I just took a career assessment that Inver Hills links to: http://www.iseek.org/careers/assessyourself.html

It matched me up with the following 3 careers in this order:
1. Post Secondary Education
2. Elementary and Secondary Education
3. Clergy

I love, love, love Inver Hills. I love the learning environment, the teachers, the campus, the people. It’s been a huge learning experience just attending school there. Because of that I, very seriously, have been thinking about making my way towards a teaching position at a Community College. I was quite surprised when that’s what my number one match was.

I’ve also met a huge amount of teachers through church this past year. In the 9 months of going to River Valley I’ve met 5 teachers (all around my age too)- 2 high school/middle school and 3 elementary. This has really got me considering an elementary teaching career as well. I had never considered one before because of the $ (which the advice in the previous post really helped me to see it should never be all about $), but I’m beginning to think the trade off for career happiness and the knowledge that I’m contributing to the world through my work with young people would probably give me a level of satisfaction that no amount of $ could ever give me.

So many things to think about and consider. I’ve been praying a lot lately about what God wants me to be and do with my life. I know that if I go where he’s leading me there’s no way I could be unhappy.

I posted on a message board I frequent asking about everyone’s college degree and if they use it in their current job or if they wish they would have gotten a different degree. The answers all varied, but I think the best question I asked also got the best answers. What advice do you (as a degree holder) have for a degree seeker (me)?

Here is some of the feedback:
-To help make your decision it might be helpful to look at job options for people with a degree in the options you are considering. Good luck!
-Try to find something you love, but don’t be afraid to take some risks. And if you give something a shot and realize it’s not for you after all, don’t be afraid to try a different direction.
-don’t major in something just because you feel like you have to. And take classes in a random area you’d never considered before (photography, art, theater, math, whatever!). I think it is rare once you’re out of school to have the chance, time, energy, and money to just tackle something totally new like that.
-Don’t rush into anything just to make a decision. I stuggle almost daily wondering if I made the right decision, wondering if I should have gone a different path etc., and I feel a lot of unnecessary pressure to make “the right decision.” Granted a lot of this pressure is self-inficted, but it is a big decision to make, so I guess what I’m trying to say don’t stress to much about not knowing yet.
-ditto pp, check out any jobs you might be interested in and see what kind of availability there is for new grads.
-Do not be afraid to try other classes and go off the path if needed. I always wanted to take an accounting class but it didn’t fit in with my program.
- work at a community college, so I will definitely advise you to… use the resources available to you – talk to career counselors at your college!
-Don’t stress out about needing to have a major right away. Take classes in the fields you are interested in and eventually it will come to you. Also, don’t worry about graduating in a certain time frame. Those were my two biggest stressors when I was in college and looking back, I realize how dumb they are.
-Don’t set limits on yourself based on your degree.
-Do what you love not what will make the most money, eventually you will figure out what is the best fit for you
-Figure out what you want to do before settling on a degree.
-What makes you happy? What is the one thing that you enjoy about your day and look forward to doing? Seek that out.
-I think you have an advantage because you have been working for awhile and just have more life experience to decide. When I was in college I thought I wanted to work in the big corporate marketing world… well I did for 5 years and now I know it is definitely not for me!! If possible, you might want to shadow someone in a career you are thinking about and just talk to people. Good luck!
-Pick a degree program that has skills that can be transferrable to other fields. Give yourself some room to grow and don’t box yourself in.
-talk to people already in the field that you’re interested in.
-My advice would be to be passionate about what you study!
-I think if you pursue your passions and find a way to make it work into a paying job you can do anything. You just have to be smart about the way you do it.
-I’d say pick a major you enjoy, but be practical.
-The majority of people I know who have a 2 or 4 year degree do not work in the area of their major. If you don’t know what you want to be when you grow up, pick something you’re interested in that isn’t too random and get a wide variety of generals in.
-Everyone seems to say, “follow your heart and do what you love” BUT, here is my advice… Choose a degree that has a direct career path. I have friends with degrees in theater, history, etc. and they just aren’t very employable degrees, especially in this market. Don’t pick a degree simply because it will make you a lot of money – you have to be satisfied with what you do with your life. BUT, income after college should definitely be a component in your degree selection.
-You can go several different directions with any degree. I would advise you to think hard about what kind of career you want. I didn’t do that after college because I just wanted a full-time job. Now I’m stuck in a profession I’m not happy in and trying to get into something different.
-Make sure it’s something you’re passionate about and not for the $$, take jobs that you feel would be interesting to find what you love and grow from there.
-No matter what you select, it’s okay to not like every single class. For example, I hate Organic Chemistry with a passion not seen in most humans. It makes my blood boil and my head hurt, but it wasn’t the end of the world. I took the class, got through it with Bs and moved on. So, don’t be deterred by an errant class or two that don’t fit your style!

If you have any advice for me please feel free to pass it on in our comments section.