Read the two "Creating Titles" documents; then create a title for each of the 5 paragraph

248 UNIT 7 READINGS 1 CAREER CONSCIOUSNESS Brian Green A career can be defined as the employment you prepare for during the first quarter of your life, engage in during the best years of your life, and reap the rewards from when you are least able to enjoy them. Behind the cynicism of this observation lies an important truth: choosing a life's vocation is not a decision to be taken lightly. To justify the time and effort you will invest in your career, it should be stimulating, rewarding, and productive. The better you know your self, the more likely you are to choose a career you can live with happily. 2 What would a stimulating career be like? Picture yourself getting up in the morning and looking forward to your day with eager anticipation. This may not be the popular image of most jobs, but it is one that can be achieved. Most people participate in leisure activities that they find interesting, even ener- gizing. There is no rule that says you cannot be as enthusiastic about your work as you are about your play. Many successful people have turned their interests into careers, thus getting paid for what they like to do. Many career proles- sionals in the arts, for example, make their living by doing what they feel they were born to do: write, act, paint, dance, play or compose music, sing, design, or sculpt. Clive Beddoe loved to fly, and from that passion grew his career as a bush pilot and, later, his founding of one of Canada's most successful airlines, WestJet. Of course, it is not always possible to turn a passion into a career, but to deny what excites you to relegate it to after-hours activities without trying to incorporate it into your working life, means you will spend most of your life wishing you were doing something else. 3 If your career is stimulating, then chances are good that it can also be rewarding. A good career offers two kinds of rewards: financial and emotional. Rewarding work does not just happen; it is something you need to plan for. The first and most important step is to know yourself. Only if you know who you are and what you need to be happy can you consciously seek out career experiences that will bring you satisfaction and steer clear of those that will annoy or stress you. Are you genuinely ambitious, or is power something you seek because you think it is expected of you? The pursuit of status and a high salary brings some people pure pleasure. Many people, however, find lead- ership positions excruciatingly stressful. Career enjoyment depends to some extent on whether or not you are successful, and success is a state of mind. Consider two graduates from the same college program. One is a technician in a small-town television station who loves his work, takes pride in keeping the station on the air, and delights in raising his family in a community where he is involved in volunteer activities ranging from sports to firefighting. The other is a news director at one of Canada's major television networks. Her work is highly stressful, full of risks, and continually scrutinized by viewers, competitors, and UNIT 7 READINGS 249 her supervisors. She thrives on the adrenaline rush of nightly production and loves the big-city life, the financial rewards of her position, and the national recognition she receives. Which graduate is "successful"? Certainly, both feel their careers are rewarding, according to their individual definitions of the term. 4. A job at which you do not feel useful cannot be either rewarding or stimulating for very long. It is human nature to want to contribute, to feel that your efforts make a difference. Camaraderie with fellow workers, a pleasant daily routine, even a good salary cannot compensate in the long run for a sense that your work is meaningless or unappreciated. Sadly, some people spend their entire working lives at jobs in which their contribution is so insignificant that their absence would scarcely be noticed. Everyone knows people who boast about reading paperback novels on the job and others who sleep through their night shift so they can spend their days fishing or golfing. Is this the way you want to spend 45 years of your life? All the paperbacks and the rounds of golf do not add up to much without a sense that you are doing something worthwhile. It may take a few years, but when it comes, the realization that your work lacks meaning is soul-destroying. 5 It is not easy to find a career that provides stimulating, enjoyable, and meaningful work. Understanding yourself--your interests, needs, values, and goalsis an essential first step. Making long-term decisions consistent with your values and goals is the difficult second step. Too many people spend their lives in careers that make them miserable because they allow themselves to be governed by parents, friends, or simple inertia. Finally, once you have launched your career, never rest. Actively seek challenges and opportunities that stimu- late you. Relish the rewards of meeting those challenges, being productive, and doing your job well. Continually strive to improve, not for the sake of your employer, but for your own sake. Your career will occupy three-quarters of your life, so make the most of it