Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Disillusionment In The Modern Workplace

Well, if you have a Psy.D. or Ph.D. in psychology, you can always do Social Security Consultative Examinations.

She could always get a job managing a store of some sort. Or go back to get an accounting degree.

She'd have to move to a state where there are jobs, though. That would require advanced planning and a willingness to do what it takes.

After a bit of searching, I found the thread where this discussion started (http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....3789/Non_Traditional_Careers_for_gi.html).

When something is moved from another thread, could folks post a link so that others can get background?

I clearly remember college graduation. Engineers chanting "we'll be employed!" Liberal arts chanting "We'll be happy!"

I suppose workplace disillusionment depends entirely on the work, and the individual.

I work with people in the IT world from time to time who are delighted to come to work each day, have a real passion for what they're doing, and these are clearly the gifted adults, because along with that passion, they strive for a deeper understanding, and their results are outstanding. And these jobs pay pretty well.

Honestly, I never understood it, because my big passion in life is my family, this is just something I do to make that happen, and I get my reward at the end of the work day/week. But somewhere along the lines, something funny happened. I realized that while IT in and of itself isn't particularly interesting to me, the opportunity to tackle complex and novel problems is, and IT happens to be one environment which can provide that... and that, as a constantly-changing environment, the flow of novel problems is somewhat maintained.

Who knew? I always wanted to be a writer. I suppose I would have noticed it sooner if I had one of those employers that was revolutionizing the industry, like Apple or Google, but alas.

Anyway, the point is, work can be enriching and challenging for gifted people, while still being under the traditional employment umbrella. And gifted people typically have many interests, so any one of those could become a rewarding career.

My primary goals in work are to:

1) Not get fired.
2) Not commit malpractice.

I'm not sure I really have a passion for either of those objectives, but I'm very motivated to "avoid pain".

I never had any interest in actually practicing law, so there wasn't any problem with disillusionment for me. Soon after I started working in a law firm, I was very excited by the knowledge that someday I would get to retire and never have to work again.

You know, I've been thinking about things and I have no intention of settling on any one career. I will do one thing for a period of years and then move on to something new (and likely related to and building upon what I did before. (Like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneur#Lifestyle_entrepreneur)

I like what I'm doing right now and maybe I will finish up my college degree in the next few years, just to have it.

I also want to get a job teaching college students part-time... so maybe I'll try get an advanced degree sometime before I'm 50. I think teaching at 50 or 60 wold be a great career.

I like the concept of "mini-retirements", too. Travel and enjoy life periodically while young and save money just in case you can't work when you get old. Waiting until you are 60 to retire and enjoy life is just bogus and most of the older people I know right now can't even afford to retire anyway.

Obviously people need to be able to provide for their families, so...

I think, ideally, a person has several things they can do that make them a decent wage if they need it (bookkeeping, teaching guitar lessons, working as a handyman, etc.) On top of that, a college degree is a good thing to have, just in case. (Or a thing TO have if you want to be an engineer, doctor or lawyer or something.)

I'm going to tell my kids to get a degree in whatever they are interested in doing at the time they go to college. I'll tell them not to take on too much debt to get it, though, so that you can afford to switch careers or even go back to school later if you have to / want to. Unless of course they passionately want to do only one career and have no problem choosing a major lol.

An interesting perspective:

http://www.somethingyoushouldknow.net/content/what-makes-successful-career-full-interview

Oh yes! It's not either/or. Its easier to be happy if you have enough food; its easier to be employable if you don't hate your job so much your co-workers suspect you're just bringing the place down from the inside.

Indeed. I think this is the path most gifted people are drawn towards. It's why I nearly laughed in the face of my daughter's principal when she was outlining the overall philosophy of the school, and she asserted that kids today need to pick their career by 7th grade so they can begin to specialize their education to fit that career goal.

The funny part was, she herself had left the advertising industry recently.

Of course, often times, the choice between switching careers means starting over on the pay scale, which usually isn't an option.