Vocation, Calling, Career: How to Decide What’s Right for You
Interact with any high school or even young college students, and you will find that many are in the throes of making decisions about what they want out of life. They’re trying hard to identify a course of study and eventual job options that appeal to them. Most students want their work to matter, not just as a means to a paycheck. The question often asked is how to even figure out what they actually want, and then what career path will help them achieve their goals? What is the best way to figure this out? Ultimately, there are proactive things you can do to answer these questions for yourself.
Often, these questions are framed in terms of finding or discovering a sense of calling – a vocation. However, the concept of “vocation” can be tricky to define. Today, many people think of it as a passion to do what makes them the happiest.
Researchers at the University of Loyola Chicago conducted a sweeping review of studies and found that the most effective career interventions contain some combination of up to five critical ingredients
1. Individualized Interpretation and Feedback — includes interacting with results from career assessments and receiving personalized feedback on other self-appraisal information, like career plans.
2. Attention to Support-Building — recognizes that career decisions are best made with the help of friends, family, and mentors who can provide advice and encouragement.
3. Accurate Occupational Information — consists of up-to-date descriptions of various career paths. (the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Information Network, or O*NET, provides detailed information for more than 1000 job titles, including the interests and values that characterize people who are happily employed within each job.)
4. Modeling Opportunities — Modeling in career development interventions involves learning effective decision-making strategies from people who have been there and done that.
5. Written Exercises — includes activities that invite people to record their thoughts, feelings, and reflections concerning their career development and their chosen work’s role within the broader context of their lives.
If you already know that Massage Therapy is what you want to do, or even if you’re still searching for your vocation, explore our website to learn about what we have to offer or call us to schedule an appointment at (702) 202-2455.
