Wednesday, February 02, 2005

It's Your Move Eventually, just about everyone has to get off their duff and find a job, if for no other reason than to earn money to buy food and a place to live.  And an iPod.  You know, the essentials. But figuring out what that job should be can be tough.  Assuming you get a decent education, the options for employment can be staggering.  Even if you don't have a decent education, the hundreds of thousands of fastfood establishments and their heavy turnover rates mean you're never far from being able to afford that premium Blockbuster membership. For those with sights and GPAs a little higher, Fast Company has taken the time to gather their list of the twenty-five top jobs based on "job growth, salary potential, education level, and room for innovation." Number 1?  Personal Finance Advisor.  Basically you tell other people what to do with their money.  Simple, right?  And you can expect to pull in between $28,330 and $145,600.  Sheesh, I'll do it for a fraction of that if you need someone to tell you how to waste your cash.  Not on the list, though, is a job I've wondered about for years:  consulting.  You know, those people who come to your business (or in my case, school) and tell you what you're doing wrong and what to do instead.  Usually the "what to do instead" involves wonderful sounding theories that would never work in a real place of, well, work.  The consultants don't know that because they haven't done your job in years (if ever) and really have no clue what your real situation is, nor can offer any real solutions. How do I know this?  Because if their ideas were so great, they'd probably still be using them in their job.  But most consultants have quit their job so they can go around the country to tell you how to do the job they didn't value enough to stick with in the first place.  Generally, I've found that people who are really good at something stick with it because it is rewarding and fun for them.  People who quit a job to do something else either weren't that good at it, or didn't like doing it, so why the hell should I listen to them tell me how to do my job? In fact, the only consultants I might give half an ear to are the ones who are still with the job they're consulting about.  For instance, I usually don't pay attention to a teaching consultant who admits in their introduction that they used to teach.  The way I see it, if they were any good, they'd still be doing it.  Teachers who consult during the summer or their breaks are sometimes worth listening to, though. So I've often wondered how the consultants come to be and how they can possibly live off of what I generally consider to be false pretenses.  That is I wondered until today when I found a page that answers many of my questions:  So you want to be a consultant?  While the article seems to focus on technical consultants, it's not hard to apply to other areas as well.  But after reading through it, I think I'll stick with teaching. Related links: Career assesment links:  lots of ways to find out what you might want to do with your life, job-wise. Deathclock:  if you'd rather not look for a job and are just counting the seconds until you die. 6:17:43 PM     |

© Copyright 2005 Alex L. Mauldin.