Analyzing Career Interests

I was recently asked by an aspiring medical professional/student - “ How can I make sure this is a good job for me?” 1. Journaling After Each Shift or Experience Encourage the student to write down: • What they did: What tasks or responsibilities did they enjoy? What felt draining? • How they felt: Were they energized, overwhelmed, fulfilled, or indifferent? • Moments of meaning: Did anything move them emotionally — a patient interaction, a team moment, a breakthrough? • Values alignment: Did the work align with their personal values (e.g., compassion, science, service, justice)? ⸻ 2. Ask Key Reflection Questions Weekly: Set aside time each week to answer: • What am I learning — about medicine and about myself? • What parts of this work excite me most? • Do I feel a sense of purpose in what I’m doing? • What skills or strengths of mine are being used here? • Can I see myself doing this for 10–20 years? ⸻ 3. Shadow or Explore Other Roles Sometimes students think they want to be doctors, but might thrive as nurses, physician assistants, therapists, or public health professionals. Encourage exploration of different roles within healthcare to: • Compare environments (e.g., surgery vs primary care, inpatient vs outpatient) • Understand team dynamics • Observe the emotional toll and rewards of different roles ⸻ 4. Talk to Mentors and Professionals Encourage the student to speak with professionals at various stages of their careers and ask: • What they love and what’s hardest about their job • How they knew this was the right path • What they wish they had known in training ⸻ 5. Use a “Career Fit Scorecard” They can create a simple 1–5 scale to rate: • Interest in subject matter • Emotional fulfillment • Work-life balance potential • Financial expectations • Stress tolerance • Lifestyle flexibility • Intellectual challenge Looking at the scores over time can help clarify patterns. ⸻ 6. Visualize the Long-Term Ask: “If I continue on this path, where will I be in 10 years?” And then: “How does that make me feel?” This simple visualization often reveals whether the path feels right in their gut. ⸻ 7. Normalize Doubt Finally, reassure them that questioning their path is not only okay — it’s wise. Many people who enter healthcare do so after pivoting from other fields or rediscovering their purpose along the way.

Ever wondered if you’re truly satisfied with your career path? It’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind and overlook how you really feel about where you're headed. Taking a moment to reflect can make all the difference. Here are a few questions to ask yourself: 🔍 Am I excited about my work every day? If not, what parts of my job bring me joy, and what parts don’t? 🔍 Do I feel challenged and valued? Are there opportunities for growth, or do I feel stuck? 🔍 How does my current role align with my long-term goals? Is this job helping me get closer to where I want to be? 🔍 Am I balancing work with personal fulfillment? Do I have time for the things that matter most outside of work? If you're considering a change, start by reflecting on your strengths and passions to find roles that truly align with your interests. Research potential paths and network with professionals in those fields to gain valuable insights. Set clear, realistic goals to stay focused and motivated, and seek advice from a career coach or mentor for objective guidance and strategies for a smooth transition. When was the last time you assessed your career path? Share your reflections and insights below!

