Finding your passion, or just finding a job

I am in the midst of reading several books about the shifting world of work and career transitions right now and came across a few eye openers:

1. The structure of work has been changing for the past 20 years, away from an employer/
   employee model developed in the Industrial Age. Yet, the work is still there, and it's our job to find it--or create the position, either in-house or on our own. We must find where the need is, and even if we are employed in a company, to see ourselves as marketers (of ourselves), always striving to meet the current and future needs, rather than just perform the tasks in our job description.
2. The way we find work has shifted dramatically in the past few years in a giant circle--once upon a time, we found about work from others we knew and the people they knew through direct contact; then we turned to newspapers and then to online listings, and now we use online social technologies to find out about work from others we know and their connections.
3. There is an overwhelming amount of information and advice (some conflicting) on finding your passion, doing what you love, creating your future and your next position if it's not already out there waiting for you, vs. the business reports on the nightly news about the number of persons unemployed, underemployed and who have given up the search. I hear of people with executive skills and experience working part time and/or taking work that pays $10 an hour to earn some income. I don't believe that all of these people aren't smart enough, creative enough or self-actualized enough.
   
   This is confusing when in the heart of the search, and trying to figure out where to focus your energy. Given the major upheaval in the economy the past 2 decades that shows no signs of returning to the working world of old, I fear that the underlying principle around work in this country are not true---that you can do anything you want if you set your mind to it and you work hard. Does that mean we have created a marketplace where only 1 percent can succeed, and the other 99 percent who might not be able to move across the country,  or work 7 days a week for 3 years straight to save enough money to start our own businesses are doomed to the service economy that's replaced middle class work? Do we all have to go back to school to become computer scientists, pharmacists, doctors or engineers, 'cause those are the good paying jobs with lots of openings posted on the online job boards.
   
   Yes, there are exceptional people with incredible drive and a focused goal that they are willing and able to sacrifice everything else in their lives to achieve for a long period of time. But what about the rest of us, who are hard working, and want to better our lives and our families, have a fair idea of what we'd like to do, what we are good at, but aren't as driven, or don't have a spouse to take care of the family or work another job to support us in finding our dream?

I find the guidelines and exercises in career transition resources helpful to replace some of the external structure and internal sense of self as defined by my working life used to provide. I need someone to say, "For Pete's sake, pick something you like. What do you mean you don't know what you like or want to do for the next 5-20 years? Come on, you must like to do SOMETHING! Go ahead--write it down! Don't you get it? You are in a position where you have nothing to lose!" (Okay, they say all that in a kinder, gentler way. but that's the basic message.)

The repetition of the message forces me out of my shell of non-commitment. I need something or someone to jar my thinking, to move my home base from the comfortable and familiar to something new, because I've been sleep walking in a safe, comfortable zone the past 10 years or so.

I don't mean to be so black and white in my description of the paths open to us in this new world. There are about 3 million job openings in America, and not all of them for a stock clerk at Walmart or call center rep. But it does require that some who are used to getting our way in the world without much resistance have to stop and rethink our values and what we have to offer, and others of us who have remained in safe harbors to get out there in the open waters and take some chances.

RESOURCES
Bolles, Richard. What Color is Your Parachute? 2012: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers. NY: Ten Speed Press, 2012. 40th Edition. One of my first Kindle Fire book purchases. This issue has been "vastly rewritten" for the survivalist in the job market. Still a helpful guide, asking us to ask ourselves, "what is THIS TIME for?"

Bridges, William. Job Shift: How to Prosper in a Workplace Without Jobs. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. 1994. About the 'de-jobbing' of America, and how the mergers and job losses of the 1990s were the start of a trend still underway today... the 'job' as we know it goes away, but the work is still there--how do we find where the need is and become a marketer of ourselves in this new way of working?

Kay, Andrea. Greener Pastures: How to Find a Job in Another Place. NY: St Martin's Griffin, 1999. Step by step guide for finding work in another part of the country.

Robinson, Ph.D., Ken with Aronica, Lou. The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes

Everything. NY: Penguin Books. 2009. This is not a job search guide per se, but I love his descriptions of creativity and imagination. I am sure I will find more to love the deeper I get into this book.

RSA Animate--Changing Education Paradigms

For a wonderful, graphically illustrator lecture by Sir Ken Robinson on the changing paradigm of education--how the way we educate (or fail to educate) youth is out of date:

 or click here to view it on the RSA Animate's You Tube Channel

Fresh Eyes on America's Health Care

I heard this story my local NPR station this morning Boise State Radio, which is inspiring and also what got me thinking about what sort of sacrifices creating a worthwhile career can demand. To go to on American Public Radio's website, click here.