According to Jean-Philippe Michel, a Toronto-based career coach, students today should focus on a collection of skills, rather than a particular profession. For example, Michel coaches students to acquire the skills to ‘use empathy in a medical setting’ rather than focusing on ‘becoming a doctor’.
This resonates for me. My career path has made it difficult to say what my profession is (non-profit professional? equity and sustainability consultant? social enterprise strategist?) as I have focused more on skills and passions, rather than a particular traditional title. This flexibility has led me to be able to take on projects that wouldn’t have been available to me if I had pursued, say, a job as a non-profit director (which I now find myself in, among others!). On the other hand, it makes it difficult at times to describe what I do.
How about you, readers? Do you have a traditional profession? Or do you have a set of skills that has become your career? What about the narrators in the MY JOB book?