Where you are affects who you are

As a career counselor I see people on two ends of the same spectrum - those who have an overconfidence of what they can achieve vs those who have no confidence whatsoever on what they can achieve. While I probably see more of the latter, the former also concerns me. If someone is on social assistance because of a medical condition then going from no high school to becoming a lawyer might be somewhat unrealistic. This is not a question of the person's intelligence, but when I hear of people like this, I question if they may set themselves up for defeat.

I have traveled extensively and these experiences have made me a firm believer in personal choice. All of our decisions have consequences. But the environment that we live also affects us. We need to realize what the affects of the environment are on what we are doing and make our decisions accordingly. Coming to Alberta as a fashion designer is going to limit your career options. We are not a province with really anything of a fashion industry.

When it comes to life decisions there is never an easy answer. And people expect there to be. I can't tell you what jobs are 'recession proof'. 6 months ago I would have said that was health care, but that has since become an area of great concern. 2 years ago it seemed everyone was getting a welding ticket and now I now get a lot of welders telling me that they can't find work. Now that person who took two years of schooling can't find a job and loans are piling up or they're used to making 30 bucks an hour and they can't anymore. Both of these individuals face some hard choices, but it's not the governments role to make it for them or to bail them out. For me, the role of government is to facilitate the choice of the individual. But the individual needs to make the choices and make sure they have the resources for those choices. This sometimes requires some hard choices.

I always have a plan b. Or c or d or q. Life always brings unexpected surprises. The labour market has so many variables and is very difficult to predict. There are certainly trends that you can identify, but nobody expected the bust last year. Heck, last October we were at the lowest unemployment rate ever. And now we're seeing some of the highest numbers in 20 years. In our own life, we'd like to move from our condo to a house. But unfortunately with a hiring and possible hiring freeze I just don't see how that will happen. So we need to have patience. And patience is hard.

With the choices one makes, one ends up in a certain place. That place allows one to make other decisions. Some people are handed some pretty rotten cards, but are able to do some awesome things. But everyone I've seen who started out at the top and ended up at the bottom can only look at their own decisions.