As a kid, you aspired to be a doctor, astronaut or princess. But as you get older, the innocent "What do you want to be when you grow up?" really starts to hit home. "I'm 20 years old," you may want to say. "How am I supposed to know?"

小时候，你有志成为一名医生、航天员或公主，但是随着年龄增长，你开始真正考虑这个过去天真的问题——你长大后希望成为什么。 你也许会说：“我才20岁，我怎么会知道？”

Whether you're just entering college or preparing for graduation, now's the time to start thinking about your career. While no single article can tell you how to choose your occupational destiny, Donald Asher outlines some common career planning mistakes to avoid in his book How to Get Any Job with Any Major (Ten Speed Press).

不论你是刚进入大学还是就要毕业了，现在是该考虑职业生涯的时候了。没有一篇文章能告诉你如何选择宿命的职业，不过，《不论什么专业都能找到工作》一书的作者Donald Asher在书中概括了一些在职业规划中应该避免的错误。

1. Confusing what you're good at with what you like to do. 分不清擅长的和喜欢的

You don't have to spend your life singing at weddings just because you have a silky voice. Nor do you have to become a chef because you have an uncanny gift with spices. To jump-start your career search, jot down two lists: one listing what you're good at, and one of things you love to do.

有一副美丽的嗓子，你也不是非得一辈子做婚礼歌手。在使用香料上有特殊的天分也不意味着你就得做厨师。要开始你的职业调查，请先列上两张清单：一张是你擅长的事物；另一张是你的兴趣所在。

Though it might require more soul searching, the list of what you enjoy is the most important. Why? Because if you enjoy doing something, you'll do it for more than just a regular paycheck. You'll do it more often, you'll invest in training, you'll do it when it's difficult - you'll do it until you're good at it, and then some!

这一过程也许需要探索自己的内心。那张“你兴趣所在”的清单是最为重要的。为什么呢？因为如果是喜欢做某件事，你就不会仅仅是为了收入而工作。你会不厌其烦，你会花钱进行培训，即使遇到困难也不会放弃——直到你对此变得擅长、甚至更强。

2. Confusing avocations with vocations. 分不清主次

So you've made your lists and discovered you love running, law, reading and basket weaving. Now you've scratching your head, puzzling over how to combine all of these aspects into one job. Don't worry - you don't have to.

你已经列好了清单，发现自己喜欢跑步、法律、阅读和编篮子。你冥思苦想如何能把这些合并到一份工作中去。别烦恼了——你不需要这样。

Believing your job has to satisfy the whole you is a common source of career error. Mind you, this does not mean you can't love your job - you can just have a whole heap of activities and hobbies (avocations) on top of it.

认为工作得满足你的全部（需求) 是职业规划中普遍存在的错误。但这并不是说人们不能热爱工作——你在工作之外还可以有一大堆活动和嗜好。

For example, you may love to dance but you know you can't earn enough dancing as a career. Dance, then, is a great avocation for you. You can continue to dance for fun, but separately from your day job.

比如，也许你热爱跳舞，但是你知道自己做舞蹈家赚不到足够的钱。那么跳舞对你来说就是一个“副业”。你可以继续为了兴趣跳舞，但是要把它和工作分开来。

3. Confusing one aspect of a job with the whole job. 分不清工作的部分和整体

What you like to do doesn't have to be the primary thing you do. Often people over-identify with the thing they like to do - believing they must become it instead of doing it.

你喜欢的工作不一定非得是工作的主要内容。往往人们会过于融入自己喜欢的工作——认为应该“成为什么”而不仅仅是当作工作。

A common example is someone who likes to write. Instead of looking for opportunities to do writing, he thinks he has to become a writer. He only pursues writing-only careers like novelist, journalist or copyrighter, when instead, he could have looked into being a minister, public relations assistant, editor or government lobbyist.

一个普遍的例子是有人喜欢写作。可他不去找能够写作的机会，而是认为自己非得成为一名作家。他只追求纯写作的职业，比如小说家、记者或剧作家，而实际上，他也可以找代理人、公共关系助手、编辑或政府说客之类的工作。

A final note: think creatively when considering which jobs to pursue after graduation. Your options are more varied than you might think.

最后一点：毕业后考虑工作时要有创造性。可选择的工作比你认为的要多得多。