I’ve been answering questions on Reddit for my business marketing purposes, and something that always comes up in the comments is follow your passion and do a career that is your hobby. There really isn’t one right answer; it depends on the career, and are you able to deal with the negatives associated with that career. For example, many software engineers grew up loving programming, but the job requires being ambitious, play politics, and lots of communication; it’s tough for an introvert to say the least.
First and foremost, we were all hunter-gatherers at some point. Today, with specialization, people are able to indulge in their hobbies, and many are able to make it a career. However, most people are still doing a career that has the same essential purpose: survival. Fundamentally, a career is no different from what our ancestors did which is to somehow work and be able to feed yourself; in modern society, that means developing the skills and experience that can be offered in exchange for money, which you then use for food and shelter. So for those looking to choose a career, figure out what are your life goals, then choose a career based on that. If it means make a ton of money, check what the negatives are, and if you’re able to put up with that.
Secondly, for those who can follow their passion and still make money, it’s still a potential double edged-sword comparing this fun activity to those who did a career to make a ton of money. For careers that don’t make a lot of money, life can be tough not just from basic survival but also socializing requires money. For careers that make a lot, does it fit your personality? To me, job shadowing never really helps because students are not around long enough to see what’s going on, or they don’t know what it took to get into the position of someone they’re shadowing.
The BestFit Handbook has a pretty good guide for what kind of person would like a certain job. However, I hesitate to write them down because it might put off some people. In the end, a job is for survival. I think the people who love their job are also usually the best at it, and vice versa those who are the best usually love their job.
There’s no need to be the best. With this mindset, so long as you’re able to have decent qualifications, then just be decent at the job and see our guide to check whether the vibes fit your personality and interests.
This is also a good place to mention that I advocate for 40 hour work weeks for the majority of people making less than the top 80-90% of income because the majority of people have hobbies that aren’t their jobs that they want to do to stay happy.