My body has been sending me a very strong message lately that it is time to make a change. My doc says I am borderline for exhaustion, and I am having trouble breathing - which cleared up last week when I took 4 days of holidays, and came back when I had to go back to work.
The Deputy Minister for the provincial ministry I work for released a "video message" to us yesterday about the impact of the provincial budget, and what it will mean to our ministry. In it, among many other things, she said that the official announcement on staff cuts would come in September.
Its pretty much a given that one of those announcements will be the end of the program I work for, as well as others. Other ministries are also being hit hard, and the feds are cutting just shy of 20,000 jobs. Including the folks who look after unemployment benefits and re-training. Ya.
They've already told us that the number of cuts will far exceed the number of positions potentially opened by people electing to take early retirement packages. Add to that the number of folks from other ministries, and the feds, and, well ... my 7 years of seniority doesn't mean squat.
That's OK with me. I've been feeling very burnt out lately, and have not been impressed with the whole way the rollout of these cuts has been handled. Not a lot of love and loyalty flowing either way right now.
But what do I want to do next?
I've done a bunch of those on-line career assessment tests in the last few months; and I am getting pretty consistent answers. Myers-Briggs says I am an INF(x) - meaning I split the last category down the middle.
Careers that consistently come up include the clergy (!); counselling; and teaching.
All of which would involve re-training, possibly expensive. Which takes money. I love school, I love learning, but I need to decide if I am ready to be a starving student again. I don't think there are a lot of conventional teaching jobs out there, and I don't think I have the patience to be a high school or public school teacher. Counselling requires at least a masters. Clergy? I really don't think so.
I made a quick list of things I like, things that inspire me or things I do well. (outside the box comments welcome. Or skip this, if you're bored.)
- I listen well
- I like it when people talk to me, use me as a sounding board to talk through things
- I love the volunteer work I do with OSISS
- I am fairly non-judgmental
- Autistic kids like me
- I need to feel like I am making a difference
- I need at least some positive feedback/recognition
- I love doing research
- I am OCPD
- I write well (I think!) and my fiction has been well received.
- I am an excellent communicator
- I get nervous, but have been told I do a good job presenting in public
- I do enjoy teaching
- I want to live near the water again.
Part of me would love to run away to Panama or Belize and work there ... part of me would like to go into counselling (but there is the whole need for a masters degree thing). I don't know. So please indulge me while I come here to think out loud as I work through this.
The one thing I do know is that I need to find something that I can be passionate about again.
What, no Reverend Basinah for you? I'm stunned...er, not really. I always enjoyed those assessments because there would always be some cool like Test Pilot for NASA or some crazy thing...SNIPER for example. I'm not sure that is a compliment, I'm stealthy, I'm an excellent shot and I have no remorse killing people long range..
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, I have found them helpful and I hope you find a career path you can feel good about again, B
Any thought or possibility of contract work? Having your own consulting business?
ReplyDeleteThe Clergy isn't all about praying and Bible thumping. It is mostly a counseling job...especially in the military. If you have the opportunity, go for it. You would be wonderful with the troops and families. I've done the M/B testing many times for management job training and coaching...and it always comes back that I am awesome. So you must be, too. And what do you mean September isn't tomorrow. The way time flies for my old ass, it will probably be Sept. this afternoon.
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