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Do Not Go Gentle Into Your Career

A Call to Arms

Dylan Thomas' famous poem, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," was a plea to his aging father to continue being the fierce man he had been in younger years. I'd like to make an equally rousing plea by modifying Thomas' verse as follows:

Do not go gentle into your career,
Arm yourself with knowledge and God's good will;
Rage, rage against complacency and fear.

Dictionary.com defines complacency as a "feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction, especially when coupled with an unawareness of danger, trouble, or controversy." If you've settled comfortably into a field of study and prospective career without the due diligence necessary to ensure it's the right choice for you, read on. Without realizing it, you may be headed for a rude awakening in the "real world."

As for fear, I'm referring to that feeling of anxiety or uncertainty that can come from not knowing what you're going to do post-graduation. It's like that feeling you get when racing to class, unsure if you're fully prepared for a test. (I certainly experienced that a time or three!)

I call you to fend off any occupational complacency or fear you may have. How? By taking deliberate steps to better understand yourself, seek God's will and discover the opportunities available to you. Armed with this knowledge, you can make the best decisions for who you are — who God made you to be — before the calendar hits graduation day.

How Well Do You Really Know Yourself?

In interviewing several college career counselors, I learned that they all enjoy their work, but share a common frustration: Time and again, students simply want the counselors to tell them what career they're best suited for, based on a few minutes of conversation and maybe a basic skills and interests assessment. It's not that easy.

Many students are reluctant to put in the time and effort necessary to make a truly educated decision about their career choices — ironic, given all the time students put in to getting an education.

So I ask you: How well do you really know yourself, particularly as it relates to the world of work? At the end of this article, I list several tools and resources I found very helpful in better understanding myself. For now, consider the following questions:

• What motivates you to do your best work?
• What doesn't motivate you? That is, what kind of tasks, environments and personalities hinder your ability to be your best (or bore you to tears)? For example, if you thrive on teamwork and personal interaction, you'd likely pass on more solitary careers like architecture or computer programming, and avoid environments in which people are primarily "looking out for number one."
• What skills and abilities do you naturally excel at? It's important to distinguish them from skills and abilities at which you are merely adequate or that you wish you excelled at. For example, I seriously considered pursuing a career in music, having grown up playing the drums and writing lyrics. As I explored different classes in my freshman and sophomore years, however, I realized that I had non-musical interests that were equally compelling. Though I had talent, I couldn't see myself dedicating the amount of time necessary to truly excel as a musician. My interests in business and communications were pulling me in another direction. (Music became my avocation. I also love playing golf, but my consistent double-digit handicap cemented that as an avocation, too. I didn’t want to join the stupid PGA Tour anyway.)

At some point, you'll discover that it's more beneficial to focus on your strengths while managing your weaknesses. Weaknesses can certainly become strengths given enough effort to improve them, so I'm not suggesting that you ignore them. (As you grow in faith and experience, you never know what plans God will have for you!)

At this stage, however, it's important to recognize your true strengths, particularly those that give you greatest satisfaction; then, choose a career that will let you apply your strengths in an environment that best suits you, your personality and your values.

Finding Your Way

In the book, Quarterlife Crisis, the authors interview Robin, a Lincoln, Neb. native pursuing her master's degree at New York University. "Figuring out what makes you passionate is no easy feat," says Robin. "I still try to figure out all the different things that make me hoot for joy. If I were to list them all, it would be a hodgepodge with no rhyme or reason. But that is the key aspect that sets me aside from other people — my stamp of individuality."¹

Can you relate to Robin's comments? The "hodgepodge" she describes is part of what makes her unique. It also signals a great need. I can't emphasize this enough: You need an organized way to think about and document all that makes you unique — your abilities, personality, spiritual gifts, passions, and values. That's where your school's career counselors come in. While they can't do all the work for you, they are uniquely trained to help and can offer valuable insights.

There are also many tools and resources designed to help, including comprehensive products that provide a step-by-step approach to "discovering the real you." Typically, you'll end up with several career possibilities that fit. Then it becomes an interesting investigation into those possibilities in order to determine the best match.

You'll find your school or local library invaluable at this point. They're stocked with excellent career-related resources, including in-depth information on specific industries and jobs. No doubt, the Internet will also come in handy. We've listed links to several helpful resources on the Career Services page, as well.

Representin' for God

In "Discover Your Spiritual Gifts for Serving God," I wrote that the Apostle Paul tells us the purpose for our spiritual gifts: to build up the church, making it strong and mature. Certainly, the Lord wants you to use your gifts to help build up the church and do good deeds, but don't be surprised if you are not called into professional ministry.

In "All God's Callings," Nathan Finn explains, "… Christian parents and certainly Christian churches need to teach students that God calls people to be more than full-time pastors or missionaries to Zimbabwe. He also calls people to be missionaries to public schools, corporate America, social services and the children in their home."

From a Christian perspective, work is meaningless as an end in itself. It is only in service to God and people that it gains its worth. God calls us to be good stewards of our talents — to "represent" for His glory. Regardless of your profession, you can have a positive impact on others by how you conduct yourself in doing your job.

Working as a Way of Life

So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. (Ecclesiastes 3:22a, NIV)

God is the ultimate worker. And because we were created in His image (Genesis 1:27), we were designed to be workers, too.

While this article focuses primarily on "career," I'd be remiss in not pointing out that one's most fulfilling work (or calling to serve God) may be found in any number of purposeful endeavors — from raising a family to volunteering in your church to being a strong Christian role model in your community.

It's not a matter of one kind of work being superior to another. By using our God-given abilities, in fact, we level the playing field. Instead of being about "status," all legitimate work done for the glory of God is of equal value. We're all doing our part in God's grand design when we work hard, serving His needs wherever we find ourselves.

In terms of your career, this understanding of Christians working for the glory of God makes it clear that it's not about us, our secularly-influenced "dream jobs" or keeping up with the Joneses. It's ultimately about making the best use of our God-given spiritual gifts, talents, personality, passions and values for God.

Although you may not love or feel passionate about every day on the job, the tough times get easier when you remember who you're really working for.

Closing Thoughts

As you prepare for life after college, pray for God's guidance; live for His glory. Instead of going "gentle into your career," get fired up about it! Be ready for whatever stepping stones lay ahead, steady in the knowledge that you can trust in the Lord and His faithfulness.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:1-2).