Careerist, Entrepreneur, Goal-Setter, Learner, Personality Tests

Find Your Career Path: Book Review

Posted by Monica O'Brien on March 17, 2008 at 4:00 am.

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If there’s one thing I hate, it’s when people ask me for my 10-year plan; and as I navigated through graduating from school, starting my first real job, then quitting it after the one-year mark, it seemed like everyone but me had a 10-year plan.  My husband, who started volunteering his summers at a local hospital in 8th grade because he knew he wanted to be a doctor.  My best friend and roommate, who had planned her life to the age of thirty before she started college.  My dad, who stayed in the same military career for 26 years before retiring, then hiring back on to the same job as a civilian.  Everyone knew what they wanted, something I didn’t have.

Six months ago, here’s what I did have: I had a degree in Computer Science. I had admission to one of the top graduate business schools in the country. I had 16 months of experience at a Fortune 300. And I had a job offer at one of the hottest software companies in downtown Chicago.

But I was incredibly unhappy with my career. My boomer parents thought I should be happy because I was making more money than some of their peers. My husband thought I should be happy because my degree was like a season pass to Six Flags when it came to the job market.  My friends thought I should be happy because I got my job offer six months before graduating, with little effort, because there are no women in my field.

So I tried to be happy and make sense of the things I had. Every day I tried to put the pieces of my career puzzle together; and quite frankly, every day made me feel more hopeless.

I did what most people do when they are lost: search far and wide for a map or marker to help them navigate. But since no one else thought I was lost, I had to look in strange places. One day I came across a post from Ryan Healy that had a link to a personality assessment on JT O’Donnell’s website.  Naturally, I was interested in my interaction style, so I took it… and lo and behold, at the end of the page was a link to JT O’Donnell’s workbook, Find Your Career Path.  My credit card was out in seconds.

Find Your Career Path is about getting a career and work environment that is compatable with your strengths.  The workbook is divided into four sections using the G.L.O.W. Method:

  • Part I: Gaining Perspective - a series of unique personality assessments to give you a better perspective of your strengths
  • Part II: Luminating Your Goal - a guide to determining a best fit career and workplace environment
  • Part III: Owning Your Actions - information on creating your resume, developing a career story, and taking the steps necessary to get your dream job
  • Part IV: Working It Daily - a worksheet that will help you stay committed to reaching your goals

This workbook is great for two reasons.  The first is that JT provides a step-by-step guide to changing careers.  Going through this process is similar to what JT offers in her personal consulting sessions, so it’s an inexpensive alternative to hiring a career coach.  It’s great for people who are self-starters and want to get started understanding their work personality without shelling out a ton of dough right away.

The second reason, and the reason I like the book so much, is because JT illustrates her entire method with real-life stories from her clients.  And her clients were very lost, much like me.  For me, half the battle was admitting to myself and others that I was unhappy and accepting I didn’t have to follow anyone else’s definition of success in my own career.  If you like reading about my story, you will probably like reading the stories in the book because they are easy to relate to.

What this workbook won’t give you is an overnight change to your dream job.  In some instances, it will just help you understand how to do your job better.  For example, part of my job is project management, which I thought I would be great at because I’m a Global Learner and can see things on a big-picture level.  But I’m also an Architect and I don’t respond to the pressure of meeting deadlines.  In knowing this, however, I’ve figured out that I was assuming the people under me didn’t like pressure either, which is why nothing ever got done.  Some people need pressure to motivate them to perform, and the book has helped me become a better manager.

I also know the book will help me going forward in my search for a dream job.  I want to start a business at some point, and sometimes I wonder why I haven’t just done it yet.  And I get irritated because my entrepreneur friends are constantly reminding me how so many people say they are going to be entrepreneurs and then don’t have the guts to quit their day jobs.  But the real reason is because I’m a Reflective Learner, and I like to let ideas sit in my head for awhile and mature before pursuing them.  Which is what I’ve been doing for the last three months with my big idea, which I will pursue at some point, because I’m also a Commander and stop at nothing to reach my goals.

The greatest benefit of completing the Finding Your Career Path workbook is understanding who you are and how you fit into your workplace, and, if necessary, changing your workplace environment to something better suited to your strengths.  If this sounds like something you’re interested in, I have great news…

JT has agreed to sponsor a contest I’m running at Twenty Set this week.  There are two sets of prizes:

  • 1 private Professional Strengths Assessment Session - You will complete all the tools in the book and then have the results interpreted in a 90 minute phone session with JT O’Donnell herself.  To win, leave a comment here saying why you want to win, or if you are shy, you can also send me an email.  I’ll choose one person for the prize.
  • 3 Find Your Career Path workbooks - You can take all the assessments described here on your own to find career satisfaction.  To win, leave a comment on any of the posts at Twenty Set dated from now until Friday, including this one.  Winners will be randomly selected, and each comment counts as one entry (though read my comment policy first, because violations don’t count as entries).

