The person who is not certain of himself or his abilities should seek professional vocational counseling. He can secure the name of an accredited guidance agency located in his area from the American Board on Counseling Services of the American Personnel and Guidance Association, 1605 New Hampshire Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009.
You might well be advised to seek such guidance if you are unhappy with your present career, but do not know where to turn. Recommendations that professional counselors give are based on a battery of tests and an interview session, not just one test. Examinations include those that determine personal ity traits; intellectual capacities; reading and academic skills; and special aptitudes shown in fields of demonstrated interest, such as art, engineering, mathematics or science.
Another place for you to turn if you are unhappy in your profession is the United States government. Government publications of various federal agencies give up-to-date information on specific occupations and careers. Pamphlets, bulletins, reports, directories and books of information are available. Some are free; for the others, the cost is nominal. For information on titles and prices, write to the Superintendent of Documents, United States Government Printing Office, Washing ton, D.C. 20402. You can also find these publications in public libraries.
Two of the government publications that you will find useful are The Occupational Outlook Handbook, published every two years by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, and The Occupational Outlook Quarterly, a quarterly supplement to the Handbook. Together they offer up-to-date information on occupations and industries.
Your library is a good source of career information, but you can also obtain a wealth of material for little more than the price of postage from a number of other organizations. On the last pages of this book are names and addresses of associations that provide information on individual fields.
Each of the following organizations offers pamphlets on virtually every career, giving job descriptions, employment opportunities, qualifications necessary, earnings and advancement:
There are, of course, additional reasons you may feel you are in the wrong company other than choice of career. Some people thrive on the competition, the wheeling and the dealing and the pressures of the large corporation. Some like a formal atmosphere; others prefer a relaxed informality. A few individuals work well only in the free-lance world; others yet feel they must start their own one- or two-man business.
In your self-examination, be careful not to confuse wishful thinking with your actual personality. For instance, you might think it great to be your own boss in a small store or to schedule your own work hours doing free lance. You may not be able, however, to function at your best except under the imposed discipline of an office.
This article is not intended as a job-search guide. There are many adequate books in the field. Some points, however, that these guides may not give enough emphasis to are worth mentioning here. If you have decided that you are working for the wrong kind of company:
a. Take your time in making the change.
b. Don't leave one job before finding another.
c. Examine the possibility of changing departments instead of companies.
d. Develop ways of meeting as many people in your field as possible; through suppliers, at parties, in bar and restaurant hangouts for your career, and so forth.
e. Don't burn your bridges behind you. No matter whether you are changing careers or not, you never know when you will have to turn back to a previous employer for some kind of help.
f. Study the new company and position thoroughly before accepting a position.
g. Make certain that each new job develops you in one way or another. For example, five developing years in various related jobs is better than ten years of experience doing exactly the same thing.
