Here
I am getting back to my blog after quite some time off ready to discuss the
following topic with you – the world of occupations. It’s been a nice and
joyful period of time, full of inspiration, a lot of sunny weather, blooming
nature, being outside and other things that can be enjoyed about spring. As I
did get back to my old job after all – which was a good thing to do and I’m
happy I did it – I’ve also been pretty busy lately. But the thing that finally
inspired me to write was a task my career coach gave me at the beginning of
April. I received a 600+ pages thick occupations reference book from her and
four whole weeks to study the book thoroughly. On reading it I had a number of
tasks to do, but more about those later.
The
book – in my case it was a Dutch edition from Malmberg publishers (for those
who are interested – a lot of comparable materials can be found and ordered here, mostly in
digital form though) – was a true revelation to me. It had a very handy index
to it, so that one could look for professions in either alphabetical sequence
or grouped by the types like “something with languages” or “working with hands”,
which was very practical – obviously, you are not reading a book like this in
one go. Also the necessary skills and matching personality types were described
per occupation as well as responsibilities and possible activities on a
day-to-day basis. I can’t really say it was a thrilling read – after the “50
shades of grey” trilogy my reading speed with this book seemed to have dropped
drastically – but, boy, I wish I’d seen the book in my teens, or rather, at the
time of my first study choice. Pity enough this didn’t happen back then, but I’m
happy I got hold of the book anyway.
For
a nitwit like me as far as the world of professions is concerned, it’s been a
wealth of information to read this book. I didn’t know some of the professions I
even existed, did you? Like, say, a tree surgeon or animal physiotherapist? But
one of my favorites is by all means animal behaviorist, which made me think of behaviorism
principles in psychology and psychotherapy, but then for animals instead of people.
So, animal behaviorist = psychotherapist for pets? A kind of dog or horse
whisperer, but then with some psychological background? As I figured out from
the description, it’s a kind of animal trainer, but it did keep me wondering
for a while. And think I even know someone who knows someone who does it for a
living – according to my mother-in-law, someone who professionally trains
animals did or say something to her usually pretty impatient and agitated dog,
after which the poor thing listens to her, waits patiently before going outside
and doesn’t bark at visitors. The guy is evidently good at what he’s doing, but
it surely doesn’t seem to be my cup of tea.
Anyhow,
I was supposed to make a selection of 20 professions I found appealing in some
way, no matter how unrealistic or inapplicable to me. As a result I’d imagined
myself to be anything from a diplomatic representative and seismologist to a radio/tv
presenter, interior designer and an actress. This list had to be downsized to 5
and the ones remaining were: tour guide/(leisure) travel advisor, psychologist,
communications professional, scientist and a (!) rock singer. The first four
surprised neither my career coach nor me a lot – those are somewhat down to
earth and not too unexpected given my background and interests. But the last
one… Did I miss something in my childhood or adolescence that I actually didn’t
expect this one to pop up in my shortlist of 5 most wanted professions? I mean,
I don’t even take singing lessons or play any musical instrument, or should I
say, I didn’t until now?
The
idea behind the vocational counseling tasks is to take such things about oneself
seriously, but … not necessarily literally. Of course, it’s important to think
of what you would like to do if money didn’t matter (you probably also know this fantastic video by Alan
Watts which I came across on a couple of occasions),
but it’s better to start out small and closer to who you are now and from there
on develop to who you want to be. Which means dreaming big, but having a clear
focus and doing small steps at a time. In my case, learning more about the
world of professions and trying on most appealing of them was just another
little step on my long and exciting way.
Have
you ever heard of a strange profession or job or pictured yourself having an
occupation completely different from what you are doing now? Do share!
