The Best Jobs for Your Personality

Many people tend to enjoy their jobs much more and achieve greater productivity when their personalities are matched to the tasks. In fact, career suitability and interest tests are based on the idea that certain individual characteristics are more likely to bring about greater success and job satisfaction. Heading down a particular career path based on prominent personality traits is an approach that can demystify the whole "What do I want to be when I grow up?" quandary.

Learn About Yourself
Finding the right vocational fit begins with identifying who you are by assessing factors such as interests, talents, hobbies, achievements and desired lifestyle. Pinpointing these traits can be somewhat challenging to achieve, given how people are not always aware of all their unique personality facets. Enlisting the input of friends, family and even school counselors can be one strategy for learning about and recognizing your personality characteristics.

Gauging Your Forte
Whether you're extroverted and spontaneous, or calm and calculated, any number of vocations can complement your abilities. Finding your forte comes from pairing personality traits with career paths that highlight those characteristics. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, long considered the gold standard of personality assessments, not only provides a finely-tuned psychological insight, but it also identifies the most relevant career options that can steer you toward a satisfying livelihood.

Career Compatibility
Dr. John Holland's career-choice theory is based on the idea that six different personality types gravitate toward different work environments: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising and conventional. People rarely fall into just one work-related personality type, and are often drawn to and suitable for a combination of categories. Consider your options in more than just one area to find your niche.

Holland's Hexagon
Holland's Hexagon, a model that outlines relationships between personalities and work environments, shows conventional personalities are orderly, systematic and like set plans, making them suited for occupations like bank teller, bookkeeper or court clerk. The dynamic, ambitious, "take charge" enterprising personality is well-suited for positions such as bank president, lawyer or customs inspector. Having a social personality lends itself to the nurturing, helpful and principled approaches seen in nursing, social work, teaching, counseling and physical therapy. Artistic dispositions thrive in independent and expressive environments where they are free to create in such careers as dancing, designing, writing, comedy or composing. The rigorous and intellectual nature of investigative personalities works best in such careers as lawyer, architect, veterinarian or chemist. Practicality and mechanical abilities represent the realistic personality, which include law enforcement, firefighters, pilots and carpenters.

Originally written for and published by Demand Media
Photo credit: Jupiterimages/Polka Dot/Getty Images

The Benefits of Teenage Jobs

Parenting, much like an artist's blank canvas, is the opportunity to create something spectacular from scratch. Nurturing a child's development entails myriad facets that work together to form a well-rounded individual. Teens who are ready to step outside the family circle and get a job continue learning responsibility and gain independence as they take their first few steps out into the real world.


Fiscal Management
Teens are often eager to get their first job because they'll earn considerably more money than they get from a standard allowance. Many will also begin to appreciate the value of saving over spending when they've had to work for the money. When handed to them without having earned it other than mowing the grass or taking out the garbage, they may not associate much worth until they've invested a lot of time and effort to acquire it.

Punctuality
Showing up late is not an option in the workplace, so teens quickly learn the relationship between being punctual and receiving a paycheck. This also drives home the potential for losing a job when their time cards are consistently stamped late.

Wean Off Parental Support
Shifting away from mom and dad's wallet can be a painful transition. For example, parents who give their adolescents a car before they have a job may foot the monthly payment, insurance and gas bills with the understanding that once gainfully employed, the teen takes over these financial responsibilities. He will likely experience sticker shock when the fiscal burden shifts and every paycheck must be carefully budgeted to meet these new monthly responsibilities before allowing any personal spending.

Test the Waters
Teens are often pressed to decide on a career path without benefit of industry familiarity. One particular advantage of taking a job or two while still in high school is getting a hands-on feel for that business and its operational format, determining if it's interesting and challenging enough to be a future fit. Teens who click with a certain industry can then work toward upward mobility within the company.

Originally written for and published by Demand Media.

When's the Right Time to Get Another?

Few life events are more painful than losing a pet. Com-panion animals bring so much fun and joy to our lives that no matter when they pass on, it's always too early. Some people cannot endure the emotional void left by a departed pet and immediately adopt another, but others have a difficult time processing the grief; the idea of experiencing such intense feelings again, along with other concerns, may keep them from having another.

Part of the Solution
Setting aside emotional pain for the greater good is a challenge many people face when deciding whether to get another pet. It's almost impossible to avoid the mass media marketing campaigns showcasing all the homeless animals waiting for adoptive families. Reducing this excessive population by just one may not make a big difference in a statistical sense, but it absolutely will make one to the life you save and help you deal with the pain by focusing your energy on the well-being of another companion.

Learning to Rebound

If your kids are reeling from the loss of the family pet just as much as you are, this may be a perfect time to teach them how to process their emotions in a positive way. Let everyone mourn the animal's absence. Encourage talk about happy times together and help everyone understand that getting another pet is not meant to replace their beloved family member. All this can take time to achieve, because each person deals with grief in his or her own way. Once the whole family is comfortable with the idea, have a group discussion to decide when to bring in a new pet.

