Suggest me a Job

What this tool does

What should I do with my career is one of the heaviest questions there is, whether you are starting out, between jobs, or quietly itching for a change. This tool takes a little of the weight off. It surfaces a job title at random, so you have a concrete role to react to rather than a blank and a vague sense that you should be doing something else.

Press the button for a job. Press it again for another. Ask for a few at once to gather a short list to think about. Be clear about what this is, though: it is a way to discover roles you might not have considered, not career advice and not a sign that a job would suit you. The real decision rests with you, your skills and interests, and people who can actually guide you.

How to use it

1. Number / Quantity. How many jobs to pull at once, from 1 to 100.
2. Generate. Pulls a fresh job, or a fresh set if you asked for several.
3. Starts with, Contains, Ends with. Optional filters that whittle the list before it picks. Leave them blank to draw from everything.
4. Copy. Sends the current jobs to the clipboard as plain text for your notes.

A job is on screen as soon as the page opens, so there is always something to react to.

How it works

The list is a fixed set of job titles, and each press draws one at random, with no repeats inside a single set when you ask for several.

The filters let you aim. Contains keeps any job with your text in it, so typing engineer brings up the engineering roles, from software to mechanical, while a word like manager or analyst narrows it the same way. Starts with looks at the first letter and ends with at the last.

What is on the list

It is a broad list of around a hundred and sixty job titles from across the working world. There are technology and marketing roles like cybersecurity analyst and content marketing manager, science and healthcare jobs from environmental scientist to pharmacist, skilled trades like electrician, and professional roles in law, finance, and engineering.

Because it spans so many fields, a pull might be a role you know well or one you have never heard of, which is the point when you want your sense of what is out there widened. The titles are a mix of broad and quite specific, so take each as a direction to research, and use the Contains box when a field is already on your mind.

Why the question feels so heavy

Choosing a career is hard because the options are vast and the decision feels enormous and permanent, so people freeze rather than explore. Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper captured the freeze in a 2000 study, where shoppers offered two dozen jams to sample bought far less often than those offered six. When the field is huge, we struggle to engage with any of it.

Barry Schwartz called the broader effect the paradox of choice, where abundance leaves us stuck and second-guessing. A random job will not tell you what to do, and it cannot know what suits you. What it does is replace the overwhelming blank with one real role to consider, and reacting to a single job, looking into it or ruling it out, gets your thinking moving far better than staring at every possible path at once.

How to actually use a job idea

The pick is just a prompt, and the useful work comes next. When a role catches your eye, find out what it actually involves day to day, what it pays, what qualifications or experience it needs, and how much demand there is, since the reality of a job can differ a lot from its title. Weigh it honestly against your own skills, interests, and the kind of life you want, because a career that fits how you like to work tends to last. Talk to people who actually do the job, whose half-hour of honesty is worth more than any amount of browsing, and lean on a careers adviser if you can. And take the pressure down by remembering careers are rarely one-way, since plenty of people change direction more than once. Use the tool to widen your options, and make the real decision with people who know you.

Questions people ask

Is it free, and does it save anything?

It is free with no sign-up, and nothing is stored. The picks run in your browser, so copy a list of ideas before you leave.

Can I get a few options at once?

Yes. Set the quantity to the number you want, up to 100, and press Generate for that many different jobs in one pull.

Does a suggestion mean the job would suit me?

No. It surfaces roles to look into, and whether one fits depends on your skills, interests, and circumstances. Research it and talk to people in the field before reading anything into a pick.

Can I focus on a particular field?

Type a word into the Contains box, like engineer or manager, and the list trims to matching roles, which helps when you already have an area in mind.

References

1. Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper, "When Choice Is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?", Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2000, the study behind choice overload. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11138768/
2. Barry Schwartz, "The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less", his talk on how more options can lower satisfaction. https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_the_paradox_of_choice