Find Your Passion in a Field and Run With it

"The only way to do great work is to love what you do."

Steve Jobs

Photo Credit: Free From Wix

Something I learned from Catherine Smeykal, a junior architect at John Toates Architecture and Design is, “Don’t be afraid to take a task out of your comfort zone that may further your career in the future.” After speaking with her, it got me wondering how you know when the job is really the right job for you. I doubt anyone wants to wake up in the morning regretting their career choice and hating what they do.

According to The Washington Post, “only 27% of college graduates have a job related to their major.” This was relatively shocking to me because college nowadays has put a ton of pressure on college students to declare a designated major with the thought that these students actually go out and find a job in that field. CNBC published an article that gives some tips and tricks on how to pick the right career. “Choosing a career is one of the biggest financial decisions that young adults will make, yet so many make that decision without the full picture of what lies ahead,” says Abigail Hess from CNBC.

Job stability is something that is frequently frightened among young professionals because we might not know how to stabilize our career correctly from the get-go. Having some clear interests would help with the process of maintaining that job stability, and working in a field that interests you reassures the fact that you are more likely to do well.

It’s important we find our specified field and run with it. “There is a lot of leverage in a company when you have a specified area you are concentrating in. I personally am handed all of the chemical and electrical design work, and if someone needs something, they come straight to me,” says Catherine Smeykal.

“Your interests should definitely be a major input, but you also have to think about money and you have to think about the trade-offs of various dimensions of your life,” says Sal Khan, founder and executive director of online education platform Khan Academy. At the end of the day, money is an important factor, but it would be better to get paid to do something you love rather than dreading your job.