Choosing a career
W.M. Irwin wrote a really interesting post about career aspirations last Friday. He talks about how as a child he used to want to be an astronomer, and about how most children express “lofty and seemingly unattainable” career goals but most of us grow up and settle for something more “ordinary and mundane.” So what should we do, he asks, follow our childhood dreams or be happy with what life hands us? I’d add my own questions: Should we teach children to get excited about more “ordinary” career prospects? Should we teach children that being a brain surgeon or an astronomer is more attainable than they might think?
As a graduate student in physics, these are questions I wonder about often. I remember when the letters “Ph.D.” signified some kind of otherworldly, almost magical genius, and now here I am realistically on track to have them attached to my name (and not feeling at all special about it, either, like it’s just par for the course). My grad student friends, both in physics and in other fields, have expressed similar feelings. In contrast to W.M., we often grapple with doubts about whether aiming for that “lofty” goal by spending years and years in school is really worth it, and really going to get us the life we imagined — and from reading PHD Comics I get the sense that we’re not the only ones out there thinking this. What was so bad about being an accountant, or a secretary, store clerk, or a network admin? Was it too ordinary and mundane?
You only rarely hear kids naming one of those professions when they explain “what they want to be when they grow up.” But why not? Of course society needs people to be accountants and store clerks, and all of that. It would be terrible if no one ever took those jobs. So why don’t we celebrate them? Why don’t kids aspire to be them?
One of the things I could end up doing, as a physicist with decent writing and communication skills, is science journalism. I’m averse to the idea, though, even though I could easily imagine having more fun at it than I would doing research. Maybe it’s that it’s too ordinary-seeming. It feels like a waste of the degree… even though I’ve often lamented the quality of science writing and general science literacy, and wished that more people with science expertise got into journalism. I know that I’m just being silly, and I would certainly be happy with a science writing job. It’s just that I can’t seem to shake the feeling of stigma, the sense that a career move like that would be a disappointment.
Of course, there are people out there aspiring to be journalists. More power to you! I hope you don’t get me wrong. If my diploma said “Journalism” at the end of 5 (or 6 or 7…) years, there’d be no problem, but most people don’t get doctorates in order to become journalists. Surely, for whatever your career goals are, you can think of some job you feel would be clearly beneath your qualifications… but then on closer reflection, you can also think of someone who wants that job sincerely and is working their butt off to get it. Maybe it’s this sort of inductive step that we should keep in mind when talking to children about their future careers. They shouldn’t only get your “ooh” and “aah” responses when they say things like “a surgeon!” or “an astronaut!” or “the President!”
At the same time as we encourage children towards “ordinary” careers, though, I think it’s important to make it clear that working as an astronomer or a surgeon is not unattainable. Not everyone will be good at every job, sure, but there isn’t something “magical” about these professions that means only a miniscule fraction of people ever born will be able to get a job doing them. It is okay to try for them. Maybe the real bottom line is, when we teach kids that “you can be anything you want to be,” we need to make clear that there really are no strings attached.
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Interesting post. Just a few random observations:
Maybe it’s that it’s too ordinary-seeming. It feels like a waste of the degree…
I think the trick there is to think beyond the basic use of your degree. Interviewing for a lot of jobs helps with that. I now recognize strengths in my two BAs (history and anthropology) that I never thought about when I was in college. Things like good analytical skills and (i think) solid writing skills.
I was lucky enough to get to actually do my childhood ‘dream profession’ and get paid as an archaeologist for a few years. While it was cool and exciting, the pay sucked. I eventually decided to apply myself more in my ‘day job’ and now I make a lot more money than i would have as an archaeologist, so i’m comfortable. I still miss it sometimes, but i like seeing my wife and kids every night a lot more.
i don’t LOVE my job, but i’ve learned to like it. I still hope it’s not forever (i’m only 33!) but while i’m there i make the most of it and that is really the secret with any job in my opinion. still, i find myself feeling like Jim in The Office who once said, “If i go any higher, this will be my career and if this is my career, i’m throwing myself in front of a train.” In short, i like my job but i don’t want it to be my ‘career’.
lastly, the biggest secret is to not let your profession define you. I am a good dad, husband, friend and have lots of great hobbies. Most of my friends say, “There’s Mike, he’s a serious outdoorsman”, or “he’s a politics nut”. I have other friends who are always introduced, “This is my friend Sally, she’s a doctor.” They never get to be anything else. When i was a kid i liked that idea, now that I’m older…it’s not as important.