College and University Blog
How to Choose a Career: The Strength-Centric Approach
Continuing on in my study of choosing a career goal before college, there are several approaches that you can take in narrowing your possible choice. If you have specific interests, passions, or hobbies that you would like to pursue further, or if you have clear-cut strengths that you believe could benefit a certain job, this is an article for you.
(NOTE: If you have not even a clue about the aforementioned, you need to start at the beginning : How to Choose a Career: 4 Basic Questions.)
What is a Strength-Centric Approach
I find social and cultural anthropology, its flow, its patterns very interesting, and in view of analyzing human strengths and human demand, I came to somewhat of a generic conclusion: The flux of humankind is very much like a jigsaw puzzle. Our individual strengths line up with other individual needs and so a demand will be birthed, creating a need for jobs that will encapsulate our strengths. (My mother always accused me of spouting hot air, and now I’m starting to believe her.)
Anyway, if you can muster a point from my “generic conclusion,” you’ve found the meaning of what I call a strength-centric approach. It’s actually very simple:
Careers Categorized By Strengths
I was recently given the book, “All-in-One College Guide,” by Marty Nemko, Ph.D., a very comprehensive resource that outlines the college process from start to finish. In this book, the author, Nemko, categorizes a number of popular careers according to a general strength: Word-Centric, People-Centric, Science/Math Centric, Art-Centric.
I feel this is a helpful approach for those who know their strengths, but need a jump-start for career ideas. (I’ll let you do the research on the details.)
Word-Centric Career Ideas
If you love words, whether to speak them or write them here are some career options that you might want to consider:
- Editor
- Foreign Language Interpreter
- Journalist
- Lawyer
- Librarian
- Linguist
- Professor
- Publisher
- Radio/Television Broadcaster
- Stenographer
- Writer (Author, Novelist, Ghostwriter, Company Blogger, Copy Editor)
People-Centric Career Ideas
If you are drawn to people in any capacity, there are plenty of career ideas for you:
- Coach
- Counselor
- Clergyman
- Customer Service
- Funeral Director
- Politician
- Psychologist
- Public Relations
- Realtor
- Retail
- Salesman
- Talent/Employment Agent
- Teacher
Science/Math-Centric Careers
For you number crunchers and science fanatics out there, here are some careers that might fit your bill:
- Accountant/Finance
- Administrator
- Architect
- Banker
- Chef
- Engineer
- IT/Computer Programmer
- Nurse/Physician
- Medical Examiner/Mortician
- Medical Specialist – Optometrist, Dentist, Psychiatrist
- Pharmacist
- Statistician
- Stock Broker
- Trades – Electrician, Carpenter, Roofer, etc.
- Therapist
- ____ologist (zoologist, meteorologist, biologist)
- Veterinarian
Art-Centric Careers
And the moment we’ve all been waiting for, careers for artists or artsy-fartsies as my mother calls them—jobs that are most coveted, but definitely not for all. The problem with finding employment in the arts is the work is either inconsistent, highly competitive or rarely lucrative unless it is of greater echelon. With that aside, it’s always okay to dream, right?
- Actor
- Art Director
- Audio/Video Engineer
- Cameraman
- Dancer/Choreographer
- Fashion/Costume Designer
- Fashion Stylist
- Film Director
- Filmmaker
- Foley Artist (creates sound effects)
- Graphic Designer
- Image Consultant
- Interior Decorator
- Interior Designer
- Landscape Architect
- Make-up Artist
- Musician
- Painter
- Photographer
- Print Model
- Singer
- Video/Disc Jockey