What Color Is Your Parachute? (14 page)

“I don’t think I’d like that part, constantly meeting new people. I’d also like my day to be split between working inside and outdoors.”

Leah thought for a while, then said, “I’ve got clients who do all kinds of different jobs. Give me a week to go through my files. I also need to check with them to ask if I can give you their names. I’ll find some more people for you to talk with about careers that use math.”

“Thanks, Leah. I appreciate your help,” Eric responded. “The more people I talk with, the more likely it is that I’ll find a job that’s a good fit for me.”

Some people can rate a job, evaluate it, and describe how their dream job differs as they interview someone. Others need time to think over what they’ve heard. If you’re the second type, you can call people back. Give them a description of the skills, activities, fields of interest, or working conditions that would make a job a 10 for you. To give the person you interviewed time to think of some good people for you to talk to, you could also include this information in your thank-you note (see below) and tell them you’ll call to ask for their suggestions.

Writing a Thank-You Note

After each information interview, always send a thank-you note. Why? Whenever you meet with people or interview them on the phone or by email, they give you something very valuable—their time, experience, and wisdom. Any gift of value deserves to be acknowledged. The people you interview will appreciate that you recognize the value of their time and life experience. They’ll be impressed too, and most likely will be more inclined to help you again if you should need additional information in the future.

During an interview, be sure to get a business card. For interviewees who don’t have one, ask for their job title, the correct spelling of their name, and the name of the company they work for. Getting this information correct shows that you’ve taken the interview seriously and appreciate the help the person has given you.

Here are some tips on how to write a thank-you note:

• Buy some plain
thank-you notes (drugstores and stationery stores carry them) and some stamps.

• Unless your handwriting is very good, type your thank-you note and print it out. You can glue your note inside a card or create a card online to print out. No cutesy Hello Kitty or far-out images. You are writing a note to a businessperson, not a friend.

• Keep it simple. A thank-you note can be just two or three sentences.

• Write and send your note within twenty-four hours after your appointment. A thank-you note that arrives a week later seems like an afterthought, not gratitude.

Here’s an example:

Dear Mr./Ms./Dr. ________ :

Thank you for talking with me yesterday about your work. The information you gave me was quite helpful. I very much appreciate that you were willing to take the time to meet with me.

If I decide to become a _____, I will probably have more questions for you.

Sincerely,
Your Name

If the person you met with said something particularly helpful, gave you a good suggestion, or recommended another contact who’s already agreed to meet with you, you may want to mention those things in your note. You can ask for suggestions about jobs that might earn a 10 on your Job Meter. For example, if you crave a job with an international focus, ask your interviewee whether he or she knows of organizations or jobs that have that element.

You can email a thank-you note too. Email is immediate and easy to read. Be sure to follow these guidelines:

• Use standard English (don’t write in all caps or all lowercase).

• Use proper punctuation and grammar (no run-on or stream-of-consciousness type sentences).

• When you’re finished, run the spell-check tool in your email program.

• Ask an adult to proofread the note; spell-check is helpful but not foolproof!

After Your Information Interviews

When you’ve completed your information interviews, you should have a much clearer idea of your potential dream jobs. Write down the three that you like the most and keep learning about them.

All of your hard work will not only help you find your dream job, but may also help you in more immediate ways. You can use everything you’ve written on your parachute—what you’ve learned about yourself and what you’ve learned from information interviews—to approach many situations with a new
sense of focus and direction. Starting to learn what your dream job is will help you find more satisfying summer jobs, internships, or part-time work, and it may just help you choose a college major.

WHAT IF MY DREAM JOB IS WORKING FOR MYSELF?

If you talk with ten or more people who are doing the kind of work you want to do, and you think, “I’d rather start my own business,” you aren’t alone. There are more
entrepreneurs in the Millennial Generation than in any previous generation. You may like to tinker, have an idea for how to make something better, or want provide a service that you see a need for. People who set up their own businesses for profit are called “entrepreneurs.” People who establish a nonprofit to provide services to a special population or about a special issue are called “
social entrepreneurs.”

Whichever title appeals to you, you can find related articles, blogs, associations, summer camps, competitions, and success stories on the Internet and in books. While you are living at home is a great time to create your own business, because your parents are taking care of your personal overhead. If you can find an inexpensive way to create and market a product or service (like the eleven- and nine-year-old brothers who created a math game sold for iPhones), you can be one step closer to your dream job—and your dream life.

Wow! You’ve done a lot of good work discovering what you love to do, who your favorite types of people are, and where you’d like to work and live. Maybe some questions still need answering, but that’s fine. Those answers will come with time. We hope you’ve discovered some things about yourself that you didn’t even know and confirmed some things you did know.

The discoveries you’ve made about yourself in
part 1
lay the foundation for the practical steps you can take to land your dream job, presented in
part 3
. But first, in
part 2
we want to take a look at getting the most out of high school and college (if you plan to go to college), as well as some other tools that can get you further down the road toward finding your dream job.

IF YOU WANT TO EXPLORE FURTHER…

Finding Potential Dream Jobs

The Occupational Information Network (O*Net Online) has full descriptions of hundreds of occupations:
http://online.onetcenter.org
.

For an alphabetical list of jobs with comprehensive information, including salary and training requirements, check out this website:
http://stats.bls.gov/oco
.

For stories of young adults who have found their dream jobs through community college programs, go to
www.whodouwant2b.com
.

Junior Achievement offers useful career information at
http://studentcenter.ja.org/careers/Pages/default.aspx
.

Your reaction to the video at this link will help you determine whether you want to work to live or live to work:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7JlI959slY
.

Apprenticeships, Internships, Study Abroad, and Other Opportunities

The U.S. Department of Labor can provide information on different kinds of work and apprenticeships. There are over twenty-nine thousand different apprenticeship programs offered by the Department of Labor. Formal apprenticeships are unique in that you’re paid to work while you learn. You must attend training classes as well. Check out this website:
www.careervoyages.gov
.

For listings of internships, apprenticeships, volunteer, and study-abroad opportunities, check out this website:
http://rileyguide.com/intern.html
.

Economics

Keynes, John.
The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
. Signalman Publishing, 2009.

Kiosaka, Robert.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad for Teens: The Secrets about Money—That You Don’t Learn in School!
Running Press Miniature Editions, 2009.

Smith, Adam.
Wealth of Nations
. Prometheus Books, 1991.

If you want to learn more about the American system of money, this forty-seven-minute animated video covers the basics:
www.filmsforaction.org/film/?Film=247&Title=Money_As_Debt
.

John Gerzema, Chief Insights Officer (I want this job title!) at Young & Rubican explains how the consumer economy may recover:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONXYcN-7k1Y
.

General Job-Hunting and Career Information

For the inside scoop, see Michael Gregory’s
The Career Chronicles: An Insider’s Guide to What Jobs Are Really Like—the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from over 750 Professionals
(New World Library, 2008).

Use this link for a list of a hundred career-related blogs that cover an amazing variety of topics:
www.careerrocketeer.com/2009/07/100-career-blogs-all-professionals-must.html#comments
.