Career Corner: Finding a Job You Love
Would you like free career discovery help?
For over 12 years I’ve had a niche helping library customers create resumes and conduct career searches. As part of my counseling, I’ve had patrons take the Career Matchmaker quiz. It’s available via the Career Cruising database on the Brooklyn Public Library website.
To get a Brooklyn card, telephone their Call Center at (718) 230-2100 for details. Though the library was shut down during the pandemic about 15 branches were able to give out library cards. Call the number or search on the library’s website to find a branch. Log on to www.bklynlibrary.org to do this.
To get a card you will need to show proof of your current address like a lease, utility bill, or bank statement. Plus show a photo ID. If your driver’s license or state ID has your current address that is suitable.
When the library is open to the public you can take these documents to any branch up to a half hour before the branch closes. You’ll be given a library card then.
Once you have the card you can create an online account at www.bklynlibrary.org. From the
library’s homepage, do a search for Career Cruising.
Create a Career Cruising account with a username and password. Take the Career Matchmaker quiz for free. You can also take the skills assessment. With the Matchmaker quiz save your first list of possible careers with one document name. Print it out. If you want, you can answer more questions to refine your results. Save the new list under a different name. Print out this one too.
Here’s how I know that using this quiz is a great option for career discovery: In 2012 five years after I’d been using it with library patrons, I decided to answer the questions myself. The careers are ranked as fair, good, and very good matches.
The Matchmaker quiz returned to me these possible careers among 40:
- Writer – very good
- Career Counselor – good
- Motivational Speaker – very good
- Activist – very good
- Librarian – fair
Wait, you’re thinking, I’ve been a librarian for over 20 years, and it was only a fair match. The fact is I have a focus on career counseling at my librarian job.
Since 2002, I’ve been an activist and motivational speaker. And as readers are aware, I’m an author too. Interestingly, Image Consultant was a good match, and everyone knows I’m a Fashionista.
What can you do once you discover the types of jobs you might like and be good at? You can use O*Net at www.onetonline.org to dive into more detailed information about careers. Here and in the Career Cruising database you will find a description of jobs, their salary range, education, and credentialing needed, and prospects for career growth in the coming years.
The old-school resource is the Occupational Outlook Handbook available at www.bls.gov/ooh. It has similar information as in the other resources.
In the coming Career Corner articles, I’ll talk about what you can do once you figure out the two or three jobs or careers you might be interested in. There’s a way to find your dream job. It will take persistence and shoe pounding. The strategies I’ll talk about can make it easier.