Cost

The expense of having a companion animal can be quite high with an unexpected illness or accident. While pet insurance may be a good safeguard against some health issues, Consumer Reports says it generally costs more than it pays. The death of a pet can cause significant financial strain when vet care is required, which makes it difficult to ignore the reality of getting another pet right away. You may just need some time before you're ready to take on the costs of another pet.

Grieving of Other Family Pets

Companion animals who have established a strong bond with another family pet can express grief over the loss of that buddy. While the extra attention you give him during this time helps him feel more comforted, he still may display mournful behavior, such as lethargy, loss of appetite and whining. He may even search the house and yard for days after his friend is gone. While you still may not be ready to bring another animal into your home, adopting an additional pet can help ease the pain the remaining one is experiencing.

Originally written for and published by eHow

Decisions, Decisions

As kids, we're forever thinking about what we want to be when we grow up, never quite committing to any one idea as we waffle back and forth with such vocations as firefighter, ballerina and veterinarian. The thing with these more popular choices, though, is there is rarely a time when we, as children, can test drive potential careers before pledging our undying loyalty to a single calling.

Sure, we can shadow adult professionals to get a better feel for the work they do, but the honest-to-goodness chance to fight a fire, dance in a professional company or perform surgery on the family dog just isn't feasible for a youngster.

Then we begin the mental, emotional and hormonal under-taking of high school where we have 36-48 months to decide on and plan for a career that's supposed to engage us for the next 50 years. Since we're barely at the point in our maturity to decide if we want fries or onion rings with our burger, it seems sort of backwards to expect teens to be fully aware of the path they want to take.

In reality, the first few years out of school are spent in the service industry just to garner a paycheck. So if we haven't yet experienced life beyond 12 years of classroom education, how can we possibly know what direction to choose?

This question is especially valuable now at a time when, as Jennifer Lee of The New York Times points out, "highly educated 20-somethings, whose careers are stuck in neutral, [are] coping with dead-end jobs and listless prospects."

Sooner or later, says Nona Willis Aronowitz, "we're going to have to accept that not every-one going to college will be using their degree to get a job. In a way, this is depressing. But in another, it's Utopian." Given this new reality of a broken economy, it's becoming apparent how "on-the-job" life lessons can prove more relevant for making important life decisions than aimlessly wandering through the academic maze.

Career Choices graphic from "What Color Is Your Parachute?"

Increase Your Chances of Becoming a Custodial Parent

Many chall-enges are associated with getting divorced; establishing custodial rights may be the most painful. Children can too easily become pawns when a couple wants to exact re-venge upon each other. For this reason, the court pays close attention to how the mother and father fulfill their respective parental responsibilities, as well as their personal lifestyle choices. In the end, it all comes down to what's in the best interest of the child, so do everything possible to present yourself as the better parent.

Realize that judges don't automatically give mothers custodial rights. Each parent must prove why he or she offers a better living arrangement.

Educate yourself on what criteria the court uses to determine which parent is more fit. These criteria include finances, physical and mental health, professional stability, the child's age and where he or she is currently schooled, along with the relationship each parent has with the child. According to the Separated Parenting Access & Resource Center, the older the child is, the more input he or she has in determining which parent receives custody.

Hire a lawyer with extensive family law experience to help avoid the potential for judicial prejudice. While judges are supposed to be impartial, the American Bar Association points out that some will silently impart their personal biases. Expect your attorney to be skilled enough to know which evidence works in your favor and which detracts from it.

Refrain from dating while involved in a custody battle. The court is not supposed to consider this behavior when making a decision, but judges often look upon it as a distraction from the child's best interest. A parent already living with a new partner will carry the burden of proving this new relationship doesn't negatively affect the child.

Accept that your religious beliefs and practices may play a role in whether you're granted custodial rights. Legally, the court's only concern with a parent's chosen religion should be how it may affect the child's care. However, children raised in a particular faith may be placed with the parent who more closely continues the religious tradition.

Originally written for and posted on eHow

Deciding to Drop Out of College

College preparation begins at a very young age as parents instill the importance of higher education. Yet, while a degree has long been the springboard to solid career placement, this conventional mindset has come under scrutiny of late. The advent of new technology has restruc-tured the prerequisites for good-paying jobs to focus more upon life experience, making the standard college education a less likely mandate for success. The decision to quit college, therefore, encompasses more than just the academic aspect.

Turn your passion into a secure livelihood. Recognize that you do not need a college degree to start your own company, according to entrepreneur Nathan Lee. Take a few community college courses to provide you with the right business foundation.

Gauge whether your earning potential justifies paying skyrocketing tuition fees as administrators struggle to offset declining attendance with increased costs. Consider how much of an impact a $30,000 to $50,000 degree will have upon your ability to pay off student loans, advises Lee.

Assess if you're attending college because of social conditioning or because you see higher education as a stepping stone to a desired career. Re-evaluate your perspective if more time is spent struggling than achieving, especially when it comes to meeting financial needs.

Originally written for and published on eHow

How to Increase Your Chances of Becoming a Custodial Parent