One of my earlier posts looked at which industries have continued to thrive throughout this latest recession, something which the US Bureau of Labor Statistics regularly reports on. Along the same lines, and I don’t know what brought it to mind, I got to thinking about somebody I know, although not terribly well, who started up a business selling domestic water filter systems. Now, bearing in mind that this was a man with some fairly radical views on life, I was intrigued as to why he had chosen this particular line of business. Somehow it seemed too ‘sedate’, almost too ordinary for him. I was quite surprised when he answered, therefore, that ‘people will always need water’. While I am still not convinced that water filter systems are, or could ever be, a passion for him, if what he wanted was a business which would stand the test of time, he had of course hit upon a great idea.
Thinking back to my earlier post, of course most of the industries which have proved to be a safe haven involve services that we cannot do without. Health services, education, the energy sector, information technology and law enforcement are all essential in today’s world but, bearing in mind what we were saying a few days ago about career passion, what happens if the mention of these industries does not exactly set your heart on fire? Should you just settle for what is safe and give up on the dream?
The conclusion that I came to in my own mind was ‘dig deeper’, and the specific example that popped up was connected to law enforcement. When we think of law enforcement, we immediately think about the job of a policeman, but in fact the range of law enforcement jobs is huge and one of the really exciting areas is in the field of forensic science. Unlike water, it has not been around forever, but now that it is a part of our lives, it is certainly not likely to go away any day soon.
Some things are, or have become, so fundamental to our modern day existence, and some professions just feel as though they are as old as the hills, but just because this is the case, does not mean to say that they do not offer new and exciting opportunities. When you are trying to decide on a career direction, don’t just look at the traditional or the obvious but ‘dig deeper’.
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