The Face Lighting Up Career Assessment

Quite often students make appointments with me to try to figure out what they want to do for a career. Or sometimes this topic comes up during appointments for other career topics. Typically, I listen to the student express his or her thoughts and ideas, ask some clarifying questions and give them my insights about the particular career field they are thinking of entering.

When I have these kinds of meetings with students, I also closely observe their expressions and body language because those two things often tell me more about what a student is truly feeling, as opposed to what they might be saying. I call this “The Face Lighting Up” career assessment.

Recently, I met with a new MBA student who had previously held several different business positions in Iran. She had held positions in human resources, marketing and sales. I asked her to tell me about each of these positions and what she liked or didn’t like about them. The first time she mentioned her marketing role, she started beaming and was smiling profusely! We continued the conversation, and I didn’t observe her beaming about any other job. Every time we came back to the marketing role, her face would light up again! So there was her answer. She ultimately decided to specialize in international marketing since she had a lot of global experience.

This student didn’t need to take any formal career assessment, because her face said it all. Don’t get me wrong, there are many wonderful career assessments out there, and many students need them in order to make a wise and informed decision about their career choice. But some don’t, as my story indicates.

Here’s another story. I was recently working with a junior who was concentrating in marketing. She knew she wanted a marketing internship but wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do in the marketing field. She wasn’t too engaged in the conversation and seemed a little confused about what to do. Then, all of a sudden, she said, “Well, I really like the music industry.” And that is when her face lit up! I explained to her that she could look for a marketing internship in the music industry and proceeded to do a Google search to show her the possibilities. She was very excited to see all of the terrific marketing internships in the music industry.

So if you’re confused about what you want to do for a career, try to listen to your gut and what it is telling you. When you read job descriptions, which ones resonate with you? Which ones seem like something that would be fun and interesting to do? Or alternatively, which ones make you feel uneasy and a little sick to your stomach? Pay attention to those feelings. Don’t try to force yourself to like a position because you think it’s what you’re supposed to do or what your friends are doing. Choose something that is right for YOU!

A skilled career counselor will be able to help you with this discernment process and will be able to objectively observe which things make you light up and which ones don’t as part of the overall career exploration and assessment process. Often, job seekers overlook this critical step in their career planning. But it’s one that shouldn’t be overlooked if you want to find a career that is fulfilling and makes you happy. After all, you’re going to be at work for a large portion of your day so you might as well be doing something that makes you light up each and every day.