Career Planning and Management Inc.

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

By Dan King

A Collection of Career Assessment Tools, Workbooks and Resources for Individuals, Counselors, Consultants and Organizations

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It's an ageless question. I remember playing in the sandbox at age four and being asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up, Danny?” I wanted to say "Superman," but it was a grown-up asking, so I had to think of something sophisticated. I told him I wanted to be a milkman!

Our milkman, Perry, was a nice-enough guy, chatted with all the kids on the block, and sometimes brought specialties, like strawberry-flavored milk, to our house. Who wouldn't want a job like that?

Later in sixth grade, at age 11, I had to write a report about an occupation I thought I would like. I chose aeronautical engineer. I had heard it on TV and it sounded very cool. I drew a great picture on the cover of my report. I got an "A."

Then at 17, my high school guidance counselor advised me: "Dan, I think you would make a great librarian.” I’m sure I must have blacked out then, because all I remember thinking is "please don't tell anyone!” My concept of the librarian's job was based solely on the little old lady down the hall, with the bun in her hair, finger to lips, going "shhhhh!" At 17 I was mostly interested in being cool -- and Mrs. O'Hara did not project the "cool" image I was going for!

It wasn't until age 35, after college and four progressively responsible but unstimulating jobs, that I made the discovery that I wanted to be a career counselor. I’m sure my experience of "progressive cluelessness" had something to do with my decision. I would dedicate myself to helping others avoid the mistakes I made and thus prevent "I should know by now" syndrome. Now, I realize, I wasn't alone in my "mid-life, career-wannabe crisis."

Today, many people in their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and even 70s are still trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up. Oh sure, there are those who knew what they wanted to do since they were old enough to walk. But they're rare. The rest had to figure it out by trial and error. Their careers happened by accident.

If you ask young children what they want to be when they grow up, they'll respond by relating what they see - a policeman, a nurse, a baseball player - as I once did. Ever hear a kid say: "I want to be a systems analyst? A landscape architect? A copy editor? Doubtful. Most of us never had the exposure to the wide array of options in the world of work. Or, if we did, we were too young to pay attention. Now, as adults, we're stymied by what we don't know.

The best career choices are made by pinpointing the intersection of your skills, values and interests. In fact, all career development research points to "interests" as the best indicator of someone's satisfaction in a job. So the theory goes, if you do work that is interesting to you, you will be satisfied.

No kidding! Why didn't I think of that?

While this may appear to be common sense, in actuality, you probably base your career decisions on the "skills" you possess - and what others are willing to pay for them.

This is where you can trip yourself up. If you're like most, you have an uncanny ability to get good at things for which you have no interest. You become very skilled at things you don't enjoy doing. And unless you've refocused your attention toward more satisfying interests, you're continuing to grow into areas where you don't want to go. Now you find yourself struggling with the question: "Where do you see yourself in five years?"

How could you know? If you never figured out what you want to be when you grow up, the next five years are certain to be as aimless and dissatisfying as the past five. Is where you are today where you intended to be five years ago?

Your career satisfaction is tied to your interests and the farther you stray from them, the less happy you'll be. If you want to know what to be when you grow up, try this. Observe a group of young children playing in a sandbox. Watch what they do when they don't have "a care in the world," driven purely by their interests.

The one who is busy scooping sand into a mound; he's the architect, the engineer, the builder. The one who is making sure everyone is sharing toys and playing well together is the counselor, the social worker, the mediator. And the one who is issuing the shovel and the pail and deciding what to play next? She’s the director, the manager, the team leader. Which one were you?

Maybe you can't go back to the sandbox, but you can still realign your career to be closer to your natural interests. You’ve still got a lot of growing up to do - and it's not too late. Gather information about careers that match your interests from career Web sites like O*Net Online and the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Conduct information interviews with people in your fields of interest. If you need help, locate a career counselor or coach to guide you. Spend time finding out what you don't know. The answers will come.

Most of all, have fun. If your work is going to be satisfying, then the process of discovering new work should be satisfying too. So make your discovery process enjoyable. Maybe even treat yourself to a glass of strawberry-flavored milk. Perry, the milkman, would like that.

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