My Best Careers based on a DNA Test

My first job out of school was an Engineering position at a construction tech startup. I didn’t know what it was like to be an Engineer, but the salary was great and the benefits were attractive, it was simply an offer I could not refuse. After 18 months, I decided to pack my things up and quit the job. I walked away feeling depressed, confused, lost in life and found myself back in my parent’s apartment. Things weren’t going the way I had intended to be.

At home, I took out a paper and a pen and wrote down all the possible career paths that I think would suit me. From entrepreneur to artist, they all seemed a little too farfetched for me. How can I, who graduated with a construction degree become an artist? Or how can I, without any business experience, set up a business on my own? Going through this process made me fall even deeper into my already depressed state of mind. I then thought of another idea that I knew had worked for someone else, and attempted it on myself.

I started looking at books on Amazon to purchase. From “Think and Grow Rich” to “If you’re not first, you’re last”. After browsing through a collection of enticing books to read, I felt like I was last because I’m not the first. Imagine this Asian dude who used to be the top 5th in his cohort, who scored a decent 4.0 GPA in school, now feeling lost and depressed, and shopping on Amazon for books to motivate me and find a new career to embark on.

Then one day, I chanced upon a DNA test that states “Find out which career is best for you based on your DNA!”. Immediately, my eyes were wide opened and my face grew brighter. I had no other choice but to click on the “learn more” button.

Fast forward 4 weeks later, I got the DNA test results back and to my surprise, the word “engineer” wasn’t shown in the career profiling report. I learned that I am ARTS dominant, followed by REALISTIC, and SOCIAL based on the study conducted by John Holland, who developed and named the study RIASEC, which essentially stands for Realistic (Doers), Investigative (Thinkers), Artistic (Creators), Social (Helpers), Enterprising (Persuaders), and Conventional (Organizers).

I thought I had known myself pretty well, of course, all of us do. But little did I know, that the genetic test results actually revealed traits about me I never even thought about. For example, I never enjoyed smoking and whenever I try to attempt, I would always cough miserably. Well, turns out, I do not carry the smoking gene. To give you another example, growing up, I like to keep things clean and in order. Turns out, I carry the conscientiousness gene.

On top of the 47 gene descriptions of my personality, talents, and traits, the career profiling report gave me a new perspective on who I can become based on my genetic profile. Because I am an arts dominant and a people person, I have the potential to be a fashion designer (fun fact: I love menswear). Or I could be a performer in music or in dancing. I could also become an accountant due to my conscientious, persistence, and analytical traits.

All in all, I consider the insights given to me precious and valuable. In other words, I made the decision to only pursue what I love and in alignment with my natural-born strengths and talents. Feel free to reach out if you are also interested in taking the DNA test and I would give you my unbiased opinion about it.