Time to Spare?

When you find yourself with some time to kill, how do you spend that time?  Down time is precious; with school, work, family obligations, social events and more competing for our attention, so I’m sure that you try to spend your free time doing what you really like to do. Guess what?  Often, how we choose to spend our valuable free time can give us clues for our career direction.

While watching CSI doesn’t necessarily mean that you want to go into forensic investigation, if you find yourself drawn to those shows, as well as programs on real-life crime investigations, then chances are you have a real curiosity about the field and may be interested in work that gives you the opportunity to analyze information and solve problems.

Think about it. What kinds of television shows do you like?  Are you addicted to the Discovery channel?  Entertainment news?  Cooking shows?  What kinds of books or magazines do you like to read? Do you spend all of your free time outdoors or playing with your dog or playing video games?  Start to take notice and make a list. Then think about what those things say about you and how you can translate them into a possible career. For example, if you love to write and are obsessed with watching sports, maybe you would like to be a sports writer.

So, the next time you are taking a break from schoolwork and “goofing off”, if your parents yell at you, just tell them you are working on your career goals. And don’t forget to discuss those goals with a career counselor in The Career Center.  We are here to help!

Darlene Johnson, Director of External Relations