell this story about myself with specific reasoning. “What Should I Do with My Life” served as a great resource for me (ultimately serving as the jumping off point for my career exploration, which eventually led me to counseling psychology) and I believe the book can also serve as a great resource for you.
Therefore, I will provide a synopsis of the themes of the book and also a website where you can read several chapters of the book for free! As aforementioned, the book explores the stories of people who are pondering the question of what they were going to do with their lives, the dreaded question of college seniors everywhere! But, let’s dig deeper into the book and into the question. The question often involves several sub-questions and dilemmas, some of which are quite existential.
Who am I, how do I see myself and ultimately what is my identity? The high majority of people in Bronson’s book were searching for a career that was congruent with their personality, identity and also a career that provided meaning for them. Several career theories fall into the realm of what are called “personality career theories”, including John Holland’s (1973). I plan on going into more detail regarding Holland’s career theory in future articles, but briefly, Holland’s theory essentially states that a person’s career choice is an expression of his or her personality and that personality and work environments can fit into six types: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising and conventional. *Disclaimer: Despite having a lot of value, I do believe Holland’s theory is flawed in several ways, which will be discussed in future articles.*
The Strong Interest Inventory is a personality assessment tool based on Holland’s theory that interprets one’s personality type and possible careers congruent with said personality type. For example, when I took the Strong Interest Inventory for my career counseling class, I received a personality theme code of social, artistic and investigative (in that order, from highest strength to lowest strength). Essentially, the test told me careers I may be interested in (based on my personality and identity being congruent with the overall job duties) included professional counselor, college professor and musician (too bad I don’t have much musical talent!).
The test also told me that I would probably be bored to death and unhappy being an engineer, banker or car mechanic. Knowing myself, the results seemed to fit fairly well. The test is certainly not a perfect metric, but it can help you gain a greater self -awareness and turn that greater self-awareness into a career choice matching your identity and personality, a theme of Bronson’s book. The strong interest inventory can be taken at websites such as :http://www.paladinexec.com/ and are best interpreted and explained by a career counselor.
People in Bronson’s book were also struggling with the fact that societal and family messages explicitly and implicitly let us know what careers are considered acceptable. You grew up in an upper-middle class neighborhood, you must enter a career that has an upper-middle class salary and prestige. You are a female, well you must be sensitive and are not tough enough to make it in the business world. You’re a male, and are not empathic enough to be a professional counselor. The aforementioned statements sound ridiculous, but they are messages that people receive throughout their lives; messages that can lead people to enter careers that represent what other people tell you you should be, as opposed to a career that represents your true self. As Bronson said, “Nothing seemed more brave to me than facing up to one’s own identity, and filtering out the chatter that tells us to be someone we’re not” (Bronson, 2003).
“Most people jump through life, asking what’s next, and choosing based on where can they make the most money, what offers the most upside or opportunity. A conventional “success” story is one where, with each next, the protagonist has more money, more respect and more possessions. I’d like to suggest an alternative “success” story-one where, with each next, the protagonist is closer to finding that spot where he’s no longer held back by his heart, and he explodes with talent, and his character blossoms, and the gift he has to offer the world is apparent.” -Po Bronson
I began my graduate school personal statements with the aforementioned quote. Po Bronson’s book entitled “What Should I do with my Life” spurred on a dramatic, positive change in my life. I believe his book can do the same for you. Bronson said that through hearing about 900 stories and getting to know about 70 people closely certain patterns emerged, one being that “it was in hard times that people usually changed the course of their life; in good times, they frequently only talked about change” (Bronson, 2003). Therefore, if you were unhappy in your career or job, unemployment can be used as a chance to change the trajectory of your life and be a person that falls into the group of “I love my job!”
Several free chapters of Bronson’s book can be found on his website at http://www.pobronson.com/index_what_should_I_do_with_my_life.htm. The book can also be purchased on amazon new for $7.99 and used for under $3! As “The Who” said, ‘I’d call that a bargain, the best I ever had.”
