The road less traveled often pays better

When most people approach graduation or make major career decisions, they tend to narrow their focus. Students who majored in computer software become programmers. Students who majored in accounting go to work for a large accounting firm. Students who majored in education become public school teachers.

I think that you should broaden your focus first. Your natural abilities and skills can usually be put to use in non-traditional roles. When you find a way to apply your natural abilities in a non-traditional career role, you often end up being a unique asset to an organization. And, unique assets often command a higher income.

In today's Wall Street Journal, Dana Mattioli shares a story about a Montessori school teacher who found a better paying and more satisfying career by using her natural abilities in an unique setting.

The article is titled "From Classroom to Makeup Counter"

Do What You Are

A career can be fulfilling if it is in tune with some basic elements of your personality. If you enjoy being part of a team or working as part of a group, you'll have a hard time being a medical transcriber where you spend most of your time alone in front of a keyboard and computer monitor. If you are driven by hard facts and data you'd be better off as a mathematician rather than a therapist dealing with everyone's "squishy" emotions.

How can you discover the personality traits that can guide your job search?

Many years ago, I took a test to determine my "personality type" using the the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The outcome was very accurate in profiling my personality. With this Myers-Briggs assessment tool people's personalities are broken into 16 personality types based on a combination of four dimensions of personality.

Each of the four dimensions of your personality falls into one of two buckets. The four dimensions of your personality are basically answers to the following four questions:

• How do you interact with the world and where do you get your energy? (Extroversion vs Introversion)
• What kind of information do you notice and prefer naturally? (Sensing vs Intuition)
• How do you make decisions? (Thinking vs Feeling)
• Do you prefer to live and work in a structured way and make decisions or do you prefer to be more spontaneous and soak in information? (Judging vs Perceiving)

Each of the 16 personality types that are described by the combination of these four dimensions are better suited to particular kinds of careers. Knowing your Myers-Briggs "type" can help you narrow done your list of potential careers quickly and leave you with a list that offers greater opportunity for career satisfaction.

Many colleges and high school offer Myers-Brigss personality testing or something similar. However, you can figure out your personality type by yourself using a great book called Do What you Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type by Paul Tieger and Barbara Barron.

The book takes you through a simple process to uncover your personality traits and helps you identify your Myers-Briggs "type." Once you've completed the brief self-assessment, you will see which of the 16 personality types most closely resemble you. The book then offers a complete chapter of material on each personality type including your strengths and weaknesses, best workplace environments, communication style and - perhaps most importantly - a list of jobs that would fit you best.

Of course, you can't choose a career based on a single test in a book but you this book will help you get a realistic picture of who you are and what sort of jobs will motivate and satisfy you most. Check out the book here: Do What you Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type