In Martin E.P. Seligman’s article Work and Personal Satisfaction, Seligman presents the findings from his studies that indicate the economy’s change from money based to satisfaction based; emphasizing that today there are many varieties of occupations available, decide on a career that will satisfy your values and strengths to keep you happy. From Seligman’s article, I can see why it is important to have an occupation that uses your strengths; not only are you able to meet the requirements for the job, you enjoy it. Seligman demonstrates this point clearly through his explanation of the experience of Dominick. The two words that really stuck out to me from this reading are calling and gratification. Seligman emphasizes upon these two words stating that calling is “the most satisfying form of work because, as a gratification, it is done for its own sake rather than for the material benefits it brings.” It was a pleasure reading this article because it makes me think about my own career path and questions whether or not the career I am choosing will really be the calling for me.
Marcus and McVey, Using the Decision-Making Process to Choose a Major and Career
In Using the Decision-Making Process to Choose a Major and Career by Debra Marcus and David McVey, a six-step decision-making model is presented. They discuss the common strategies of decision making, then emphasis upon the six-step decision making model; including questions that you should be asking yourself in each step. The steps in the six-step decision making model are: identify the decisions to be made, get to know yourself, begin to identify options (career exploration), consider factors influencing your decisions, identify your options, and design a course of action to implement the decision/decisions. I think the six-step decision-making model is helpful and it should be the first step to take when considering a major. Of the six steps that were presented, I think the most important step would be step one: identify the decisions to be made. Sometimes, I forget what I am trying to focus upon and using this step was described will help me make better decisions without getting too distracted with other problems.
Sherry, Postgraduate Paralysis
In Mary Sherry’s Postgraduate Paralysis, she presents the problem of finding a career that college graduates have. Sherry shares her own personal experience of watch her college graduate daughter struggle looking for an occupation that matched her career. Through her article, she emphasizes that college graduates expect to have a career right after getting out of college, but reality is you cannot have a career right after graduating from college, it takes time; it is an “evolutionary process.” I really like the point Sherry’s presented in her article; it answers why today we have so many jobs available, but at the same time so many unemployed college graduates. I was aware of the fact that you may not get your career choice when you graduate out of college, but I was not sure why. Now I know the reason and it shows that you have to do more than just receive a degree; you have to keep learning to get to where you want.