When There Isn't a Clear Answer

Source: Terry Robinson, CC 2.0

We've all faced a dilemma, two choices that appear equally good...or equally bad.

We may try to think or research our way into clarity, yet the right choice still remains unclear.

As a career strategist, I’ve certainly seen that regarding career decisions. Alas, often the best that can be done is to lay out the pros and cons and then, as the old saying goes, ya pays ya money, ya takes ya chances.

Here are seven common career dilemmas' pros and cons.

Be audacious? Turn on the TV and you'll likely see audacity pay off. Perhaps it’s a sitcom in which the worker bee tells off the boss and ends up with the boss’s job. Or a talk show in which an unemployed dishwasher's brownie recipe gets the Sharks to invest $100,000 and now she’s a millionaire. But in the real world, for every audacity that yields a big win, many people lose. The best one can do is to estimate your odds of success and how important the win is to you versus the downside if you lose. For example, if you have a spouse or parent who’ll support you and you’re dying to try opening a clothing store, even if the odds of success are low, you may say, “What the hell. I have nothing to lose.”

Go for the money? The standard argument is that beyond a bare middle-class living you can’t buy your way to contentment. But I’ve seen people who figured, “Hey, it’s not like I could make even a modest living doing something I love, like playing music or being an activist, so I might as well go for the big bucks and be a bond trader, insurance broker, whatever. And some of those people end up feeling good about their decision. The question is, should you go for the money?

Be self-employed? It’s tempting to be self-employed. After all, with no permission or dues-paying required, you go instantly from schlepper to CEO. You have no boss to answer to and, as you feel like it, on a dime, you can change your business. You get pride of ownership and of being in control. Yet, it’s well known that most businesses go out of business, and quickly. The more of the following that describe you the better your prospects: You’re a self-starter, not a procrastinator—Time is money and the meter doesn’t stop ticking while you’re procrastinating. You have a nose for what will sell that’s well beyond “Well, I like it.” You’re capable enough to handle most of a business's elements: sales, marketing, the myriad problems, maybe even basic accounting and IT. You're committed to and have a talent for buying low and selling high while remaining ethical. So, should you be self-employed?

Work for a for-profit or non-profit? Conventional wisdom today is that corporations are evil, out to maximize shareholder and executive profits at the expense of the public and the environment. And there’s some truth to that. On the other hand, many if not most shareholders are just-plain folks, like psychologists, tradespeople, and teachers, who’ve worked hard for every dollar and by investing in Google, Toyota, Disney, whatever, have a shot at paying for their kids’ college education, their retirement, and so on. And if you work for a corporation, you're more likely to make a good living than if working for a non-profit, which usually pays poorly but expects long hours because you believe in The Cause. Besides, corporations’ efficiency enables even low-income people to afford everything from toilet paper to tomatoes to a TV to a computer to a smart phone to the baby aspirin older adults take to prevent heart attacks--Each aspirin costs just a few pennies. But back on the other hand, nonprofits help, as the New Testament says, “the least among us.” So the argument goes, "How can a person work for a company that makes anything not-essential when people are starving in Africa?" So, what’s right for you: for- or non-profit work?

Get technical? These days, we keep hearing that soft skills usually aren’t enough. Technical skills, especially in-demand ones like artificial intelligence coding, make employers come to you rather than you needing to cajole your way into a decent job. But many people struggle to get sufficiently technical, and they like technology less than, for example, interacting with people. The question is, do you want to get technical or are you willing to bank on your soft skills being good enough to prevail?

Become an expert? It takes much more effort and sustained focus to become an expert instead of just competent. Is it worth it? True that may make you more in-demand. True, you may become more competent and, in turn, confident. But, for you, is the time to get expert worth it? Would you rather, for example, be a more dedicated parent and romantic partner even though you'll get paid less?

Get that degree? A degree no longer confers as big an advantage in the job market as it used to, and the amount of useful learning for all the time and money is often astonishingly low. Yet, most employers still value degree holders, the more degrees the better. Your degrees may even make you more likely to attract a quality romantic partner. The question is, for you, is a degree (or an additional degree) the wisest use of your time and money?

The takeaway

Many of us wish for crystal clarity before making a big decision. Alas, that too rarely comes, even after considerable research. I hope that concisely laying out pros-and-cons of these common career decisions will help you more quickly move off the fence.

I read this aloud on YouTube.