Like many people, we spent part of Labor Day at a cookout. And somehow, over the ribs and corn and drinks we got to talking about careers and how we all wound up where we did. As the conversation went on, I noticed that the way we chose our careers split along generational lines.

Oldest first. Some of our number were in their seventies. They were born into the depression and came out on the other side of World War II wanting a certain amount of security. Two of the fellows in that age group quite literally picked what to do based on reading government studies of the most lucrative careers.

Both became engineers. Neither was interested in their particular kind of engineering when they started though both became experts and did well.

The other 70 plus year old had been an ophthalmologist. He decided to be a doctor, making his mother happy, and then picked his specialty based on the idea that he wouldn’t be called out in the middle of the night.

What stuck me about those three men is that they all simply walked away from their professions when they retired. They cancelled subscriptions to their professional publications and got on with, as one of them put it, “the life I earned.”

Tom and I were after self-fulfillment in some form. He loved sales and was good at it. Eventually he wound up growing a company and selling it off so he could go back and do it all again. I started out in the corporate world, found out that I wasn’t good at it, and wound up with a career where people would pay me to be interested in lots of things.

Our children see things differently. One is creating his career in construction. He got a degree in construction management. When he got out of school he got a job with a construction firm. He’s made three moves so far, one involuntary, and he’s still in the field. He loves it and the people he works with.

Another product of that generation didn’t know what she wanted to do. But she took a job because she needed to support her husband while he was in school. It was in customer service and she discovered that she was good at it. She loves her co-workers and helping others.

For the oldest among us on Labor Day, there was a strong practical focus: how can I make a good and steady living. Hence, there were two lives, the one in the chosen career and the one afterward.

For my generation it was all about self-fulfillment. For the youngest among us there was a different kind of practical focus. One picked a career based on interest. The other wound up in a career where she makes good money doing work she loves. Loving the work and the people you work with seems like the mantra.

This is hardly a scientific survey. It’s one Labor Day cookout with one limited selection of people from three generations. But there’s something that seems right about it. How are you making your career choices?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 4:24 pm and is filed under Career Paths, Tools and Strategies for Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.