Career Cruising

... or "What do I want to be when I grow up?"

R sent me to the Kitchener Public Library's career cruiser questionnaire. I don't know, maybe it's a slow day or something. Essentially, you answer a bunch of questions about what you like or dislike in a job, and it throws you a list of things you might be good at. I kind of wish I had one of these things in high school.

After answering 39 questions, they had me pegged as a guy who mainly fixes things. Not too far off from what I do, but I guess they couldn't decide on what I liked fixing:

1. Race Car Mechanic	2. Appliance Repairer
3. Cable Installer and Repairer	4. Farm Equipment Mechanic
5. Aircraft Mechanic	6. Diesel Mechanic
7. Lifeguard	8. Motorcycle Mechanic
9. Small Engine Mechanic	10. Automobile Mechanic
11. Heavy Equipment Mechanic	12. Industrial Machinery Mechanic
13. Elevator Installer and Repairer	14. Taxidermist
15. Recreation Vehicle Service Technician	16. Computer Support Person
17. Veterinarian	18. Millwright
19. Agronomist	20. Food Inspector
21. Veterinary Technician	22. Curator
23. Film Processor	24. Hairstylist
25. Fitness Instructor	26. Home Economist
27. Diving Instructor	28. Boilermaker
29. Automotive Painter	30. Special Effects Technician
31. Technical Writer	32. Tilesetter
33. Website Designer	34. ESL Teacher
35. Welder	36. Foreign Language Instructor
37. Historian	38. Industrial Designer
39. Choreographer / Dance Instructor	40. Director of Photography

Pretty varied list, if you discount all the ones that said "mechanic". At the very least they got Computer Support Person in there somewhere. I decided to fine tune the list a little. It asked me 57 more questions, and I got to fill in my level of education.

The next list was much much closer to what I do now (especially since I do a lot of artistic things in my spare time).

1. Critic	2. Multimedia Developer
3. Writer	4. Director of Photography
5. Special Effects Technician	6. Choreographer / Dance Instructor
7. Director	8. Historian
9. Video Game Developer	10. Desktop Publisher
11. Technical Writer	12. Driving Instructor
13. Camera Operator	14. Business Systems Analyst
15. Database Developer	16. Website Designer
17. Computer Programmer	18. Webmaster
19. Researcher	20. Makeup Artist
21. Web Developer	22. Stuntperson
23. Computer Support Person	24. Curriculum Specialist
25. Association Manager	26. Audio-Visual Technician
27. Artist	28. Communications Specialist
29. Computer Network Specialist	30. Print Journalist
31. Electroneurodiagnostic Tech	32. Cardiovascular Tech
33. Diagnostic Medical Sonographer	34. Photographer
35. Dietitian	36. Cable Installer and Repairer
37. Microbiologist	38. Foreign Language Instructor
39. Film Editor	40. Chef

Cool. Much closer to stuff I'd like doing. I wonder how much more fine tuning I can do with this list? I already do most of these things either during the day, or after hours. OK, maybe I'm no stuntperson or dance instructor, and maybe I don't know what an electroneurodiagnostic tech does, per se, but all in all, a pretty good list; I'm interested in, or have done more than half of the things on the list, and maybe 10 of the jobs reflect what I do in my current job.

On the other hand, this doesn't really inspire me to look for my ideal job. I kind of feel like Philip J. Fry being told he'll be a delivery boy.

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