Your Courageous Life

* This ten-day series is designed to help you kickstart a new way of approaching your job or career. Over ten days, we’ll explore how to look objectively at the job/career situation you’re in, and clarify where to go next. For some, that might mean not leaving a job but drastically improving it in some meaningful way. For others, this series will provide some help with clarifying your next career move or pave the way to a transition. You’re strongly encouraged to complete all ten steps, in order, to see what answers you arrive at.

Day Eight: Collaborate

(Nice how all of that rhymes, huh?)

If you are still considering ideas for a career move, it’s time to collaborate. If you know the career you want to go into, it’s time to collaborate.

For those of you still considering–ask to interview people who are involved in lines of work that you might possibly be interested in. Ask what they love about what they do and what is a challenge. People like being interviewed, so you might be surprised by how many people are totally into this (also, people like it when you buy them a cup of coffee or send them a Peet’s card). Try to get a really real picture of their jobs. Don’t back away from asking tough questions. 

For those of you who know your line of work–ask to interview people in that line of work, and ask what things they  would do differently, or what mistakes they made that they’d do differently, and what they learned. Ask about things like unexpected costs. Ask if they have any job openings where you can intern for awhile. Take a risk.

I once thought that it would be a dream of mine to be a working fine artist. I had some solo shows at cafes and other local places. I learned by doing that it was not something that I ultimately wanted to do. I wish that I had asked more questions of someone in the business, beforehand. In case you’re thinking of becoming a fine artist, here’s my brief personal run-down: 

The Good:

Creativity, art, collaboration, the thrill of seeing your work hung, opening nights, attention, getting messy, people who love your work and tell you so.

The not as good:

Hanging a new show (physically demanding), finding storage space for art, the constant marketing, not making much money on a show given how many hours go into it…which leads to stressing about money.

I learned that I personally preferred to make art in my home rather than do shows. That’s just me. Another artist–someone who’s more invested and more passionate about art-making–might decide that all of my “not so goods” are worth it to her, and they have the perseverance to surmount those challenges.

Either way, isn’t it good to be advised of the challenges before jumping in?

So, who will you be contacting today?

Related posts:

• Stop the Job Suckage: Day Six
• Stop the Job Suckage: Day Four
• Stop the Job Suckage: Day Seven
• Stop the Job Suckage: Day One
• Stop the Job Suckage: Day Three

This entry was posted on Friday, January 8th, 2010 at 6:00 am |