The 1 Method Students Need To Align Their Career Passions With The Emerging Economy

Deciding on a direction for your career is daunting, especially as a college student having grown up in such a rapidly changing economy.

But try thinking of your career path as a Venn diagram — two overlapping circles.

One of the circles contains everything you’re passionate about, your interests, your strengths. And the other one contains the needs of the outside world, like the industries that are hiring right now and the skills that are in demand.

Ideally, you want to find your career in the part of the diagram that overlaps.

A career that interests you and suits your strengths, but also positions you in a field with plenty of demand for talent — and not a lot of supply.

Here’s how to start filling out your diagram and steering your career in a direction that makes sense:

Do Your Research

I’m not just talking about reading a few articles online.

Your research has to be rigorous. You need to have a solid understanding of what the economy looks like now and what it’s going to look like in the future.

Look at emerging industries, areas like AI or cryptocurrency. Think about where we might see demand as new technologies pick up steam. And don’t worry if you’re more creative than technical. You can still position yourself to work in some of these new areas.

Because wherever there’s a need for technology, there will be a need to represent human interaction in the form of design or user experience, too.

And every industry needs people in business, law, marketing, and communication.

Your research will require you to get out of the college bubble, because a lot of what you’re taught there is going to be outdated. You have to find outside resources that are up-to-date and realistic about the state of different industries.

Think business journals, alum publications, industry-specific magazines, blogs.

A lot of fields also publish industry reports at the beginning of each year, sharing statistics on trends and forecasts. For example, Bitcoin Magazinerecently reported there were 442 cryptocurrency-related job postings on AngelList in 2016, and the number of listings was projected to reach 1,255 by the end of 2017.

So, read as much as you can about the emerging economy and which industry-related skills will be in demand five to ten years from now.

Seek out mentors and advisors in different fields. Put in the time to ensure that you know where the demand is centered.

Find Where Passion Meets Demand

You’ve almost certainly had someone tell you to “Follow your passion!”

That’s a very simple statement to make. It’s all well and good to follow your passion, but if I did that, I’d be spending my time watching movies. And unless I’m trying to be the next great film critic (I’m not), that’s not a great use of my time.

Unfortunately, most colleges fail at helping students align their passions with the skills that are going to be in demand. They don’t help students gain insight into the future economy.

Consider this: There’s a huge shortage of nurses and nurse practitioners today. Demand outstrips the supply in this industry, and all signs point to that trend continuing into the future. People going into this field can command high salaries and feel secure about their futures.

If you just follow your passion, you probably aren’t going to be positioning yourself well.

Examine your interests and look for one that overlaps with the demands of the economy. That’s the sweet spot you want to be in.

Teach Yourself

Once you’ve found a field that resides in this overlap, it’s time to start teaching yourself.

Sure, you’ll soon have a college education, but that doesn’t mean you’ve been trained to do the job you want.

Consider this example:

We had a student named Allen who worked with us for a couple of years at Paragon One.

He was interested in finance and trading, and after some coaching from our advisors, he ended up landing a job at a trading firm in New York.

But he realized he wanted to explore other interests that were relevant to the emerging economy.

He was a really curious guy and was intrigued by blockchain. So, he started teaching himself how to program in Solidity, the programming language for Ethereum. He began networking with people in the industry. And he kept learning about blockchain and teaching himself the technical side of the business outside of work.

Eventually, we connected him with a few people in the community, and he wound up getting a job at a blockchain company in New York.

He’s now on the forefront of the industry and doesn’t have 10 years of experience. He never studied blockchain in college. But there’s a high demand for people with knowledge about the technical side of blockchain, and he positioned himself to take advantage of that.

This is not a one-in-a-million example.

If you’re serious about educating yourself, learning new things, and networking, you can find a job that both interests you and pays the bills — and then some.

Know Yourself

I know there’s a flaw in this method for some people.

There are plenty of college students reading this thinking: Sure, but I don’t know what I’m passionate about! Don’t worry, it’s pretty common to be unsure of what you want to do while you’re still in college.

But it’s important to understand yourself if you want to make good choices about your future.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a silver bullet out there that will help you with that. There are good self-assessment tests like the Myers-Briggs that can point you in the right direction, but even these aren’t perfect.

Knowing yourself really comes by talking to people.

You can find inspiration by reading and researching, but at the end of the day, you have to get out and surround yourself with new people and new ideas.

If you’re in college, you have a lot of opportunities to do that.

Reach out to your alumni network, talk to professionals, learn about what they do. Then, pick a few areas that you’re curious about and start learning more about them.

Once you have a better idea of what you want to do, look for fields where a growing demand and short supply overlaps with your passions. That’s where the opportunities for a fulfilling and stable career lie.