|
Quick Career Advice Reply 7. Too Much Talent Can Be A Problem Dear Ann: A lot of things came easily to me in school, college, and later in my business career. However, I’ve never found a job that seemed to challenge me for very long. Is something wrong with me or am I in the wrong career? The problem, if you can call it that, is that you may be a “multi-abilitied” person. Sometimes people have so many natural talents that no job could really draw on all of them.* For example, Vivian excelled in school. In college she wanted to major in theatre, but put that aside for a more “practical” career in business. After getting an MBA and working for several consulting firms, she was bored to tears with grinding out the same kind of reports over and over. When Vivian took The Highlands Ability Battery, she was surprised to learn that not only are all of her problem-solving abilities very strong, but so are her musical, visual, and creative abilities. Her mental and physical restlessness was the result of so many talents pushing for expression and not having enough of an outlet. Vivian also discovered that she is particularly adept at solving problems that have tangible results, has the capacity to think up a large number of ideas on any subject, and is very extroverted-- none of which is a good fit for long, solitary hours of crunching numbers and writing reports. Given her multi-ability profile, Vivian needs to keep expanding and going in new directions in her work to find sufficient variety and challenge. After completing The Highlands Personal Strategic Planning Seminar, she decided that sales and marketing would be a better fit for her outgoing personality. She is now working in a sales role for a company that sells creative design concepts to shopping malls, not unlike the theatrical sets that she loved working on in college. Vivian is energized and on the go now, consulting with clients on their needs, generating lots of ideas and bringing them to the creative team. She is hoping one day to run her own business and also would like to teach marketing in a business school. These goals will all use her strongest skills and abilities, but give her a wide range of challenging and interconnected outlets for her many talents. You may want to get a career assessment to find out if, like Vivian, you have too much of a good thing—an overabundance of ability—and design a work/life plan to fit. |
