How to Love Your Job Even if Your Parents Chose Your Career Path for You

Are you one of those people who are currently pursuing a career path the same as their parents? Are you happy about it? Maybe you were undecided before or maybe you’re just keen on pleasing your parents. Meeting parental expectations, especially during one’s younger years, isn’t bad though, according to a 2012 study from Children Trends Data Bank. Results of the study revealed that parental expectations play a crucial role in a child’s academic performance. And it’s a good habit to pick up, if you think about it, especially if you want to be successful in life. A recent Forbes.com report based on a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) data said that only 38 percent of all US workers are “very satisfied” with their jobs. The rest of the workers are “somewhat satisfied” or dissatisfied. There are two factors at play when you are unsatisfied with your job, according to Alison Horner of Brazen Careerist:  it’s either you don’t know what you like or you know what you like but you don’t think it’s okay because of what you’ve heard from others (i.e. your parents). To know what you like, look inwards and observe yourself like an outsider— recall enjoyable experiences for you or check out what you’ve last bookmarked on your browser, Horner advises. If you didn’t find anything substantial, then explore new things. Now, knowing what you like but being conflicted because of what others are doing is another thing. Often times, many young professionals are led into thinking that they essentially hate their job because other people are not accepting of it. If this is your problem, Horner suggests surrounding yourself with people who are inclined to the same interests and career just like you, and accept what you like and who you are. Easy for Horner to say, right? But what about the rest of those people who can’t just simply dismiss their jobs or the people who they interact with (i.e. coworkers, family members) just like that. As with any other “unlikeable” thought or thing, it all depends on your attitude and how you perceive things—on whether you can be happy or not with your job. Here are some tips on how you could work around the issue and take advantage of your current way of making a living:

1. Assess yourself. Wake Forest University Personal and Career Development Executive Director Dr. Katherine Brooks suggest self-evaluation. “Start by asking yourself why you hate your present job. Is it the people I work with, my tasks, or the organizational culture,” she tells Jacqueline Smith of Forbes.com. “List down the pros and cons of your job and the things you want in your next job,” she added. By doing so, it would be possible for you to find ways on how to remedy your current situation without leaving your job. Brooks recommend against leaving your job without finding a replacement.
2. Bring your own personality into the job. “Focus on doing, creating and participating in your career in ways that tell the world you have credentials that are yours and not just an extension of your parents,” business consultant and Farleigh Dickinson University professor Domenick Celentano said in an article published on the Wharton Highschool website. Celentano worked before for his family’s packaged food business, Celentano Bros. “Remember that you will bring your own personality and identity to your career choice. It’s great to use your parents as a foundation and then build upon that, so you are viewed as having value in your profession as a result of your own knowledge, skills and accomplishments,” he added.
3. Learning how to manage work stress. Austin Ries of Zoho.com is positive that one can definitely handle stress like a pro! By being proactive, finishing tasks as soon as possible to get it off your mind, asking help from superiors and finding ways to spend breaks wisely, one can definitely eliminate stress from a job, if not lessen it.

In case you can’t help it and you’ve already decided that you wanted out, you can always get your feet wet by training for a new career. Meditec’s suite of portable career training courses encompass a wide range of industries such as medical and healthcare, business, legal, real estate and business. Choose a career you love, that can present you many opportunities, and you can take with you.