I like to think I’m a better career counselor from having had so many careers. Here are lessons I learned from each
Accounts receivable clerk. At age 12, my father’s friend hired me. He paid me $2 an hour and fired me a month later because I was so eager to show I could get the work done quickly that I made too many errors. I just couldn’t slow myself down. Lesson learned: Speed is only impressive when accompanied by accuracy.
Pianist. When I was 16 and 17, every summer Saturday, I played for $25 for four hours at a bungalow colony (translation: slum vacation spot) in the Catskill Mountains. My three-piece band and I had to drive 240 miles round trip to get there but we loved playing and so it was worth it. Lesson learned: It may be worth doing work you love, even if you take a net loss--at least when you're young.
Cab driver. In college, I drove the night shift in Manhattan. Loved it. If I’m honest, it was my favorite job ever: I succeeded with every customer and had great conversations. Lesson learned: Status can be the enemy of contentment.
Medical researcher. In my cab, I was lucky enough to get the famous medical researcher, Neal Miller, as a passenger. Miller was the first person to prove that biofeedback worked. I quipped, “I’m not letting you out of this cab unless you give me a job.” He did. Lesson learned: There’s no risk and plenty upside in asking for what you want.
Drug counselor. I ran “rap groups” with teenagers in an inner-city New York City public school. Not only could I not disabuse them of drug use, I couldn’t even control the group. Lesson learned: Sincerity isn’t enough.You must know how to interact with people from cultures that are very different from your own.
School psychologist. Another failure. I just didn’t have the ability to help special ed kids enough. Lesson learned: We need to find the sorts of people we work most successfully with.
Classroom teacher. Yet another failure. I returned to an inner-city public school. I wanted to prove that I could succeed with tough kids. Yes, I had learned how to command their respect but I was unable to improve their learning enough. After three years of trying hard, very hard, I quit. Lesson learned: Not every problem is solvable no matter how much education, experience, and effort.
University instructor. I was itinerant, filling in for a semester for someone on maternity leave, then a temp to accommodate a temporary blip in students, etc. My student evaluations were excellent, my PhD was from Berkeley with honors, and I am a prolific writer, yet I could never land a permanent professorship. Lesson Learned: We don't live in a meritocracy. At two universities, I was told that I was very worthy of a tenure-track position but that factors other than merit affect hiring decisions.
Career Counselor. I wasn’t in love with being a career counselor but I adapted it to suit my strengths and preferences: working at home, being more active in sessions than is the typical counselor, and having a public outlet (writing and speaking) to add a little pizazz to my career. Lesson Learned: Like a suit of clothes, for a career to really work, you must tailor and accessorize it.
Columnist. I’ve never taken a journalism course yet have written 2,800 columns and articles. Indeed I had to unlearn how graduate school taught me to write---obfuscatorily. What helped was that I showed drafts of my articles to just-plain people and begged for feedback: What’s clear and not? What’s interesting and not? Lesson learned: Sometimes, it’s better to learn outside of school.
Radio host. My daughter had a friend over. For the fun of it, I interviewed them and recorded it. Because I had nothing to lose, I sent the recording to two radio stations. KALW-FM said yes and now, I’m in my 26th year hosting a weekly program on that NPR station in San Francisco. Lesson learned: Again, ask for what you want. And schooling isn’t the only way to get hired.
Rose hybridizer. I loved that, for very little money, you can buy a rose bush that quickly grows into a romantic flower factory that lasts for decades. But roses are prone to disease, which often requires spraying with fungicides. So I decided to learn how to hybridize roses—My goal was to create roses that never needed spraying. I learned by reading articles and books and then visiting a few professional rose hybridizers, most who had degrees in botany. I now have three commercial roses on the market, for which I’ve received almost $100,000 in royalties. Lesson learned: Again, if you’re a self-motivated learner, you can learn a lot without going to school.
Instructor of medical students. Now, as an adjunct to my career counseling practice, I teach medical students at the University of California, San Francisco the art and science of communicating with patients. That work is among the most rewarding I’ve ever done. Lesson learned: Being around very smart, motivated, idealistic people is wonderful.
The takeaway
Perhaps one or more of those lessons may be of value to you. But maybe even more valuable, try listing all your careers and the lessons learned.
Marty Nemko's bio is in Wikipedia.