Editor’s Note: This article is part of a 10-part series. Click here to read stage one.

You have a better idea now of who you are and what inspires you to do your best. The next building block is the list of things you can do to make a living. What occupations would be appealing to you?  Open a file on your computer and let’s make a list. You are allowed to dream here a little bit. Whatever you believe could be fun, put it on the list. 

The primary standard for occupational descriptions is the Standard Industrial Classifications code (SIC). It was originally developed in the 1930s to the primary activities of establishments, and to promote the comparability of establishment data describing various facets of the U.S. economy. The SIC covers the entire field of economic activities by defining industries in accordance with the composition and structure of the economy. Over the years, it was revised periodically to reflect the economy's changing industry composition and organization. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) last updated the SIC in 1987. For the purpose of this exercise, we will use the SIC to help spot occupations that could be interesting career choices.

A. Open up the following website: http://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/sicsearch.html. It is the Bureau of Labor’s SIC Codes. If you have trouble, copy the address and place it into Google, tapping “I feel lucky.”
B. Proceed through each category and each occupation.Give each item some thought. Ask yourself if you can imagine working here for the rest of your professional life. 
C. As you list the various occupations that could be interesting, please keep the code numbers, typically four digits long.
D. Can you discern any trends?
E. Is anything missing?  If so, add it to your list.
F. Are the interesting occupations good matches with your Myers Briggs score?
G. Are the interesting occupations good matches with your S.W.O.T. analysis?
· Emphasize your strengths
· Can you convert your weaknesses into strengths?
· Avoid the ones that demand strengths where you have a permanent weakness.

Now, you should have a good list of candidate occupations. Your next step is Stage Three — Contacts.

Copyright © 2005 Thomas Kerns McKnight