Hi Parul!

I may be the absolute worst person to give advice on this subject as I am 48 and am still looking for my right career! However, you and I have similar interests , and perhaps something I have to say will make you think.

1 – We have the power to help others in any job by the way we do our work with pride and honor and by the way we treat our coworkers and customers. Truly giving to others is a matter of who you are, not what you do.
2 – No job is going to be 100% perfect! Often we feel that if only I can find the right job, I will be 100% happy! It’s not true! No job will make you totally happy. Shoot for something that feels like at least 60% of the time you will be enjoying your daily tasks. Also, being so obsessed with finding the perfect job is pretty much the opposite of living with acceptance and gratitude.
3 – I actually earned my master’s degree in counseling. I really thought I wanted to be a counselor, but I found out that good counselors make connections with others easily, and that is not me. I only truly connect with a very few people, and the clients I worked with sensed this. I also realized that what drew me to counseling was probably more a desire to understand and heal myself than really help others. I wanted to help others, but when it came to being in a room with someone I could not relate to, it just didn’t work. That being said, studying counseling has helped me understand people a lot better, which has helped me in my other pursuits. Of course, you might be someone who connects easily with others. If so, this may be the career for you!
4 – We can never know for sure which path is the best path for us. We can quiet our mind, try to be 100% honest with ourselves, but in the end making a choice will always involve some risk. At some point you have to say, I feel good about this and I’m going to go for it even though I’m not 100% sure! If you end up less happy than you had hoped to be, perhaps you felt drawn to the choice because you needed to learn something from it that will eventually take you to your place of peace.
5 – Some things you might want to consider as you explore your options more:
What is it about me that prevented me from finding a fulfilling job in human resources? Is just switching careers the answer, or do I need to learn something from my HR experience first?
What daily tasks does the career I’m considering involve? Is this really how I want to spend 40 hours per week?
What has always come naturally to me in life? What activities in life seem to bring me the most joy? Does my career choice involve these things?

Maybe some of these ideas will help you. I hope so!

One more idea: Did you consider finding a job in employee wellness? Perhaps in a job like that you could use your existing degree and still help people.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 8 months ago by iamone.