What is a Career?
A career is not something that you arrive at. Rather, creating a career is a lifetime process of crafting your skills and talents to contribute meaningfully in your home, the Church, and your community. Disciple leaders carefully manage their careers; they know that their opportunities will be limited depending on how they have developed themselves professionally.
"At first, I was nervous to start BYU-Pathway Worldwide. I am a young mother of two children. After the pandemic, we had lost our home. My husband and I had to move to my grandmother's house and live with my aunt. We weren’t employed anymore, so we had to rely on my family to help us. When my husband said we should start BYU-Pathway Worldwide, I was very resistant, but I am glad I decided to start. So much has gone well for me and my husband since then! We have learned to become stewards. We registered our own company so we can start making money. We got involved in learning how to provide for ourselves from home with the little resources we had at our disposal. If I could do it and get this far, I know you can too, for we have been embodied with the attributes that Heavenly Father and His Son have." - Nokwazi Knombane, South Africa
God Wants You to Work
Did you know that Adam and Eve had jobs in the Garden of Eden? It’s true. Despite the fact that the Garden of Eden automatically produced all the food that they needed, God commanded Adam and Eve to “to dress it, and to keep it” (Moses 3:15). Why does God want us to work even when it is not necessary for our physical survival? Why is it that He wants us to be “anxiously engaged in a good cause” (D&C 58:27)? Why does God allocate so much of our life to earning a living?
As you ponder these questions, watch the following excerpt from President Uchtdorf’s October 2009 conference talk, "Two Principles for Any Economy," and consider why work is so essential for our development.
Did you notice that President Uchtdorf stated that “the Lord loves the laborer” and that “work is an antidote for anxiety, an ointment for sorrow, and a doorway to possibility”? Surely there is a transformative power in work that is necessary for our progression. Sometimes, however, we don’t make the connection between working to reach our divine potential and our career. Perhaps that is because we don’t have complete control over our careers. Or, maybe we convince ourselves into thinking that our work doesn’t have that much to do with the gospel. Further still, it could be that we don’t want to place too much emphasis on temporal things.
Whatever the reason, it is important to remember that the Lord has declared that “all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal” (D&C 29:34). God has commanded us to get an education. "Education increases your ability to serve the Lord. It empowers you to bless others, especially your family. The more you learn, the more you can help build God’s kingdom and influence the world for good." (For The Strength of Youth, pg. 7). God needs us to be successful in our career so that we can use our talents, gifts, and means to bless others and do His work. We should be as willing to consecrate our professional work to God as we are with our spiritual labors.
Answer these questions to see what you remember from reading the text above.
- Why does God want us to work, even when it is not necessary for our physical survival?
ANSWER - According to President Uchtdorf, what are the benefits of work?
ANSWER - Why is it important to recognize the connection between professional careers and spiritual labors?
ANSWER
It’s important to recognize the connection of spiritual and temporal work. Consider how the professional careers of current leaders in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints helped prepare them for their service to the Lord.
As you read through the following biographies, consider these questions:
- In what specific ways has each Church leader’s career prepared him or her for lifelong Church service?
- Do you think some of the skills they developed in their professional careers prepared them to be more effective disciple leaders? If so, what skills were developed?
President Russell M. Nelson is a famous doctor and medical researcher. He helped build the first heart-lung bypass machine and performed open-heart surgery on thousands of patients, including top Church and community leaders. He has traveled the world lecturing and training medical staff. He has served as president chairman, and director of many organizations.
President Dallin H. Oaks was a justice of the Utah Supreme Court, and he was President of Brigham Young University. President Oaks practiced law in Chicago and was a professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School.
President Henry B. Eyring was a business professor at Stanford University, and a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He also served as president of Ricks College, now Brigham Young University-Idaho, and as the Commissioner of Church Education.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Yale University. From 1976 to 1980, he served as the eleventh commissioner of the Church Educational System. He then served as President of Brigham Young University from 1980 to 1989.
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf was the Senior Vice President of Flight Operations of Lufthansa Airlines. He was a former fighter pilot for the West German Air Force and United States Air Force.
Elder David A. Bednar was a business professor at the University of Arkansas and Texas Tech University. He later became the President of Ricks College and lead its transition into Brigham Young University-Idaho.
Elder Quentin L. Cook was a corporate attorney for 27 years. He also served as the President and CEO of California Healthcare System.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson practiced as a lawyer in Washington, D.C.; Nashville, Tennessee; and Charlotte, North Carolina. He also served as corporate legal counsel for NationsBank (now Bank of America).
