An End to the ‘Midlife Crisis:’ or, How to ID the Best Careers the First Time Around

A web-based career ID tool has the ability to identify – with 100% objectivity and 90% accuracy - careers in which an adult or teenager has the greatest opportunity for success and, at the same time, avoid a midlife crisis. MIDLIFE CRISIS AN ACQUIRED DILEMMA Has there ever been anyone in a midlife crisis who “loved” his or her job? Of course not. Think about it. Ask anyone to describe a ‘midlife crisis’ and his or her first response is ‘job dissatisfaction.’ Interestingly, virtually every clinical definition of a midlife crisis includes a reference to job dissatisfaction. EDUCATION SYSTEM & CULTURE AT FAULT Our culture and our education system are to blame for this anomaly. Parents, educators and peers all have a hand in contributing to the creation of a ‘midlife’ problem. They mistakenly tell an individual they will make “…a great attorney, teacher, nurse…” etc, etc. Everyone then continues to reinforce a stereotypical model of the ‘whatever’ they have said our individual should be. The individual now starts taking all the appropriate high school classes and the college courses leading to the career of a ‘whatever.’ After college a position is secured using the acquired education and then more courses are pursued to acquire a higher level of skill and education. All is well for about twenty years into the future when the individual now starts showing signs of job and career dissatisfaction – their midlife crisis has started. MIDLIFE CRISIS REACHED Our individual has finally arrived at a point in his or her life where they have “peaked” in the wrong career. In a manner of speaking they were doomed to fail from the beginning because they chose a career that did not match them either personality-wise and/or mental aptitude-wise. Both personality and mental aptitude are critical in identifying the best careers for someone to pursue. Having the personality for a particular career does not mean the individual has the mental aptitude to succeed in that career. One without the other is assurance of a career time bomb that usually leads to midlife crisis that could have been avoided. All of the frustration and problems associated with a midlife crisis could have been avoided if the individual had objectively identified the best careers for him or her to pursue. PERSONALITY MORE IMPORTANT A study by Dr. Nathan Bowling, from Wright State University (Dayton, OH), concludes matching a job candidate’s personality with those required in a specific job is critical to job performance. The study, appearing in Science Daily, titled ‘Personality More Important Than Job Satisfaction in Determining Job Performance’ is a research paper based on data from thousands of employees who participated in dozens of industrial studies in hundreds of companies. Bowling does have it half-right by recognizing the importance of personality in job performance. The other half, mental aptitude, must also be included in the equation. BENCHMARKS ESTABLISHED A web-based assessment called Career Direction (http://www.careerdirection.com/) is accurate to ninety-percent in identifying the best careers for someone to pursue. Career Direction is completely objective and cannot be manipulated as “personality tests” can. DREAM JOBS With an assessment such as Career Direction, adults and teenagers have the ability to objectively and accurately identify their ‘dream job.’ Individuals can confirm the job they are currently in is where they should be. Moms and dads can also be reassured their child is pursuing the best major for him or her, before the kid goes to college. And teenagers have the ability to identify their best career choices at an early age. Career Direction is the only career ID tool that uses both personality and mental aptitude as they directly relate to specific careers. So, in less than an hour, an individual can objectively (100%) and accurately (90%) identify specific careers in which they have the greatest opportunity for success. Tom Thoms is the principal of CareerDirection.com (http://www.CareerDirection.com). CareerDirection.com is the home of Career Direction, a web-based, career identification tool. Career Direction is 100% objective and 90% accurate in identifying careers in which an individual has the greatest opportunity for success. Tom is a contractor with Candidate Resources, Inc. (http://www.CRI.com). CRI specializes in the design, construction, and implementation of custom, web-based, applicant management systems. CRI’s online systems perform all applicant screening, tracking and data management required to comply with all federal guidelines. CRI systems, meet, or exceed, all AAP, EEOC and OFCCP compliance guidelines, reporting and record archiving. (http://www.applicantmanagement.biz/)