Most careers are taught as ladders. But ladders only go up or down. What if your career looked more like a triangle built around themes that give you energy, meaning, and the leverage to build outsized impact? That’s how I think of my career. A triangle 🔼 At each corner/pillar sits a theme I keep coming back to. The closer something is to the center of that triangle, the more fulfilling it is. I call this the Career Triangulation Framework (very open to better names). The idea is simple: - Identify your three themes - Map them into a triangle - Use it as a compass for every career move Here’s how it works: 1️⃣ Spot the themes you keep coming back to. Instead of chasing external factors like job titles and short-term salary increases, look for the recurring patterns in what excites you. Ask yourself: - What topics or problems do I always want to learn more about? - What kind of work gives me energy? For example, these are my themes: - Innovation/Tech - Education - Community 2️⃣ Draw your triangle Put each theme at a corner. The closer a role sits to the center of the triangle, the more fulfilling it’s likely to be. - One-corner roles are fine early on. - Two-corner roles get more exciting. - The sweetest spot is the center, where all three overlap. Very grateful to have found the center of my triangle: investing in and supporting innovative startups (Innovation/Tech), running a media platform, GTMnow, to help people build, scale and invest with the best minds in tech (Education), and supporting our GTMfund operator LP community (Community). 3️⃣ Collect data points Everything you do provides data. After each one, jot down: - What energized me? - What drained me? - What skills did I love using? etc. These data points reveal your true interests, which (spoiler alert) are often different from what you expected. 4️⃣ Use the triangle as your compass When an opportunity pops up, ask: - Does it strengthen at least one corner? - Does it move me closer to the center? - Even if it’s a detour, will it provide valuable data? This keeps you focused on INTERNAL ALIGNMENT instead of external validation. 5️⃣ Keep iterating Your three themes will evolve. Revisit them every year or so. Adjust the triangle as you gather more data points. It creates a consistent path of compounding data points that sharpen conviction and accelerate impact. The TL;DR: 1. Identify your three themes. 2. Visualize them as a triangle. 3. Gather data from everything you do. 4. Keep moving toward the center. This is a mental model that I developed a while ago after noticing patterns from the "data" of everything I was engaged in. You can get data from absolutely everything you do.

"But who am I without my job?" That question comes up in almost every career transition call I have. We get so wrapped up in our professional identities that we forget there's a whole universe of interests waiting to be explored. Let me share a story that might shift your perspective: I just worked with a technical program manager who felt stuck in infrastructure work. Instead of rushing into another similar role, he gave himself permission to explore. His growing fascination with AI ended up becoming a cornerstone of his next career move as an AI TPM. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀: Your personal interests aren't separate from your professional identity - they're clues to your next evolution. 𝗧𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗲: 1. What do you read about when no one's watching? 2. What topics make you lose track of time? 3. What problems do you solve for fun? Those are potential career pillars waiting to be discovered. Every career transition is an invitation to understand yourself better. That uncertainty you're feeling is curiosity in disguise. The next chapter of your career might be hiding in plain sight, disguised as a "random" interest you've never given serious thought to. What seemingly unrelated passion could reshape your professional future? #CareerAlchemy #PersonalGrowth #CareerTransition #SelfDiscovery #Creativity

Just know yourself and you’ll know the career to pursue. I’ve been told this countless times, and it always left me wondering: does “knowing myself” mean knowing my favorite color or food? We spend about 1/3 of our lives at work. For a place where we spend that much time, it’s crucial that our career aligns with who we are. Otherwise, we risk chronic stress, dissatisfaction, and even burnout. So, what does understanding yourself really in regards to making career choices or even career transitions look like? 📌 Aptitudes: Your potential. What you could become good at, not just what you already do. Strong numerical reasoning, for example, may point to technical fields—even if you’ve never explored them deeply. 📌 Achievements: Your past successes matter. Excelling in school, leadership, or projects shows proven abilities you can build on. 📌 Interests: What excites you? What draws your attention naturally? Sometimes we love something but lack the ability to excel in it. Other times, we’re good at something we don’t actually enjoy. Both perspectives matter. 📌 Values: What matters most to you? Helping people, creativity, leadership, or job security? Your values shape long-term satisfaction more than short-term perks. 📌 Personality: How you function. Introvert or extrovert? Structured or flexible? Collaborative or independent? Your personality influences the environments where you’ll thrive. Many of us make career choices without looking at the bigger picture. But it’s never too late to reflect and align your career with who you truly are not just with what was expected. How did you end up in your current career; by choice, circumstance, or influence? Or did you take the time to truly understand yourself? PS: I’m Claudine Umutoniwase. I Help Young Professionals Grow the Right Skills, Protect their well-being, and Set Healthy Boundaries To Thrive in their Careers and Build a Life They Don’t Need to Recover From. #CareerDevelopment #SelfUnderstanding #CareerChoices #Leadership #CareerGrowth #MentalHealth

