There are several ways to figure out the type of job that might best suit you interests, skills, values, and personality. For starters, try one of these self-help exercises:
Browsing Category Tools / How To’s
Tips for Job Hunters
You may not know this, but as you are reading this there are dozens of researchers who are studying the best way for people to find jobs. These researchers study people who are successful in the job search process and try to understand what factors helped them find success. Instead of pulling tips for you from a blog or job hunting site, below we present (in layman’s terms) some of the most important findings from this area of research. Read More →
Expanded Q&A
At the end of Make Your Job a Calling, we present a number of frequently asked questions that we answer to give a readers a clearer sense of what it means to discern, discover, and live out a calling. Of course, readers may have questions that are not addressed directly in the book. If this is the case for you, please submit your question to us by entering it into the box below. Check back later, because will post answers to representative questions on the site. Read More →
Calling Survey
Some people, when describing their careers, talk about having a “calling.” Broadly speaking, a “calling” in the context of work refers to a person’s belief that she or he is called upon (by the needs of society, by a person’s own inner potential, by God, by Higher Power, etc.) to do a particular kind of work. Although at one time most people thought of a calling as relevant only for overtly religious careers, the concept is frequently understood today to apply to virtually any area of work.
The following questions assess the degree to which you see this concept as relevant to your own life and career. Please respond honestly, not according to what is socially desirable or what you feel you “ought” to think. Please indicate the extent to which each of the following statements currently describe you, using the following scale, keeping track of your scores as you go.
PART I: CALLING SCALE
1. I have a calling to a particular kind of work.
1 = Not at all true of me
2 = Mildly true of me
3 = Moderately true of me
4 = Mostly true of me
5 = Totally true of me
2. I have a good understanding of my calling as it applies to my career.
1 = Not at all true of me
2 = Mildly true of me
3 = Moderately true of me
4 = Mostly true of me
5 = Totally true of me
PART II: LIVING A CALLING
Please answer the following items if you currently feel a calling to a particular job or line of work. Please answer using the following scale:
1. I have regular opportunities to live out my calling.
1 = Not at all true of me
2 = Mildly true of me
3 = Moderately true of me
4 = Mostly true of me
5 = Totally true of me
2. I am currently working in a job that closely aligns with my calling.
1 = Not at all true of me
2 = Mildly true of me
3 = Moderately true of me
4 = Mostly true of me
5 = Totally true of me
3. I am consistently living out my calling.
1 = Not at all true of me
2 = Mildly true of me
3 = Moderately true of me
4 = Mostly true of me
5 = Totally true of me
4. I am currently engaging in activities that align with my calling.
1 = Not at all true of me
2 = Mildly true of me
3 = Moderately true of me
4 = Mostly true of me
5 = Totally true of me
5. I am living out my calling right now in my job.
1 = Not at all true of me
2 = Mildly true of me
3 = Moderately true of me
4 = Mostly true of me
5 = Totally true of me
6. I am working in a job to which I feel called.
1 = Not at all true of me
2 = Mildly true of me
3 = Moderately true of me
4 = Mostly true of me
5 = Totally true of me
SCORING
Please follow the links below that correlate to your scores on the two scales.
- Calling scale sum: 2 / Living calling scale sum: Does not apply in this case
- Calling scale sum: 3-7 / Living calling scale sum: 6
- Calling scale sum: 3-7 / Living calling scale sum: 7-24
- Calling scale sum: 3-7 / Living calling scale sum: 25-30
- Calling scale sum: 8-10 / Living calling scale sum: 6
- Calling scale sum: 8-10 / Living calling scale sum: 7-24
- Calling scale sum: 8-10 / Living calling scale sum: 25-30
Career Assessments
Are all career assessments created equal? If not, are there ways to judge which ones are better than others? Career assessments vary widely in their quality, and yes, there are good ways to judge which are better than others. Career assessments are only good if they succeed at reliably and validly measuring what they claim to measure. Read More →
Choosing a Career Counselor
Visiting a career counselor is an important step that can help you better understand what your calling may be and how to live it out to the fullest. Below we present strategies for how to choose a career counselor that is best for you. There are a number of different titles of professionals who provide career counseling (e.g., coach, consultant, counselor); here we discuss career counselors specifically. These are professionals who have at least a master’s degree and, are certified, meaning they received a degree from an accredited program and have passed a national licensing exam similar the bar exam for lawyers. These strategies for choosing a counselor come primarily from two sources: the guidelines for choosing a counselor published by the National Career Development Association (NCDA) and the suggestions made by Richard Bolles in his book What Color is Your Parachute? Read More →
Your Strengths
In Make Your Job a Calling, we describe how using your strengths at work is a key pathway for making your work meaningful. The first step in using strengths, of course, is to understand what they are. Read More →
Your Gifts
In Make Your Job a Calling, we make a case that a key strategy for discerning a calling is to start by understanding your gifts, where “gifts” is defined very broadly to include all of those aspects of what make you unique. There are many types of gifts that people possess, and a holistic approach to exploring gifts should be as expansive and comprehensive as possible. Read More →
For Employers & HR Pros
The majority of Make Your Job a Calling is geared towards helping individuals understand and live out their callings. Yet we also know that an individual’s ability to understand and live their calling can be hindered or supported by their work environment. If you are in supervisory, managerial, or ownership role within an organization, the working world needs your help! This is because you have a level of influence that can be used to shape the workplace into the kind of environment that can help those who work for you grow and live their callings. Of course, having employees who are living out their callings are also the best kind of employees to have. So how do you build this type of atmosphere? We offer a few suggestions. Read More →
Make Your Job a Calling 