Career Audience

I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up.  My only long term dream was to be a pilot.  For some strange reason, I took my high GPA and went to Western New Mexico University [1980] (what were my parent's thinking?!).  I left to travel with the band "Firewater" (don't worry you shouldn't know them), got my first apartment, worked for Radio Shack until I could sell nothing (Tandy Computers were the rage!), bussed dishes for Denny's, went broke, left my first apartment, cut my hair and came home [1981].  Once home, I worked at a self-serve gas station (yes, there were actually full serve gas stations), went to school part-time, got fired, went to work for Marriot as a houseman, got a job at MCI (no not the real big company) as a courier, decided to have a real life and went to work for IBM, got really sick, became a Christian, left to work in ministry as an intern [1983], became a janitor, got fired for complaining too much, went to work for a print shop, got laid off (fired - I was terrible), groveled to get my janitor job back, went to school a bit, went to flight school (finally the helicopter pilot dream), got a medical discharge, went to work for a regional bank [1986] and rose quickly (had I found my life - I loved business), got my BA in Decision Sciences at Georgia State University, started working as a Youth Minister [1988] on the side, became a Youth Minister (and poor!) full time [1992], became a College Minister, became an Associate Pastor [1996] and finally ended up as a Lead Pastor [1999].  Ministry was indeed the final destination!  What a path!

Do you remember trying to decide what type of job you would seek to begin your career life?  Were you one of those ones who knew exactly what he was going to do?  If so, then do you remember trying to figure out what company to work for?  Perhaps you didn't have to decide because of a family business or such a great offer out of college.  No matter the circumstances, becoming a career person is a time of life that has its own unique set of challenges and attributes.  Few of us, looking back, would have ever dreamed the exact dream that unfolded for us as we began our careers.

The career person has realized that he needs to do something to make their keep and brings something to the table even if only labor.  She is often on a search that she knows neither how nor where to begin.  He knows that he is not at the final desitination, will not reveal that to the leaders around him for fear of retribution.  The career person knows that she needs to work but is often caught in the catch 22 of needing experience but not having enough experience to get experience.  Social life becomes second to career life.  Routine (and sometimes boredom) sets in and responsibility often draws the desire for committed personal relationships.  Likewise, learning commitment creates intolerance with those who will not get off their butts and produce.

The career person creates a perfect picture for a particular audience that every teacher should identify - the Career Audience.  This audience is not done learning but they either demand or need to be provided learning focused on their current "doing".  They need continuing education and mentoring from teachers who do not sit in classrooms but who have taken learning to the streets, applied it and survived.  Much like the first (or second or third or fourth or...) bosses, the teacher needs to hone the education, talents and labor in the real world so that the Career Audience will become productive in their doing.

You need to recognize that this audience is either trying to find their career (in our case ministry of service) or is in their first position and continuing the journey.   This audience  demands that the initial teaching answer the questions and provide information that enables them to "do their job".  Other learning may be important but is secondary to the career.  The effective teacher of this audience needs to have moved beyond the level of the student.

The teacher of the Career Audience should be prepared:

• To graciously allow, and expect, the student to change "careers" or "doings" several times before they find a medium to long term fit.  The teacher should in fact make this easy, expected and help in the process while still championing the students to embrace responsibility and not move until a replacement plan is in place.
• To provide relevant teaching as well as answer relevant and real life questions outside of class or teaching environments.
• To advance people who need experience even though they do not have that experience but to champion this advancement with an accountable and supportive environment that does not jeopordize the "doing effort".
• To proactively help learners prepare advancement plans until it becomes clear that they have found a long term call or plan.
• To champion and challenge the student to "try a new do" when he is ready wheter or not the student "sees" that it is time.  This is how teachers build new leaders and increase the ranks of solid followers.
• To encourage the student to have a "life" outside their careers.

That last point is a very critical lesson for the teacher of the career audience.  Life is not all about what we "do" even though we should "do".  People need relationships and to grow in areas other than work.  The career audience will need to be championed to have a social life and not just work for the Kingdom.  As well, the wise teacher will remember that this audience does not know its final destination and, thus, will encourage, champion and, if possible, require the students to learn in areas outside their field of "doing".   Broadened horizons of learning will increase the scope of what the student is able to do in the future as well as enrich and balance them personally. The teacher of the Career Audience will provide these varied learning opportunities and experiences to help the student along the path to "adulthood".