Sean Aiken graduated from college and like a lot of kids had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. What he did have was a very creative way to figure it out. He lined up 52 very diverse organizations who were willing to employee him for one week and then give his paycheck to charity. He filmed the project and wrote a terrific little book called The One-Week Job Project. Sean shares his experience here on a Ted Talk.
I work with people all the time to help them identify their strengths and then deliver them in the workplace. I use a variety of inquiries or questions, assessments and other tools to help my clients uncover gifts and talents long overlooked and underused. But the best indicator available is to "try stuff". Sometimes you need to try a lot of stuff before you find your niche.
In my last post I used the analogy of trying on a suit of clothes. When Susy and I went shopping for her wedding dress, we covered dozens of stores and half of California in the process. Then there it was...on a rack at Nordstrom in South Coast Plaza.
Lining up your dream job, the one that fits will take some effort. Sean Aiken embarked on a very novel approach that allowed him to "try on" a lot of jobs in a relatively short amount of time. You can take a similar approach. Conduct informational interviews. Set up job shadows and internships. Volunteer.
Watch Sean's talk and be inspired!
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