I had a bumpy start to my career and my first professional years were without direction. It was a winding road that led me to my current position, with which I am very satisfied. And yet I ask myself: could I have avoided detours and headed for my destination more directly? At least I would have saved myself a costly intermezzo by doing a personal and professional assessment!
After graduating from high school, I was tired of school and had no idea what I wanted to do for a living. So, I worked as a waiter for a year; it was fun and I earned well. After that I started studying economics at the University of Zurich and continued to work as a waiter and later as an assistant in asset management to earn a living.
Long years of indecisiveness
After graduating, I was still undecided about what I wanted to do. More out of confusion than conviction, I started as a junior auditor at a fiduciary firm with the aim of becoming an accountant. Eight unhappy months later, my family physician offered me the following choice: Either my stomach problems developed into an ulcer or I quit my job. I chose the latter and was back to square one career-wise.
Then I worked as head of administration in an asset management company, but after four years it was clear: this is not my career either. What now? I remembered my old love, the hospitality industry, and decided to train as an innkeeper in order to open a restaurant.
After completing the training, I was many thousands of francs poorer but one insight richer: running a restaurant is not my thing!
Finally, after a thorough analysis of my interests and inclinations, I found a career that suited me as a personnel consultant at the age of 32. I stayed in this profession for eleven years until I started my own business as a career coach.
Dream jobs as a vehicle for needs
Since then, I have been analysing my clients’ dream jobs with them to see what they say about their professional inclinations. In the process, I realised that I had realised my «restaurant dream» in the meantime. If I had done this analysis at a young age, I would have realised my professional needs: I wanted to run my own business according to my ideas and be responsible for practically all tasks.
Although I don’t create culinary recipes today, I have chosen and developed all my concepts myself. In addition, I am responsible for acquisition and customer advice, for marketing including the homepage, as well as for administration and bookkeeping. This desire for versatile tasks and overall responsibility had expressed itself in the «dream job innkeeper». So, I would have saved a lot of money and time by doing a personal and professional assessment.
But still: My letter of congratulations from the Zurich government council to the best graduate of the innkeeper’s course in 1996, hanging in the kitchen, always makes my guests smile.