Career and job pathways

Finding the way towards your future

JANE PORTNOY

Jane Portnoy is Social Worker – Haemophilia & Other Inherited Bleeding Disorders at the Ronald Sawers Haemophilia Centre, Alfred Health, Melbourne

Decisions about careers and jobs cause significant worry for young people. There is pressure to make good choices and not miss an opportunity. However, there is just as much learning from the less obvious choices. Sometimes it is the unexpected experiences had along the way that bring new connections, offers, skills and interesting careers.

Research tells us that people with chronic illness and disability have a harder time finding work, progressing in work, and are often under-employed. (1) With this in mind, how can someone with a bleeding disorder have success in their journey and protect themselves?

FINDING YOUR DIRECTION

Finding one’s own direction is not straightforward and young people have to identify their interests, find opportunities, and take their own steps toward their career.

Many successful people recommend being open to all opportunities as the key to finding their pathway. This can be as diverse as helping a teacher out with a project, taking on a part-time job, pursuing hobbies, talking to a broad range of people, or work experience.

The factors that are important in career and job selection are finding a balance between their interest for you, work available that pays enough and skill. The Japanese Ikigai model is a great graphic depiction of the various factors that impact on a positive work experience – see the Ikigai diagram below (2). The benefit is working with the big picture and expanding ideas, to support lateral thinking and identify priorities and values that will be important in career planning.

MAKING CHOICES

Parents, mentors, teachers and the Haemophilia Treatment Team are all interested in a young person’s success and are often aware of the challenges. Nevertheless, it is ultimately up to the individual to forge their own way. We worry when that choice appears to be wrong. However, through ‘bad choices’ young people gain experience and develop insight. These experiences help them to develop maturity and motivation, which can lead to the development of skills and then new pathways emerge.

Some jobs are not as suitable as others, particularly with hard physical jobs. Age is another factor to consider with some jobs. Often as people age, they move into related areas that are gentler on the body, and use their acquired knowledge, skills, leadership while they take on more responsibility. These transitions require some planning, hard work and courage. Employers can assist workers to identify pathways, and help with the additional training in the workplace, supporting study and giving opportunities to take on new responsibilities.

Interestingly this generation is predicted to change careers 5 to 7 times over their working life and there are multiple pathways into chosen careers.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER

Physical issues

• Target joints
• Bleeding risk
• Find out the physical demands of a particular job you are interested in.

Work entitlements

• such as sick leave, disability support, safe workplace.

Geographic factors

• How far from home
• What transport and parking options are there?
• How long will the commute be?

Your interests

• Passion
• Hobby
• Social aspect – do you work with other people?

Opportunities

• What study/courses are available? How long will it take? How much will it cost? Where?
• What jobs are available and are likely to be in demand when you finish studying?
• What skills do you already have?

WAYS TO FIND OUT WHAT DIRECTION A YOUNG PERSON SHOULD TAKE

Talk to

• Teachers
• People working in fields you may be thinking about
• Career counsellor at school or in the community

Work experience and experience working

• Get a job
• Take an opportunity to go in for a short time to learn about a job

Take a look at

• The classic book What Color is Your Parachute by Richard Bolles
• Guidance about how to find your direction
• Japanese IKIGAI – see diagram above
• Working out what the balance you need for a fulfilling and satisfying career
• Take some of the careers and personality quizzes and questionnaires that are available
• Myers Briggs

There are no regrets, only lessons.

GOAL SETTING

Making long term plans is one of my favourite ways to start planning. It can often encourage some unconsidered priorities or wishes.

A useful way to think about goals is to break them down by time span into

• Short-term
• Mid-term
• Long-term goals.

Of course there can be an intersection between these, but they are often powerful as standalone goals.

Working towards short term goals is more achievable and doesn’t have all the pressure of big goals. It can be something relatively small, yet make a significant impact on day to day life.

The mid-term goals provide a space for some planning and usually require courage to take steps towards them.

Long-term goals go alongside dreams and hopes for the future, but inherently require thought and preparation, as well as hard work.

In thinking about setting goals the individual has to consider multiple factors, and often comes up with more than they would have expected – different goals, new directions, and new opportunities.

The bleeding disorders community continue to amaze me with their hard work, commitment, creativity and persistence. They have the skills and determination to be successful even when they live with a chronic health condition. Not everyone has it easy, but it is possible to move towards success.

REFERENCES

1.The South Australian Centre for Economic Studies. Disability Employment Landscape Research Report. Commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Social Services. Adelaide: University of Adelaide, 2021.

2.Ikigai venn diagram created by Marc Winn for Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles, Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life.