Elder Neil L. Andersen owned his own advertising agency and was the Vice President of Morton Plant Health System. He also served as Executive Director of the Church Audiovisual Department.
Elder Ronald A. Rasband was a successful businessman. He served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Huntsman Chemical Corporation.
Elder Gary E. Stevenson helped start a small fitness products company. That company later became ICON Health and Fitness, the world’s largest manufacturer of exercise equipment. He also served as the Presiding Bishop of the Church.
Elder Dale G. Renlund was a heart doctor. He served as a Professor of Medicine at the University of Utah and was the Medical Director of a Cardiac Transplant Program.
Elder Gerrit W. Gong was a Professor of Politics at Georgetown University and John Hopkins University. He worked for the U.S. State Department and the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C.
Elder Ulisses Soares was a Senior Auditor for the Church and became the Director of Temporal Affairs for the Church in Brazil.
Elder Patrick Kearon ran his own communications consultancy and worked in multinational locations. He has served on the boards of charities, a school, and a university.
Camille N. Johnson graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor's degree in English followed by a law degree. She was worked as a lawyer for more than 30 years.
Emily Belle Freeman attended the University of Utah and Brigham Young University. She has written many books and spoken at conferences and workshops. For years, she taught in the Church Educational System.
Sister Susan H. Porter earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Brigham Young University in 1976. Worked as a lab assistant at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a part-time math teacher at a private school and a piano teacher. Volunteered with various community organizations.
Just like these leaders, we don’t know what God has in store for us. However, we can follow their example by developing our talents and skills and offering them to Lord. If we do, then we have been promised that He will consecrate our efforts and help shape our career.
God Will Help Shape Your Career
People often mistakenly believe that they will be able to define exactly what career will be the most fulfilling and that they will be able to plan every step along the way. While choice and hard work are key to shaping your future, your career will be shaped by many unexpected events. Authors Jeffery A. Thompson and J. Stuart Bunderson use a popular social media image in their book The Zookeeper’s Secret to illustrate the difference between what people think success looks like and what it actually looks like.
The image accurately shows how people oversimplify success when they don’t see all the hard work and effort it takes. You also have to look for the hand of God in your life. The feeling of aimless wandering and missed opportunities is often actually your Father in Heaven shaping your life. He may place opportunities in your path that you would not have normally chosen.
Author’s Jeffrey Thompson and J. Stuart Bunderson describe this process in their book The Zookeeper's Secret. Thompson shares the following story and illustrations about ways God helped him shape his career in ways he didn’t immediately appreciate.
"I wanted to try to depict my own career path. The first image represents how I saw my occupational journey by about age thirty. At this point in my life, I had changed college majors several times, had worked in a job that I hated, had experienced multiple unexpected reversals during my Ph.D. studies, and was working in an academic position that I enjoyed but in which I felt unsettled.
"My career looks pretty random and meandering at this point. No wonder I often felt adrift.
"Let’s fast-forward to where I see my career now. Today, I am in my second academic job. The circumstances that led me to my current position were extremely circuitous and unexpected and sometimes even painful. But I have also gradually discovered things I care about very deeply, including a focus in my teaching and research that fits me like a glove. Continuing on from the first diagram, this is how I depict my path now.
"There is still a lot of meandering going on in this diagram. But you might also notice a pattern. The fluctuations have narrowed over the years. And even though the path is not a straight line, you can definitely begin to discern an overall direction. In fact, in hindsight, there even seem to be some boundaries that delimit the randomness. When I superimpose these boundaries onto the diagram, it looks something like this:
"With the benefit of hindsight, all of those seemingly senseless twists and turns now represent a clear pattern. Ten years ago, the pattern was impossible to see, and things really did feel almost random. But today, I have no reason to regret a single fluctuation. Some of the reversals were painful, but they were all essential to the process of zeroing in on my calling in life.
"Please note that I drew the diagram to indicate that I have not yet arrived at my precise calling. My career and life experiences will still surprise me now and then, and the path will continue to oscillate. But I know now that each turn of the road will help me come to an ever-sharper understanding of my true gifts and passions. The journey will take longer than my mortal span."
It’s normal to stress about your career in the home or out of the home. We want to see the end from the beginning. If you’re in this situation, take courage from John’s first epistle, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Disciple leaders are proactive and prepare themselves to contribute. However, they know that “it doth not yet appear” what they will be. God will shape their career as they act in faith.
Answer these questions to see what you remember from reading the text above.
- What oversimplification do people often make about success?
