A Career as a Full-Time Job and More

Abstract

Careers, like marriage partners, are too often chosen for the wrong reasons; as with marriage partners, also, they are too often treated afterward as though the initial choice were the sole determinant for success. With science at a great peak of public prestige, and the need for scientists and engineers estimated far beyond the projected supply, the newly minted chemist or chemical engineer could hardly ask for a more dazzling outlook. But this is all the more reason why serious thought and great care should be given to career selection. A career should be chosen for good personal reasons—not simply because someone else has declared that opportunity, money, and prestige are available. In our world of accelerating change, the need for competent, well-trained people willing to work all their lives at developing themselves toward useful service will always exceed the demand. Such a statement ought to be challenged. But it can hardly be refuted if ...