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES ANALYSIS - PROMPT GIVEAWAY II - I am giving you another secret weapon for the job hunt that really works. Again for free! „Ich bewerbe mich mal breit.“ — Famous last words before 200 rejections. The spray & pray approach to job hunting is the professional equivalent of bringing a Bratwurst to a vegan dinner, not only in Pharma! After 16 years in talent acquisition across Big Pharma & Top 5 CROs, I got tired of watching brilliant people sabotage their own careers with “strategic” moves that were about as strategic as a Schuss ins Blaue (a shot in the dark). So I built a career analysis prompt. Not a vision board. Not a personality test that tells you you’re a “visionary dolphin.” A proper, ruthless framework you can use with any AI tool. Strongest model & thinking and/or deep search mode. Geschenkt ist geschenkt (a gift is a gift). HOW IT WORKS: 1. Upload your current CV or LinkedIn PDF first. Without it, the prompt is just a nice text. Ohne Mampf kein Kampf (no fuel, no fight). 2. Pick your path: OPTION A — You already know which roles you’re after: “Analyse my uploaded profile against these target roles: [LIST YOUR ROLES]. For each: assess my realistic chances, salary ranges in [YOUR REGION], skills gaps, companies most likely hiring, and market timing. Then suggest 3 additional roles I haven’t considered that match my profile better than my ego does. Be brutally honest.” OPTION B — You have no idea what you’re best suited for (no shame — most people don’t): “Based solely on my uploaded profile, identify the 5 roles I’m most realistically qualified for in [YOUR INDUSTRY/REGION]. Rank them by match strength. For each: salary range, skills gaps, companies hiring, and market demand. Tell me which 3 are my strongest bets and why. No flattery. Ich will Klartext (I want straight talk).” 3. Add whichever applies: •       “I’m transitioning from academia to industry” •       “I’m switching from [X] to [Y] industry” •       “I’m 50+ — advise on positioning experience as an asset” •       “I need visa sponsorship — flag realistic options”   Takes 5 minutes. Vorbereitung ist die halbe Miete (preparation is half the rent). I tested it on one of my best friend's. He wants to switch industries. The role I was fixated on for him? Weak match. The one I’d dismissed? Best fit by a mile. Manchmal sieht man den Wald vor lauter Bäumen nicht (sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees). Works whether you’re a PhD wondering why 47 publications don’t translate into jobs, stuck between “too junior” & “too senior for the salary,” over 50 & hearing “cultural fit” (translation: we’re scared of competence), or a career changer. Stop guessing. Start analysing. Your move.   1.    How do you like it? 2.    Tag someone who’s been “just looking”. They need this more than another motivational quote. 3.    Save this. You’ll forget & wonder in 3 months why your Jobsuche still feels like Grundlagenforschung with no funding.

PhD to Purpose #3: Why Smart People Make Bad Career Decisions When I help people with career transitions, I see smart people making the same mistake: they analyze endlessly instead of recognizing patterns. This gets worse in the AI era when opportunities evolve faster than analysis can keep up. My own example: After my PhD, I spent months researching every possible career path. I created spreadsheets, read industry reports, analyzed salary data. Meanwhile, I ignored the obvious pattern - I'd always been energized by helping people navigate complex decisions. Why smart people overthink: • More information feels like better decisions • Intelligence creates confidence in analysis ability • Fear of "wrong" choice leads to more research • Perfectionism delays action until "optimal" choice appears The pattern recognition alternative: Instead of analyzing external opportunities endlessly, look for internal patterns: • What activities consistently energize you? • What problems do you naturally solve? • What themes appear across different life phases? • What do people naturally come to you for? Why this matters more with AI: Career landscapes change so rapidly that by the time you finish your analysis, the field has evolved. Pattern recognition helps you adapt quickly because you understand your core strengths, not just current market conditions. The breakthrough: Once I recognized my helping-people-with-transitions pattern, I could quickly evaluate any opportunity against it. Less analysis, faster decisions, better alignment. Smart people often make bad career decisions not from lack of information, but from ignoring the patterns right in front of them. What patterns show up consistently in your work and life that you might be overlooking? #phdtopurpose #careerdevelopment #AI #futureofwork #professionaldevelopment