ANSWER - The feeling of aimlessly wandering in a career path can actually be __________.
ANSWER
How to Get a Better Job
We now transition from discussing the more general concept of a career, to the more specific concept of a job. Jobs, whether paid or not, are the building blocks of a career. This section will primarily address how to get a better paying job, but as a disciple leader, it is your responsibility to apply the lessons to other areas of your life. It is also important for you to learn to work smart, applying the best skills and strategies to develop your career. Much of the material for this lesson comes from the “Find a Better Job” course offered from Self-Reliance Services. Self-reliance courses are available through your local stake. You can also access the materials in the Gospel Library app or online at the Self-Reliance Services page.
Work and School
Typically, students graduate from high school and then go to university full-time. While many people still take this route, more students are going to school while working. This is how most BYU-Pathway Worldwide students do it. It’s likely that you are managing your schooling around work, family, and other responsibilities. That might feel a bit overwhelming now, but it’s also giving you a distinct advantage over traditional students. You are able to directly apply what you are learning to your job while gaining valuable work experience. Pathway students report that by applying the skills they are learning in their job, they have received promotions and job offers while in school. If you don't have a job now consider getting one. If you can’t get a job right now or aren’t seeking to get a job after this course, identify places in your home, the Church, and your communities to apply what you are learning.
Focus on Jobs Within Your Profession
The exercise in this course where you selected a certificate course to take alongside PC 103 hopefully helped you narrow your career choices down to an industry or profession. The next step to finding a better job is to focus on jobs within your profession. Many job seekers waste time considering all sorts of jobs, but you will find a job quicker if you focus on a specific area that you are interested in and are qualified for. Not only is this method more efficient, but your sincerity and interest will naturally come out in the hiring process and you'll be more likely to get hired and also enjoy your job. You will find a job quicker if you focus on a specific area you are interested in and qualified for.
This doesn’t mean that you hold out for the “perfect job”—it doesn’t exist. It means that you focus your search on jobs that match your interests and abilities. It takes faith to narrow your job search, but it also sends a signal to employers that you are focused and serious about your profession. Don’t be afraid to take an unskilled job if it gives you exposure to your profession.
Develop Resources and Contacts
Shaping your career is not something you do by yourself. You need the help of mentors, colleagues, friends, and a professional community to become a professional. No matter where you are in your career, you should be developing resources and contacts within your profession.
One of the defining characteristics of a disciple leader is that they seek out opportunities to build meaningful connections with others. Disciple leaders have a sincere interest in others and want to build their network to expand their ability to influence others for good. If you are not interested in others, it can make your networking feel hollow and self-serving. A key difference between the networking of job seekers versus disciple leaders is that disciple leaders are interested in the relationship regardless of the outcome. Developing resources and contacts is an essential part of finding a job and a key factor in the success of your career.
Job Crafting
Finding a job isn’t the only way you can grow your career. You can also use your current job to grow your talents and abilities. We call this process job crafting because you are using your current job to craft your career. Job crafting is a process where you shape a portion of your job to not just meet your supervisor's expectations, but develop an interest or talent at the same time. Job crafting comes naturally to disciple leaders because they are constantly looking for ways to improve and serve others.
You probably know a job crafter. Think about someone who always seems to be learning on the job. This is someone who is proactive and finds new and innovative ways to work. Job crafters make great employees because they add value to their employers while at the same time developing their career. Before you can start shaping a portion of your job however, you need to demonstrate that you are a good employee.
Be a Good Employee
Have you ever worked with someone who avoided their responsibilities or who did a poor job or always showed up late? What was your opinion of them? You probably did not think very highly of them—it’s likely your employer didn’t either. On the website liveabout.com, on November 24, 2019, Penny Loretto said that one of employers' top concerns when hiring someone is determining if they are a hard worker. Employers know that they might have to teach employees how to do their job, but they don’t want to have to teach them a good work ethic too. That is why employers usually ask questions about how you deal with challenges, handle failures, and work with others.
Being a good employee starts with basic things like listening to your boss, showing up to work on time, staying on task, working well with others, and making meaningful contributions. Watch this short video that demonstrates how these simple traits can help you be a good employee: Keep it Simple (01:44 mins, "Keep It Simple" Transcript).
Innovate
InnovateNow that we’ve covered the basics of being a good employee, we can talk more about job crafting. Remember, job crafting is a process where you shape a portion of your job to not just meet your supervisor's expectations, but develop an interest or talent at the same time. It demonstrates that you know how to balance initiative and deference. This skill—the ability to know when to take initiative and when to defer to your leaders—is a critical professional skill. That is why it was the first lesson in this course. In this section, you will learn how to take the initiative to shape your current job to develop your talents while fulfilling your job duties.
