Finding Purpose in Work That Supports People Through Life’s Challenges

*Collaborative Post

To find purpose in one’s work is one of the most effective ways to avoid burnout and increase professional satisfaction. That might sound obvious, but it’s an elusive quality.

The vast majority of people working in the United States report some level of professional dissatisfaction stemming specifically from a lack of meaning in their work.

Jobs that help people navigate difficult times are an excellent opportunity to serve your community, earn a living, and spend your time doing something that matters to you and to the people you interact with. For young people with disability, structured pathways like a school leavers program NDIS can be a starting point for finding that same sense of purpose through work.

In this article, we take a look at why doing meaningful work is important and how you can prioritize finding that meaning in your professional life.

Factors That Influence Professional Experiences

To begin with, how important is it really to do meaningful work?

That’s an interesting question in that the answer will fluctuate somewhat from individual to individual.

However, there are broad employment data figures that indicate that the meaning and personal satisfaction in one’s job is more important than almost any other factor, including compensation.

There are several things that determine more than almost any other qualities whether or not a person will stick with their career.

These include:

• Workplace relationships- The closer you feel with your coworkers, the more likely you are to stay at a particular job.
• Personal autonomy- Are you able to creatively solve problems or is everything done by the book?
• Personal satisfaction- Does the work that you’re doing feel meaningful to you or is it just something that needs to get done so you can collect a paycheck?

And how important is that paycheck, by the way?

Naturally, it is important to be able to cover your expenses and maintain your lifestyle.

That said, the value that people place on a paycheck, statistically speaking, is considerably lower than that of the value of the other characteristics we’ve described.

Many people find, sometimes to their surprise, that they would rather do work that matters to them and make less money than do something they hate and make more money.

Why is that?

It could owe at least partially to the fact that the average person spends about 44 hours a week at work, approximately half their waking life.

When one activity consumes nearly the majority of your time, it’s important that you take some enjoyment out of it.

This is exactly why many people pivot into careers like education, nursing, or social work when they’re looking for a second career.

How to Find a Job That Is Impactful

We’ve described now why it matters to find work that allows you to help other people, particularly during times of difficult transition.

How do you find these jobs, though?

In the next few headings, we’ll look at specific positions people pivot into to acquire more meaning in their work.

We’ll also explain in detail what it takes to qualify for one of these jobs.

Education

Teachers are constantly helping people through times of transition.

Students are developing as humans, as learners, and often, they’re also dealing with personal circumstances that find their way into the classroom.

Teachers’ jobs are to instruct, but also to recognize their students’ complete needs and provide support for them in whatever way they can.

It’s not at all uncommon for a teacher to be the first person to realize, for example, that a student has begun to experience food or housing insecurity.

They can be and often are the ones to initiate the processes required to get those students help.

What Does It Take to Become a Teacher?

If you already have a bachelor’s degree, it’s actually reasonably easy to become a teacher in a compact time frame.

It typically takes one to two years, depending on the pace you select.

Accelerated programs are designed to allow you to meet all the credential requirements, including student teaching, within 12 months, but if you’d rather take a more leisurely pace, you should be able to get your teaching credential in two years or less.

Nursing

Healthcare careers are another popular option for people who seek meaning in their work. Naturally, as a nurse, you’ll impact lives every single day you go into work.

One of the particularly exciting things about nursing careers is that they can be extremely varied.

There are dozens of specialized certifications you can seek as a nurse, all of which will allow you to take on unique aspects of the job.

For example, you can work in education, neonatal care, birthing units, you can work as a nurse practitioner and assume responsibilities similar to those of a doctor.

You can work in psych wards, home health, and so on.

There are lots of ways to leverage this credential, all of which position you to help people during their greatest times of need.

How to Become a Nurse

While the exact process of becoming a nurse can fluctuate, it is similarly flexible to education.

If you do not have a college degree, you’ll need to start with a bachelor’s or BSN program.

However, if you have already been to college, you can pursue accelerated modules that will allow you to pick up your nursing license in one to two years.

There are even direct to hire programs that bundle your graduate and undergraduate degrees so that you can begin in an advanced practice position after just five years of learning.

These opportunities are a great way to pivot quickly into work that is both personally and financially rewarding.

Social Worker

Social workers are all about helping people through change. They generally come into people’s lives at a time of conflict, though the type of conflict will vary based on the type of social work you’re practicing.

School social workers, for example, may work with students who are displaying difficult behaviors or experiencing hardship at home.

Social workers who handle family problems may come in when a home environment has become unsuitable.

In this case, they’ll work with the children and the parents towards the goal of reunification. There are social workers who help people who are struggling with drugs, addiction, anger, and so on.

Their jobs are always to provide targeted, process-driven solutions for a wide variety of different problems.

How to Become a Social Worker

Most social work positions require a master’s degree. You can start out with a bachelor’s, but only in a very entry-level capacity.

If you have an undergraduate degree in social work already, the master’s program only takes one year to complete, assuming you take it on at a traditional pace.

If you don’t have, if you have a different undergraduate degree, you can still get a master’s in social work, but it generally takes two to three years.

There are also accelerated options that allow you to combine coursework for undergraduate and graduate studies, allowing you to get both credentials in the time it would ordinarily take to get one.

These programs are a great way to ensure your eligibility for rewarding work like nursing.

Social work is often very flexible in that you can pursue placements that are highly targeted towards your values.

Speech-Language Pathologists

Speech-language pathologists work with a wide range of people. While they’ll often help children who are dealing with speech impediments, this is actually just one of many different applications of their skills.

Speech-language pathologists will often work with stroke victims or older adults who are struggling with memory.

They primarily address the physical aspects of speech and communication, but they may also provide insights and strategies for people in a wide range of circumstances.

Their job can see them working in private practice, at hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, or in school environments. Because speech-language pathology is so varied, there are lots of great ways to pursue this rewarding and exciting work.

How to Become a Speech-Language Pathologist

Like the other jobs we’ve described in this article, speech-language pathology has a variety of entry points into the profession. If you are new to college, you’ll need to get an undergraduate degree and then apply to a graduate program in speech-language pathology.

These jobs typically always require a master’s level education, but you don’t actually have to have an undergraduate degree in something that is specific to speech or communication.

It may help you meet admission criteria to have either a communication or science-related degree, but it’s generally possible to test into graduate-level programs or meet the requirements by taking just a few undergraduate courses before enrollment.

Conclusion

There are lots of different careers out there that allow you to touch people’s lives and do rewarding work. Which one is right for you?

That will ultimately depend on your values and interests. The jobs we’ve described in this article are excellent starting points, but it is important to find a career that is meaningful and interesting to you.

*This is a collaborative post. For further information please refer to my disclosure page.