JT also has one of the personality assessments online and offers the workbook at 20% off to anyone who takes it.  Highly recommended if you’d like to learn more about the process.  She also offers free career advice specifically for Millennials if you are interested.

As this is the first contest at Twenty Set, I’m interested to see how things turn out.  Big thanks again to JT for sponsoring the contest and for changing how I view my career and life.

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  • I've worked with JT and she's fabulous. I also very much enjoyed her book.
  • JT is really great - a very passionate and energetic person. Thanks for sharing your experience!
  • I understand what you mean about waiting to start a business. I have ideas, and goals that I am working toward - but I feel like it will be a while until these baby steps manifest in the form of business cards with my name on them. I would like to be considered for your contest. I would like to know what JT says about how people with a desire to branch out on their own should go about pursuing their career path - particularly when they still have a nine to five.
  • Rory
    I can REALLY relate to this! Especially about feeling pressure from everyone who seems to have been born knowing exactly what they want to do, and with a lot of people thinking you should be happy in your job for many reasons. Right now I'm feeling a little "stuck" where I am, and can't seem to figure out how to get myself back on track in another direction. I've started on a certain career path and I'm not sure how I can possibly go a different direction now that I'm on this path (without totally screwing up my career anyway).
  • Monica

    Hey sounds awesome! I'm extremely interested in this personality test, as well as helping others discover their career paths, strengths, etc. I'm planning on starting a personal on-line small business. Monica, I recently sent you an e-mail about another topic. Thanks! Hope to hear from you soon.
  • What you described sounded so much like my own story that I can only hope to be enlightened by some really strong assessment tests by JT. I am a software engineer too and constantly feel the pressure to be happy about it!

    However, I know that I want something else and feel that by following my heart I am screwing my career forever. I really want to enter the management field and so am planning to get a MBA soon. Lucky for you that you still love to code. I already want to run away from it!
  • Monica - thanks for the great account of your experience with my book/work and I can't wait to work personally with the winner.

    @Rebecca & Tiffany - Thanks for the kind words, you both know how much I love your blogs and respect what you are doing for your generation - I'm just glad to help!

    @Christy - branching out on your own can definitely be done while holding down the 9 to 5. I actually encourage it because, while the business may not grow as quickly as you'd like, it allows you to gain insight that can help you make 'course corrections' to your ultimate business plan so you can be certain it's a winner BEFORE you quit the day job. My advice on how to achieve this? Think small. I find that a lot of young professionals who want to become entrepreneurs put too much pressure on themselves to have a substantial and impressive business plan. Being an entrepreneur begins the day you provide your first 'deliverable' to someone. Suddenly, after a few of those, you've got traction - and the motivation and confidence to take bigger steps towards your goal embraces you.

    @Rory - I can relate to the 'stuck' feelings and the fear of messing up the career path with a change. I call it the Golden Handcuff Effect, and it's holding millions of folks back from finding greater career satisfaction. Quick advice: Lillypadding to a new career is the best way to transition without major loss of income, perks, etc. It involves applying your strongest skill sets to a job that puts you in a new field of interest, thus allowing you to gain access to a new set of contacts and job opportunities down the line. To start brainstorming jobs that would enable you to do this, be sure to check out the FREE Career Interests Game found on the alumni page of the University of Missouri's career center site: http://www.career.missouri. edu - it is an amazing tool!

    @ Neha - before you go back for the MBA, definitely consider a certificate program from one of the top b-schools instead. They are significantly cheaper, are real eye-catchers on resumes, and give you a taste of what you will be doing in school so that you can see if you want to specialize in a particular area. Plus, many companies don't mind paying a portion or all of the expense - check with HR. They love to see employees who are thinking about becoming managers and may have a program they'd recommend as well that is in sync with the company's management philosophies.
  • Thanks so much for posting this review. I am just starting a website on finding the dream job - I'm no expert, I just thought it would be better to find my dream job if it was a global effort...and hopefully offer inspiration to others along the way. I can't wait take the test! Thanks again
  • JT - thanks for your practical advice. I suppose even though I "know" this - it really helps to hear someone else validate this approach. Some times starting small feels insignificant. Thanks for the inspiration!

    Christy
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