Tapping into the network

[resonant]

Or: Who wants to help the Res decide what she wants to be when/if she grows up? (Not cutting because I want maximum input, but I'll try to keep it brief.)

I've been doing the exercises in What Color Is Your Parachute, and have ended up with a list of transferable skills and a list of interests.

Skills:

Analyze
Solve problems/see patterns
Evaluate
Imagine/invent
Classify/organize
Plan

Interests:

Social sciences
Design of spaces
Communication studies
Folklore
Speculative fiction
Libraries

The next step is to ask everyone I know: Do these suggest any job titles to you? Do they suggest any job fields to you?

The best job I ever had was one that I didn't know such a thing existed until I found myself interviewing for it, so I'm very open to unexpected suggestions from you brainy and extremely diverse people. (Please feel free to share this post; I'm very interested in advice from everyone, whether I know them or not.)

Comments

[littlemousling]

Ignoring the interests, the skills SCREAM lawyer. Says the law student (what? I'm not biased at all!).

It's a great gig, honestly. If you can stay out of huge corporate firms, anyway, and you totally can. Just three years of school, one big test, and you're minted---plus, you only get MORE useful and desirable as you get older, which is more than can be said for a lot of professions.

Save the world! Be a lawyer. :)

[cetpar.livejournal.com]

Epidemiology, especially something like behavioral epidemiology. You could use all the skills you've listed, and the job would dovetail with some of your interests like social sciences and communication studies. It could even include your design of spaces interest because of workspace planning and occupational health.

[raucousraven.livejournal.com]

Erm... are you willing to go back to school? (http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/courses/courses/index.htm) (I apologise if the question is one you've previously answered.) Even if not, taking or listening to a few classes can help figure if you like the subject matter or not. But if school is an option, maybe these ideas will help?

The MLS is the best bet if you want to live in the library forever. There is also game design, if you are systems-minded and coding-friendly. If you want to use the pattern-finding in something concrete, then Environmental (http://design.asu.edu/phd/index.shtml) or Industrial (http://www.core77.com/design.edu/) Design (http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/talenthunt/index.asp?chan=innovation_special+report+--+d-schools_special+report+--+d-schools) might be the way to go -- you become R&D for the real world, basically. But if you want to deal with patterns alone, urban planning (http://laep.ced.berkeley.edu/) might suit better. Hope that helps.