When I grow up I want to be..

When I was growing up I was searching for my passion. I made a list of my qualities and the things I wanted out of my career. After a lot of searching I realized I wanted to be a Technical Writer when I was in MCA second year. But that goal was a struggle too. When I graduated there was a downturn in the software industry. I had to take a detour moved to ITES industry and then became a Technical Writer.

As most of you (read two or three readers of this blog) know I started my career in Dell in a call taking role. Then I became a Customer Experience Coach there. After that I was involved in Data Analysis. The problem with becoming successful in the wrong profession is stick on to it even when you can move else where.

When I look back one common thread in all my professional roles is that they are non conventional. When I interact with college going kids or younger I see that they have exposure to many things and most are not willing to go into conventional professions like engineering or medicine. It is very refreshing to listen to. Some choose engineering but are choosing options that are not very common. I see that some parents are willing to let their children follow their passion and it is such a welcome change. I wonder if the flourishing economy has a lot to do with it.

Here are some careers that I am sure many of us would not have considered seriously until about five years ago:

• Scrapbooking-creating blog templates, designing website templates etc. I mean who would have ever thought that putting together bits of images would be a lucrative business.
• Doodling and Doodling-designing Tshirts, posters etc. this surprised me. I would not have imagined that doodling at the end of your book can one day earn you $$$ (I didn’t find Rupee’s symbol, excuse me :p)
• CEC-who would have thought that eaves dropping would be a profession.
• Testing-ok this is not a new line of career but who would have thought finding fault was going to make you successful. Add to this list Editing too.

May be I am wrong. May be these professions have now come in a new avatar but they were always there. What do you think?
P.S. Edited to add links. When I wrote about the correlation bewteen growing economy and people choosing non-conventional professions, I meant parents are being open. People now lead a comfortable life compared to the previous generations and are willing to let their children take risks in their careers.