Determining fields of interest

[Gloed]

What questions could help you determine your fields of interest ?

Below are some examples. How do you like them ? What other questions could be helpful ?


Examples :

What do you prefer talking about ? Imagine you’re stuck on an island with one other person who is only capable of talking about a few subjects. What would those subjects have to be in order to being able to cope with your destiny?

You get the opportunity to speak to a world renown expert for a whole day about one subject. What would that subject be ?

Which type of articles in newspapers and magazines do you enjoy reading ? What subjects especially ?

When you’re browsing in a bookstore, what section do you end up in most of the time ? Of the subjects you find there, which do you truly find fascinating ?

It happens to most people that when doing a certain activity, they lose all sense of time. If that happens to you too once in a while, which activity or what subject is able to make that happen ?

[Zilal]

I think those are pretty good. Another one is... What were your interests as a child?

I think that determining our own interests should theoretically be easy... I mean, how hard is it to know what you like? but it's not always easy, especially for people who have had issues with depression or controlling family environments. Often people will insist they're not interested in anything, or have no idea what they enjoy. But they will often remember being into certain things when they were younger.

[PRBori]

What questions could help you determine your fields of interest ?

Below are some examples. How do you like them ? What other questions could be helpful ?


Examples :

What do you prefer talking about ? Imagine you’re stuck on an island with one other person who is only capable of talking about a few subjects. What would those subjects have to be in order to being able to cope with your destiny?

In this particular situation I would talk about survival. How we can survive in the island and help each other accomplish everything we need to survive. Afterwards, I'm sure will find interesting things to talk about.

You get the opportunity to speak to a world renown expert for a whole day about one subject. What would that subject be ?

Currently I'll have to say IT Security, since that's what I'm emphasizing on. It's a broad subject, so I will never get bored of it.

Which type of articles in newspapers and magazines do you enjoy reading ? What subjects especially ?

Hmm... I must be boring, but I like to read magazines related to programming, IT Security, Contingency/Disaster. Outside of IT, I like Newsweek to keep up with the news, Health Magazines to keep up with new discoveries, IT Gadget Magazines to know what's new in the IT World, and well that's pretty much it, not enough time to do everything.


When you’re browsing in a bookstore, what section do you end up in most of the time ? Of the subjects you find there, which do you truly find fascinating ?

IT Books, Kids section, Language Section. Basically areas that relate in part to my current goals.



It happens to most people that when doing a certain activity, they lose all sense of time. If that happens to you too once in a while, which activity or what subject is able to make that happen ?

Programming, Application Development, Developing Management Plans, Application Workflows, Developing Training Material

OK, complicated and probably too focus on my goals, but that'a where I stand right now..

[Gloed]

I think those are pretty good. Another one is... What were your interests as a child?

I think that determining our own interests should theoretically be easy... I mean, how hard is it to know what you like? but it's not always easy, especially for people who have had issues with depression or controlling family environments. Often people will insist they're not interested in anything, or have no idea what they enjoy. But they will often remember being into certain things when they were younger.

i find it not that easy due to the fact i'm considering the influence of my personal context on the choice of subject matter. i am interested in certain things because i lack the knowledge to overcome certain personal problems. once i have solved the problem, the interest fades. in my mind, an interest that seems to be more independent from things actually influencing my life in a practical way, seem more worthwhile. i think that professionally, i'd like to keep improving in many ways, but i feel like the field of interest should be rather clear. i feel like it would prevent me to improve in other ways if there isn't a clear basis with a direction towards the future outside of myself (the field of interest) to work upon. after quickly reading through the above questions, all i got was "philosophy".. i was somewhat dissapointed it wasn't easier. can you consider the field of interest as "a basis" ? can you deduct your field of interest from your personality, skills and values to a certain extent ? what would be missing and how is that missing piece created ?

i personally can't think of anything that interested me as a child that still interests me today right now.. but i'll think about it.

[Zilal]

.. i was somewhat dissapointed it wasn't easier.

I have really struggled with this too (which is where my paragraph came from; I do have a history of depression). I put off going back to school for years because I had no idea what I'd have wanted to major in. And as the years went on I got to the point where I just couldn't stand going nowhere at my job and I knew I had to just pick something.

I am at least a little bit interested in everything. At least I had that. I considered psychology, economics, sociology, English, writing, chemistry, physics, biology, linguistics, a foreign language, mechanical engineering, graphic design, communication studies, journalism, and business. The problem is that everything is, well, okay, but there's nothing I'm particularly passionate about.

I eventually decided that there wasn't necessarily a good reason why I should keep waiting to find something I was *really* interested in, or why I should expect to. I think the culture is saturated with magazine articles about how to find our passions and follow our hearts, but I think in a lot of cases this culture is creating expectations that aren't likely to be in tune with reality. It's a good thing to have a job that you can feel good about get interested in. It doesn't have to be your life's passion.

Interest (like love!) may also not be show up until you really get to know a subject (or person). So if you don't feel interested in something now, don't assume that you never will. Give yourself time to immerse yourself in different areas.