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You are here: Experts > Hobbies > Arts/Crafts Business > Arts/Crafts Business > graphic design/animation/marketing career
Expert: Shasta McLaughlin
Date: 9/17/2008
Subject: graphic design/animation/marketing career
Question
Well where do I begin. I'm a 22 year old male. I have been drifting for so long, plugging away at college. I suffer from a major case of indecisiveness. I have been taking a variety of college courses for a number years, but I have not decided on a major yet. I've completed a certificate in surgical technology as a means to test out the healthcare field, but have not found employment in it yet, mostly due to my own laziness in trying to find a job and the lack of respect that I got in the demanding hospitals that I worked in during my internship. I am now going towards a nursing degree, which is probably what I should have done in the first place. However, I am very worried that I am doing this nursing major solely for the money and opportunity. I have been hearing so much that the major is very physically and emotionally demanding, and that doing it for the wrong reasons, such as only for the money, will lead to early burnout. I do not want this major to end up a repeat of surgical technology, where I spend so much time and money on a degree and end up not doing anything with it. I have always had an interest in animation, but parental advice has led me to forget that passion as it is not a 'practical' career and that an art career is a very risky in terms of future financial prospects. I do want to live comfortably, but I do want to do something that I like. I am very afraid of doing an art related major because of the fear of not being able to support myself financially, not being able to find a stable, good job due to the competitiveness of the field, and the frustration of thinking that what I do with art is meaningless and not practical, as in not of any use to mankind.
My interests are very diverse. I both love and hate that I consider myself a jack-of-all-trades. I need to find something stable, secure, and with a definitive purpose. I have been trying to search my soul as to what I want to do with my life and I am torn between many options. I like that a career in healthcare is very secure, but I worry that I do not have enough compassion to help my fellow human beings in their time of suffering, and I worry about it affecting my own health and sanity. I like animation because I am a creative person at heart, but from what I hear the field is so competitive I have a slim chance at finding stable employment with good pay. Engineering sounds fun because I can use science to solve problems in creative ways, but I am not a studious student and worry I can't motivate myself to study so long and hard for such a degree. I also hear that many jobs are being outsourced to other countries, which frustrates and discourages me to consider animation/engineering/graphic design/marketing.
Geez, I sound like a real pessimist and am much too picky about a career decision. My indecisiveness has caused me a lot of grief due to loss of time and money in my education, and the stress of not knowing if my future will be stable financially.
I guess taking a variety of courses shows initiative in learning what I want to do with my life, but I have been at it for more than four years with no choosen path yet. All, or most of my former high school classmates have graduated, some have even gotten married and starting their after-college lives. I feel like an immature adult still stuck in the self-discovery phase of my college life. My very own little sister who is two years younger than me is already well on her way towards graduating from college on-time with a nursing degree. I've talked to my parents about it, and knowing me they told me that I'll never be fully happy in any profession I choose so I should just choose nursing because it offers the best opportunities though I may not like it. In fact, my mom wants me to choose a less demanding/stressful healthcare career because of my personality, while my dad wants nursing because of the opportunities and a secure future.
I have discovered I am an INFP/ISFP in the myers briggs personality type. I struggle with trying to decide on a career that offers security, good pay, and something that I can enjoy doing. I know that no career is perfect, but I have trouble learning to compromise. Nursing would provide the security I crave, financially and job opportunity-wise, but I do not consider myself the most receptive "people person." Animation would definitely allow me to use my creativity, but job stability is close to nonexistant. I get discouraged a lot with nursing also being a female dominated profession, and most males being victim of gender discrimination. I'm trying to make up my own damn mind and not be swayed by what other people want for me and the fear of the unknown future. All this worry and stress has been hurting my health and preventing me from progressing and making a career decision. God, I don't know what to do. Any thoughts?
Answer
Kevin,
First:
You are only 22, that's not terribly OOOLLLLDDD that you should have already decided on something and gone for it whole hog.
Second:
You have completed a course in surgical technology. That is great, most of us would never have tried that let alone completed it.
Third:
You are right, anything you do that has to do with medicine should REQUIRE EXTREME love and compassion for others. I won't tell you the story here because they are extremely personal but the medical profession has done me wrong several times and the last time it possibly cost my child's life.
However compassion for other people can and should be learned what ever you choose. Learn to listen to what they are saying and to truly hear their needs, and care about them. Doing what you can to meet those needs is what customer service is about and will lead to an extremely successful business or failure in any profession.
Fourth:
To really feel successful in life you should choose a career path doing something you would truly enjoy. Why spend your life doing something you hate, and how do you think that will make you feel successful?
Fifth:
Being a jack-of-all-trades is both good and bad. I am also a jack-of-all-trades I can do many things (practically anything I want to do) very well, some things extremely well, nothing exceptionally well. Yet if I desired to I could focus on any one of those things long enough to become exceptional at it. Practice makes perfect. The world needs both kinds.
Sixth:
No matter how old you are or what career you choose your life will probably not take you where you expect it to. Learn to be a little flexible and roll with the punches. Don't be afraid to keep trying things out until you find the one thing you would really like to do. It never hurts to learn something new and you never know how that knowledge will help you in the future. New knowledge is never wasted!
Seventh:
I can't tell you what to do any more than your parents can and know that you will be successful at and enjoy what you are doing.
Here are my thoughts you finished a certificate in surgery so you must have enjoyed that. You probably wouldn't have finished it if you hadn't, am I correct? Do you want a job in surgery, have you applied for jobs in surgery, are you applying for the correct jobs in surgery? Have you considered the need for surgeons in third world countries? You might not be as successful money wise there but you would feel like you were truly helping the world.
Consider getting a job doing something you know while taking a few classes for something you would like to know. You don't have to complete the course in record time or even complete it at all, if it's not what you wanted. It may or may not lead to a change in careers in the future.
See what James Dillehay had to say about feeling successful at this interview I had with him on my blog:
http://extravaganzacrafts.com/Blogs/category/announcements/interviews-with-indus...
Good luck with your decision and your life. You will find something!
Shasta
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