Choosing a Career Path? Discover Your Passion from the Ashes of Unemployment

Most high school graduates question their future career selection usually by their junior or senior year. At 18, with all of life ahead, coming up with a successful plan usually means choosing a major, going to college, and "becoming something". In theory, that should work. Rarely does anyone know at the age of 18 what they are passionate about, let alone think to choose a career path based on that passion.

How often do people find themselves years later in careers they hate, working for a company they have little interest in, or in a job that is sucking the life out of them? According to MSNBC.com, "Americans hate their jobs more than ever before in the past 20 years, with fewer than half saying they are satisfied."

On top of job dissatisfaction, the unemployment numbers are staggering. How many people find the company they had invested decades in cutting their job, or closing its doors? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, "During the 32 months from December 2007 through July 2010, the total number of mass layoff events (seasonally adjusted) was 63,461, and the associated number of initial claims was 6,357,583."

If you are one of these six million people out of work, or in the 50% who hate their job, you may be asking yourself, "How did I get here?" In 2008, after Washington Mutual filed bankruptcy and Chase took over, Chris Hoch of Gilroy, California--in the heart of the Silicon Valley--became one of these people.

Hoch spent 23 years in the mortgage financial industry, working his way up through the ranks. "At Washington Mutual Bank, I was Vice President of the Home Loan Center." When WAMU went bankrupt, and Chase took over, Hoch was offered the position of sales manager, a title that brought him a decent amount of financial success, but the hours were killing him, and it was a step down from his VP job. Hoch found that he had little time to spend with his wife of 22 years, and with his teenage daughter who needed him now more than ever...let alone have any "kind of personal life". He thought he would spend the rest of his life at WAMU in the mortgage finance industry. Going from a VP to a sales manager caused Hoch to start questioning what he now considered his "transition career".

It's hard to figure out what to do with your life when you are in your 40s, and realize reinventing yourself is becoming a reality you don't want to face-especially when it is forced on you. That is what is happening all around the country. Here In the Silicon Valley, according to the Silicon Valley San Jose Business Journal, "The unemployment rate in the Silicon Valley was 11.5 percent in July." This statistic is somewhat skewed, however. It doesn't take into account the myriads of unemployed who took part time jobs at the 7-11 or as Wal-Mart greeters. It also doesn't account for the thousands of self employed realtors, mortgage brokers, consultants, and many others sitting at home wondering, "What job should I do now?" How do you come up with a successful plan to reinvent yourself?

Reinventing Yourself, Reinventing Your Life

Reinventing yourself takes gut level work. It requires you take a hard look at "why you are", where you are, and then, what is in your control to change. It is not simply a time of failure, but a time of opportunity and new beginnings. "Many people spend much of their life running from failure, hoping for success, which doesn't work. The way to success is through failure," said Hoch. Failure is something Hoch is familiar with.

Starting with his young career as a paperboy, by the age of 12 he was working in a print shop, at 16 as a wine clerk, and by the time he was in his 20s he discovered the financial industry. Hoch was no stranger to hard work...or failure. Throughout his early years he did everything he could think of just to "earn a living". His business administration classes at Santa Clara University paved the way to enter the financial business world, yet didn't help him define what he was passionate about. He didn't know you could actually be passionate about what you do for a living. One day, a trusted friend helped him find the way. Hoch said after being in the dark for so long, he was "finally given a roadmap to help him pursue the success" he really wanted.

In 2008 during his transition job at Chase Bank, he left his position to seek the life that would begin to define what he was truly passionate about...in fact; "it was the 23 years in the financial industry," Hoch said, that gave him the clues he needed to know what he wanted to pursue. His primary passion is helping people become successful in business.

The next step was making a career selection that would give him all the things he wanted in life, the life he defines as successful: time with his family, time to enjoy life, time to serve in his church and community, and financial opportunities that matched his efforts. In 2009 Hoch found his niche. Today he spends his time in a job he loves, doing what he is passionate about: helping people in business. Not just as a consultant, but as a coach, and guide for others.

He is currently in the process of developing a business system he calls, "Bring a Bucket" marketing, helping others find their niche in the expanding Internet marketing world. He also works independently for a marketing company that, not only is he excited about, but so is Donald Trump, according to Hoch. The company, ACN, had one of it's main products featured on Trump's TV show, The Apprentice.

Chris Hoch discovered his passion from the ashes left behind from WAMUs mortgage meltdown. He did the hard work of "reinventing yourself" and today sees failure as a road sign to success.

Sources:
http://photogirlstudio.com/
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/mmls.nr0.htm
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2010/08/16/daily89.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17348695/