What were your early work experiences? Try to recall your first job.
How did you feel about it then and how do you feel about it now? As a result of your early work experiences, what talents did you discover you had? How were these talents affirmed? What threads can you see between early work experiences and later ones? What did you find most fulfilling about your early work experiences? How did such experiences fit with the ideals you had at the time?
How did your educational preparation relate to your job expectations? Did you train for a specific profession? If so, why? What did you hope to do when you finished school? Why was that appealing to you? How were your job choices influenced by implicit or explicit parental, social or monetary expectations?
What work have you done since you finished school? What did you most like about each job and what did you most dislike about each? Why? In which jobs did you feel most satisfied and why? How was your health affected by each job you had? What were the most satisfying aspects of each job and what were the worst aspects? What were the circumstances under which you left those jobs?
What gifts and talents do you have and how have you used them in your work life? How have these gifts and talents been seen by others? In what ways have others views of your work influenced you?
How would you describe your growth or stagnation in your work life? Under what circumstances did you feel the most dissonance between your sense of who you are and the work you did? Under what circumstances did you feel the most congruence?
In each of the work experiences you have had, what are the three common items you would have changed? How would these experiences have been different? If you could create a job for yourself, what would it look like? What aspects of previous jobs are closest to your ideal job description?
Finally, as you review your work history, what are the inclinations and desires, gifts and talents that have been present throughout your work life? What steps, if any, could you take to be more in touch with these inclinations, desires, gifts and talents? In view of your response, how would you make your current or future job experience more rewarding and fulfilling for yourself? What are the barriers which keep you from taking those steps and how can they be overcome or removed?
your own work history!
