What You Need To Know Before Choosing A Career

Dero Pedero is musically intelligent: the winner the grand prize at the 1981 Metro Pop Song Fest for his Isang Mundo, Isang Awit performed by Leah Navarro; and the composer of the first Filipino rock-opera Tales of the Manuvu, the Miss Earth theme, the “We Got It All” SM jingle and many others. All men are not created equal. Talent is intelligence but it is distinct from IQ. The difference is like the distance from Siargao to Pagudpud. Academic intelligence, it should also be noted, has nothing to do with broad-mindedness but let’s not digress. Before choosing your career path, you should first know where your strength lies. Here are the seven areas of intelligence as conceived by Dr. Howard Gardner, so you can judge for yourself where you will excel in life. Verbal. You have verbal intelligence if you can communicate effectively through speaking or writing. You can be a teacher, lawyer, spokesman, editor; or writer like National Artist and Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Literature F. Sionil Jose, the author of several novels depicting Filipino life including Viajero and the multi-volume Rosales epic, ill indexed in the U.S. Library of Congress. Visual. You have visual/spatial intelligence if you can mentally conceive anything in al its dimensions. You can be an artist, architect; or designer like National Artist Salvador “Badong” Bernal, whose achievements in theater were chronicled in the coffee-table book Salvador F. Bernal: Designing The Stage by Nicanor Tiongson. Physical. You have physical/kinetic intelligence if your bodily movements are perfectly coordinated. You can be a surgeon, mechanic, dancer; or athlete like Manny Pacquiao, the first Asian to win 4 world boxing titles in 4 divisions -- and the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world today. Musical. You have musical intelligence if you have a natural sense of rhythm and a heightened perception of musical pitch and cadence. You can be a songwriter, musician; or singer like Lea Salonga, the first to win both London’s Laurence Olivier- and Broadway’s Tony Awards for Miss Saigon. Logical. You have logical/mathematical intelligence if you have superior ability to analyze and calculate. You can be a detective, chess player, software programmer, accountant; or scientist like DNA specialist Dr. Saturnina M. Halos of U.P. Diliman, the developer of the Vital N biofertilizer with Azospirillum bacterium, and was recently hailed as among Go Negosyo’s Most Inspiring Biotechnology Entrepreneurs. Intrapersonal. You have intrapersonal/introspective intelligence if you can reflect and understand thoughts, feelings, motivations and actions. You can be a priest, philosopher; or researcher like Jaime Licauco, the world-renowned author of Magicians of God and numerous other books about his scientific investigations of psychic healing and other paranormal phenomena in the country. Interpersonal. You have interpersonal intelligence if you are innately extroverted and can easily establish rapport with people regardless of their background. You can be a community organizer, politician, salesman; or a businessman like Don Jaime Zobel De Ayala, who had launched the highly successful Bravo Filipino, the three-month long celebration of the Filipino genius in the arts at the Greenbelt 5. F. Sionil Jose photo courtesy of Amihan.org. This story originally appeared in CareerGuide, The Philippine Star, November 23, 2008 Your comments and links are welcome