Every week I talk with college students who are doing everything they’ve been told to do. Go to class. Study hard. Keep the GPA high. Build a resume. Set up a LinkedIn profile. Then I ask a simple question: “What are you actually interested in?” The room often gets quiet. Not because they don’t have interests… But because many students are afraid to say them out loud. Too many students are choosing degrees based on perceived compensation instead of genuine curiosity. Here’s the truth most people never explain: Careers aren’t assigned. They’re engineered. They are built by connecting three simple things: • Your Interests • Your Skills • Your Industry And here’s an important nuance many students miss: Skills and interests are not necessarily the same thing. You may love sports, animals, music, aviation, gaming, fashion, or healthcare. Your skills might be math, writing, design, analytics, communication, sales, or problem solving. The magic happens when you connect those skills to an industry you genuinely care about. Example. You may love baseball, but know you won’t play professionally. If you also enjoy math and analytics, that combination could lead to a career in finance, analytics, or operations within minor league baseball. You may love animals, but your natural skill is storytelling, marketing, or graphic design. That combination could lead to building brands and marketing strategies for veterinary practices, pet care companies, or animal health organizations. You may have already identified your skill set. The next step is asking a different question: What industries or markets interest me enough that I would enjoy applying those skills there every day? When you begin connecting those dots — skills to interests, interests to industries — something powerful happens. You start engineering your outcomes. And that clarity gives you something many graduates are still searching for years later: Direction, purpose, and momentum.

I have multiple passions and used to struggle to focus. (Here’s what I did to gain clarity) First, realize that specialists who focus on one thing might not understand you. People often dismiss what they don’t get. Ignore. Secondly, you can do whatever you want to do if you have self-confidence. It comes from clarity. How? ➡️ Step 1: Explore your interests. Especially if you’re young, embrace your curiosity and spread your wings. In high school, I was the best graduating student in Physics & Technical Drawing. Although I wanted to study Engineering, I ended up pursuing Industrial Chemistry—and enjoyed it. While studying, I dabbled in internships in partnerships and sales and joined AIESEC under the operations and business development team. I immersed myself in learning design, marketing, media, finance, HR, admin, project management, and more, not just from a textbook but gaining real-life experience. I was an avid volunteer and was known to be part of almost every social impact project at the university. Some early LinkedIn connections might remember me writing resumes and designing portfolios for early-career professionals. But where’s the synergy in all this?? ➡️ Step 2: Find the synergy Go online and see if there are other people just like you. Stalk them and follow their career paths. You’ll notice that most of them are entrepreneurs or have generalist jobs. Find out what these roles are. How can you replicate their success? ➡️ Step 3: Categorize After my research, I was able to divide my passions into 2 *main* categories: - Personal development ↴ This is what led me to be an early-career guide, talking about leadership, self-improvement, offering CV writing services, organising LinkedIn Locals, etc. I want to help those behind me with resources I wish I had. - Business ↴ I thrive on the excitement of starting and finishing projects, discussing money, networking, and research. My interest in various fields comes from viewing a business as a complex machine, which aligns with my analytical mindset from science. This is where business management & development fits in. _____________ This approach allowed me to be true to myself and communicate who I am. Now, if you ask me what my purpose is, I can confidently tell you that it is "to positively impact humanity during my time here". I’m sharing this because I hope to show you how to gain clarity in your multiple passions. Would you give this a try?

When considering your next application, a Personal Development Plan can help you establish both short- and long-term career development goals; identify strategies for enhancing the competencies or skills needed to achieve those goals; and explore ways to leverage your strengths and talents to transition your career. Start by asking yourself these questions: 🔹How satisfied am I with my role? 🔹If I were to make a change, what would it be? 🔹What are my interests? 🔹How do others currently view me? How do I want to be viewed by others? 🔹What are my inherent strengths and talents? The answers to these questions will help you assess your aspirations, motivations, skill gaps, behavioral gaps, current resources, and potential resources. What are some other resources you have found helpful when thinking about career transitions?