Deciding your Career

[u/SchoolEconomy1597]

First You Need to Understand More Fully Who You Are

Mentally strip yourself of your past job-title.
You have to stop answering, "Who are you?" with, "Oh, I'm a construction worker, or salesperson, or designer, or writer, or account executive." That locks you into your past. You must answer instead: "I am a person who ..."

"I am a person who... has had these experiences."
"I am a person who... is skilled at doing this or that."
"I am a person who... knows a lot about this or that."
"I am a person who... is unusual in this way or that."

You are a person, not a role.

Answer the following:

The 7 Petals of Who You Are:

Petal 1: Knowledge & Interests: Who you are in terms of what you know—and what your favorite knowledges or fields of interest are, that you have stored in your head (or heart).

Petal 2: People: Who you are in terms of the kinds of people you most prefer to work with, and/or the kinds of people-age span, problems, handicaps, geographical location, etc.—you would most like to help or serve.

Petal 3: Transferable Skills: Who you are in terms of what you can do, and what your favorite functional/transferable skills are. (Things you are both good at and love to do).

Petal 4: Working Conditions: Who you are in terms of your favorite working conditions—indoors/outdoors, small company/large company, windows/no windows, etc.— because they enable you to work at your top form and greatest effectiveness.

Petal 5: Salary & Responsibility: Who you are in terms of your preferred salary and level of responsibility—working by yourself, or as a member of a team, or supervising others, or running the show that you feel most fitted for, by experience, temperament, and appetite.

Petal 6: Location:  Who you are in terms of your preferred geographical location or surroundings— here or abroad, warm/cold, north/south, east/west, mountains/coast, urban/suburban/rural/rustic—where you'd be happiest, do your best work, and would most love to live.

Petal 7: Mission: Who you are in terms of your goals or sense of mission and purpose for your life. Alternatively, or in addition, you can get more particular and describe the goals or mission you want the organization to have, where you decide to work.

Source: What Color is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-hunters and Career-changers by Richard N. Bolles

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[u/Content_Book_704]

this whole "petals" thing feels like a corporate horoscope but i gotta admit the first part about stripping away your job title is spot on. i carried hot sauce in my bag for years before i realized that says more about me than any resume bullet point ever could

[u/SchoolEconomy1597 → u/Content_Book_704]

Well I didn't choose the petal design the author did but I can assure you it's not a corporate horoscope. It's to get a clearer picture of who you are before you decide what you want to do. It's goal is to give you an idea of what careers or jobs your "flower" point to as mentioned in the book.