Now, What Really Interests You?

Someone tells you they want to work in healthcare. That's useful and we have somewhere to start. We still don't know very much about what they actually want to do.

They could be interested in caring directly for patients, enjoy understanding how the human body works, solving complicated medical problems, improving access to care, managing large organizations, studying human behavior, or working with new technology. Two people can both say, “I want to work in healthcare” and be describing completely different futures.

That's why one of the most useful questions you can ask during the Design phase is surprisingly simple: What about it interests you?

Our first answer is usually broad because that's how we're used to talking about careers. We name an industry, job title, or subject we enjoy and use it to describe an entire direction.

• “I like sports.”
• “I've always been interested in music.”
• “I want to do something with technology.”

Those are good starting points. Now, take someone who loves sports. Their first thoughts about working in the industry might be coaching, broadcasting, athletic training, or working for a professional team. Those are some of the roles we see most often. Spend more time asking questions, though, and you may discover that the games aren't actually what interest them most.

They pay attention to why certain teams have incredibly loyal fan bases. They're fascinated by how an organization fills a stadium, creates content people share, builds relationships with its community, and keeps fans engaged even when the team isn't winning. Now we know something different to work from. The interest isn't simply sports, but rather there is an interest in people, behavior, communication, branding, and engagement. That alone opens up possibilities in marketing, consumer behavior, communications, partnerships, brand strategy, ticketing, community engagement, research, or analytics.

 Then, you realize those same types of problems exist outside of sports. A nonprofit wants to understand why people support its mission. A healthcare organization wants patients to engage with its services. A technology company wants customers to continue using its product. A university wants students to feel connected to its campus. The industry changes. The underlying work can remain surprisingly similar. This is why getting more specific doesn't necessarily narrow your future but sometimes it expands it.

 Someone who enjoys storytelling could find meaningful work in sports, healthcare, education, entertainment, government, technology, or a nonprofit. Someone who enjoys analyzing information could apply that ability to finance, logistics, medicine, public policy, marketing, operations, or dozens of other areas. Once you understand what specifically interests you, you stop depending on job titles to tell you where you belong.

 Look at organizations inside an industry. Pay attention to the teams required to make them operate. Study what people are responsible for and what problems they're trying to solve. When a responsibility catches your attention, follow it.

One role may lead you to another. One company may introduce you to an entirely different industry. One person's career path may show you an internship, degree, apprenticeship, certification, or experience you didn't know existed. 

 You aren't trying to pick the answer immediately. You're taking what you've learned about yourself and using it to build a better map of what's possible. “I want to work in sports” gives you somewhere to look. “I want to understand why people connect with organizations and what keeps them engaged” gives you something to investigate.

 So start with the broad interest, then keep asking: What about it interests me?

The more clearly you can answer that question, the more places you may discover where that interest can take you.

Reflection Questions of the Week:

• What industry, subject, or area are you currently interested in and what specifically about it continues to hold your attention?

• What types of problems within that space would you enjoy learning more about?

• Where else could those same interests or skills be valuable?

• How would you describe what you're looking for without using an industry or job title?