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• Project-focused or consistent workflow. Projects are typical of
contract work or working for an agency, while a consistent workflow is
usually found in more traditional, structured environments.
• Family-friendly vs. family-neutral. Depending on your life
circumstances and what personal responsibilities you are juggling,
this may be the most important consideration for you. In that case,
you want to find a work solution that offers flexibilty and family-friendly
benefits and policies.
Interpersonal dynamics. Another facet of your approach to work is how
you prefer to connect with people (or not) in your professional life. Do
you thrive on the mix-it-up energy of dynamic groups, or seek out the
uninterrupted focus of solitude? Do you enjoy managing staff, or dread
dealing with personel issues?

Again, note your responses so that you can refer to them while exploring
possible job options and career strategies. Similarly, you’ll want to be sure
to capture not just your answers, but also how important this issue is to
you. Do you…
• Prefer formal or informal relations with people at work? Formal
relations are usually more common in larger, more structured, or
hierarchical organizations, whereas informal, peer-to-peer relations
are generally the hallmark of small or privately-run groups such as
private practices or clinics.

• Like meeting new people, or prefer to stay with people you
know? Meeting new people is a major component of vendor
sales jobs, many nursing and healthcare outreach positions, and
independent or contract nursing work. Does that appeal to you?
• Feel comfortable supervising others, or uncomfortable being
in a position of authority? This is a critical question if you aspire
to management or executive-level positions, where you’ll be
responsible for holding others accountable for their work. If you’re
not sure, start small – see if you can supervise perhaps a couple of
individuals and then decide if the role is comfortable for you.

• Prefer working as part of a team, or prefer working solo?
Although some independent work involves collaboration, more
frequently you’re working solo; also, some extremely hierarchical
organizations are known for having departmental “silos” that
preclude collaboration, so if this is important to you, then you’ll
need to do a good job investigating the organization’s culture.

• Enjoy contact with the public, or prefer to avoid contact
with the public? This is a very important question if you are
considering any sort patient-centered work, for example, becoming
a floor nurse, as opposed to the more solitary work of a medical
informatics specialist. If you start out loving patient work but then
later get burned out on contact with the public, keep in mind that
you can always repurpose your nursing skills into a related but www.americansentinel.edu
different type of nursing work.

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