Throughout history, work has primarily been considered as a means to an end---without any intrinsic value.  Our parents told us, “That’s why they call it work.”

At Vocatus, I’m dissatisfied with this limited and limiting definition of work along with the outdated tools and methods still used in traditional career counseling.

In my view, it is time to consider an expanded, more poetic view of work. We now know that what we do to earn a living serves an unparalleled role in the development of our self-esteem and identity while providing a sense of order and form to our life. Beyond the necessity to work for income, we also need to work because, by nature, we are curious, industrious and possess an inherent passion for challenge, discovery, mastery and productivity.

At Vocatus, I define “work” as any activity toward which one feels an emotional commitment and also represents a deliberate and meaningful choice.  Work defined this way includes any endeavor, from professional to volunteer, artistic expression to a hobby and from raising children to an entrepreneurial venture.    

Most career counselors still use a simplistic “test-and-tell” technique, which was  established in 1909, to define the type of work to do. They have not kept pace with the recent career-development literature that recommends a more reflective and richer approach to the career-exploration process -- one that is better suited to today’s more psychologically sophisticated adults--in order to address the more complex reasons for career unrest among adults today. Simply stated: To be psychologically healthy, we must continue to evolve.  As we evolve, so must our careers.   

Modern career development, like any developmental process, results from successive, systematic and organized changes over time.  To have a career that is both profitable and meaningful requires that you learn the “new basics” of career development.  

At Vocatus, I offer both a time and a place for you to reflect on your career and the role it plays in your life. I also offer the method I created -- founded on these “new basics” -- to help you establish and develop a meaningful career.