Job crafting has three steps:
- Divide up your job into its major parts.
- Do at least one part of your job in a way that also develops your interests or talents further.
- Involve your supervisor for needed direction and feedback.
First, by dividing up your job into its major parts, you are able to better connect how the work you do contributes to the overall mission of your employer. Employees often don’t feel satisfied when they don’t know how their work contributes to the big picture. If you break your job down into parts, you can see how each part works together and who is depending on you. The second step of job crafting is to shape an aspect of your job to also help you develop a talent or interest. As long as any changes you make are approved by your supervisor (step three), both you and your supervisor win. See the case study below involving Felipe the fruit seller.
Successful Job Crafting
- Listen to the Holy Ghost. As you think about the major components of your job, prayerfully consider which parts you could use to help you develop an interest or talent. Stay humble and teachable, and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost throughout your job crafting experience.
- Involve your supervisor. Job crafting should not take you away from your job duties. Involve your work supervisor so that she or he is aware of your desire to develop an interest or talent at work. She or he can help you identify appropriate ways to do this so that it becomes a win-win situation. Your supervisor gets a better contribution from you, and you become more able to contribute.
- Do more. Often, to develop a talent at work, you need to do extra work. Be willing to do that work, even if you don’t get paid for it or know what the exact outcome will be.
- Form a network. Let other people know about the interest or talent you are developing. Talk to them about it. Ask for their advice and counsel. As they see your dedication and desire to improve your job situation, they may remember you later on when other opportunities arise.
- Be flexible and patient. Depending on the circumstances of your place of work, your job crafting may not go as you predict. For example, your supervisor may need you to make adjustments. You might face an unforeseen obstacle. Results from your efforts may vary, come late, or even fail at times. Over time, you can strengthen your ability to adapt to these conditions. Either way, you are showing great initiative, something your supervisor will likely love.
Even if you don’t formalize your job crafting efforts with your supervisor, there is an element of job crafting in being a good employee and taking the initiative to improve. Watch the following video and consider how you can be more proactive at work: Growing (01:44 mins, "Growing" Transcript).
Case Study: Filipe the Fruit Seller
Use this case study to identify key job crafting elements.
Filipe stocks fruit at a local food market. He wants to use his job to also sharpen his analytical skills and maybe get promoted for them someday. He observes that sometimes the store runs out of fruit. He talks to his manager to see if he can perform an analysis of fruit sales in addition to his normal duties. She agrees and gives him the store’s inventory and sales data.
Filipe records the data on a spreadsheet and creates an inventory and sales graph. He spends his own time learning how to use a spreadsheet even better to see patterns. At first, he cannot see a pattern, but then he notices that sales were stronger last week when the weather was warm. Filipe decides to plot daily temperature and daily sales data on a graph and notes that when the weather is warmer, the store sells more fruit.
He develops a plan that recommends buying more fruit to sell to customers when the weather is likely to be warmer. He checks his plan against the existing data, and it shows substantial inventory savings and a decrease of lost sales. Filipe's extra work takes a few more hours of time per week for about a month, but the more Filipe does it, the more excited he feels about his job. He begins to feel more ownership.
He shows his manager the data along with his proposed plan. It is apparent from Filipe's enthusiasm that he is very dedicated to the success of the market. The manager is impressed with his plan and the initiative Filipe has shown. She asks him to do a similar analysis of other areas of the store and adjusts his schedule to spend more time doing inventory analysis.
Answer these questions to see what you remember from reading the text above.
- What is the advantage of working while attending school?
ANSWER - What are the three steps involved in job crafting?
ANSWER
W02 Gathering Prep
What will you do this week, in preparation for the gathering, to exemplify the Learning Model principle of “Teach One Another?” Prepare yourself by engaging with the course material before the gathering. Pick one of the five things that constitute successful job crafting and teach it to someone you know before the gathering.
After reading this lesson, ponder the following questions. If desired, record your thoughts in a learning journal.
- How can offering your professional career to the Lord make you a better disciple leader?
- How could you better use your talents in your current job, in the church, and with your family?
- Career Connection--> Make work a high priority. Missing work to be with friends or family is probably not acceptable. When you make plans, work needs to be one of the most important factors. You were hired to do a job. You need to show up. How is being a good employee like this part of being a disciple leader?