I have always found the question, “What do you have experience with?” to be very interesting in regards to how individuals respond.
All too often, rather strengths or weaknesses involved, I see people either put too much emphasis on this question, or too little. It is very common for individuals to always stay in the same industries for their careers.
Much because of the simple reasoning that most people do not take the time and ask the question – where am I going, what am I doing with my time, energy, and resources?
Even if someone finds his or her job to be unfulfilling, his or her next job will still be within that same niche. This is the natural and easy thing for them to do, and that is why so many people oftentimes do it. Once you know something well, it can be difficult to branch out and cultivate new skills.
People will stay with the same annoying job for years, simply because it is what they know and what they consider themselves to be “good” at. If they are qualified and talented in their industry, why change that and instead delve into the unknown?
In order to make this concept a little bit clearer, I am going to provide you with an example of someone putting too much emphasis on what they have previously had experience with.
Consider this theoretical situation: you take a job as a dishwasher at a local restaurant in order to earn a little bit of extra cash to help make ends meet. As a few months pass by, you eventually become a hostess, then eventually a waitress, and finally you end up as the head manager of the restaurant.
However, you never grew up wanting to work in the restaurant business, and it certainly is still not your dream to remain there for the rest of your life. You haven’t enjoyed a single one of the jobs that you have had along the way in the restaurant, and you do not enjoy your current position of being a manager, either.
You know deep down that it is not your calling, but you just have acquired so much experience in the industry over the course of your life, that you feel as if you cannot give up now. Despite the fact that you do not like it whatsoever, it’s all you have ever known career wise.
You have a substantial amount of experience with it, and this has led directly to new opportunities that you have been fortunate enough to pursue.
These opportunities have also managed to provide you with a sense of job security, and this is something that every individual values highly, especially in today’s economy. At this point in time, it may seem just a bit too risky to pursue something else. Why give up on an industry that you have dedicated so much time towards? Why give that all away, and instead go on a whim and pursue a job that you may not even succeed at?
Conversely, there are many people who do not put nearly enough emphasis on the experience that they have been fortunate enough to have in the past.
For example, I have met many individuals who choose to start pursuing the coaching industry, and then decide that they would like to pursue a completely different specialty. Some people even make the major decision to instead help support small business owners and enable them to nourish and grow as companies.
If you do decide to make a career change, it is important to set guidelines for yourself in order to ensure that said change has as big of a positive impact on the world as possible. Working with large-scale companies and powerful businessmen always opens up doors for the possibility of your work not particularly benefiting the world or following any of the values that you strongly believe in.
Because of this fact, it is vital that you set standards for yourself in regards to which companies and clients you do decide to work for. Make sure that the people that you do business with share the same goals as you do, and always take their motives into consideration.
Something that is important to note is that job experience is by no means the only thing that defines your career or you as a person. There is a substantial amount of valuable life experience that is gained outside of professional work fields, and this can most definitely help you when you are determining what to do for a living.
I highly value the ability for an individual to look at his or her life and reflect on his or herself as a person. Skills that you may not necessarily include on your resume are still incredibly important, and they should never be forgotten. For instance, you would never consider “being a good listener” to be an actual job qualification. But, at the same token, it can wind up being as valuable as years of experience in your preferred job field.
