We’ve all been told time and time again that it’s important to follow your dreams when deciding on our career path, but as the cliché goes, life happens when you’re busy making other plans. As much as we want to pursue our ambitions as soon as we get a chance to, sometimes things come up that hinder or stall our grand plans. We don’t want to give up on what we initially set ourselves to do, but bills pile up and other responsibilities and commitments crop up, and we realize it’s important to be more realistic and practical than determined and passionate. Such a scenario can lead to doing things that are not aligned with our dreams, but it doesn’t mean it can’t take us there.

Just take for example Sam Walton. You might not know him by name, but you certainly know his business. As a teen, Sam did everything he could to earn money—from milking cows to selling newspapers to offering magazine subscriptions—until he enlisted in the U.S. Army. After his service, Sam purchased a hardware store, which eventually grew to be what we know today as Walmart. Although he passed away in 1992, his legacy will continue to live on as Walmart remains to be one of the biggest retail corporations in the world.

If there is anything Sam has taught us, it’s that working a variety of jobs to make a living is a good thing. If Sam didn’t do all those things, there’s no doubt Walmart would exist today. So if you’re stuck with various work experience that may not be in line with what your target profession is, continue to persevere and you’ll reap your rewards eventually. Here’s a look at why doing a variety of jobs can benefit you:

You develop a great sense of flexibility.

If you’re juggling multiple jobs at a time, you’re bound to build up your flexibility as you make sure to adjust your skills and talents for each job. Chances are, you’ll eventually have a great set of transferrable skills that you can certainly use once you’re ready and able to go after your target career. For example, if you work at a cashier at a supermarket, you enhance your money management skills or if you work as a call centre representative, you fine-tune your customer service skills. Both abilities will serve you well if you’re targeting a manager position at a designer store or a senior position at a bank.

You get more excitement.

Doing the same job and being in the same work environment from year in, year out can take a toll on anyone. You’ll find yourself bored and restless as the job becomes tedious. By working a variety of jobs, you always have something new to look forward to because you know one’s different from the other. Even if you’re hopping from one work shift to another, you’ll know you’re bound to encounter spontaneity somehow because of the variety compared to an employee who works at the same desk job from 9am to 5pm.

You can tap on a hidden interest.

Serendipity isn’t just for love and romance, it can also apply to careers as well. This can happen when you’re juggling multiple jobs that deal with customers from all walks of life, and you realize that you have excellent people skills and thus can target a career in Human Resources or Social Work. Or you can be doing shifts at different coffee shops in the city as a barista, and you would like to make your inner businessperson come out and open your very own coffee chain someday. This is why if current circumstances is forcing you to work a multitude of jobs that’s really not within your career path, don’t say no because who knows, you may discover something new about yourself that leads to a bigger future for you.

You lay a solid groundwork.

Working at a call centre solving technical issues may not be your dream job, but it teaches you more skills that you can bank on in the future whatever profession you choose to be in. This is because to attend to customer’s issues, you make use of your problem-solving skills and analytical thinking abilities so you can provide the customer the best solution. In any company, these are vital talents that can lead to a senior or leadership role down the line. Same case for retail store attendants who are bombarded with returns or exchanges by customers. You hone your abilities to handle complaints with professionalism and diplomacy, while at the same time develop your talents on how to resolve conflicts. Again, two pertinent skills that can prove valuable in any industry.

Now that you’ve read the above, it’s highly unlikely that you’re still feeling negative about being all tied up now to working various jobs that have nothing to do with your true passion. You might have taken a different route, but you’ll get to your destination anyway. If anything, you have developed all the skills and talents necessary to get you in the right direction.

SOURCES:

https://www.themuse.com/advice/embrace-your-paths-why-having-multiple-jobs-is-a-good-thing

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