Explain why this profession might interest you

[chrisking0997]

Is "It does not interest me" a valid answer?   curious as to others thoughts on this

 

thanks

[meyerc13]

No, that is not a valid answer.  It isn't saying "Explain why this profession does interest you," but rather why it "might."  In other words, why do some people choose this profession?  If someone gave me that answer, I would probably also ask them to explain why they wouldn't choose that profession.  It really comes down to a discussion of the pros and cons of the profession.

[Stosh]

I'm thinking this has something to do with MB requirements?  If so, YES it is a valid answer!  If a boy takes a MB out of curiosity because it sounded interesting only to find out that it is something he really doesn't like, the answer is perfect.    As MBC I don't expect all my boys to fawn all over the subject like it was their life's dream to be involved in it.  They are there to explore, to get an somewhat in depth look at the subject.  What happens when they find out this isn't what they expected?

 

It always reminds me of the day I got a job in the local factor making $18.00/hour - this was in 1970!!!! Serious money back then!  I was on Cloud Nine!  Then after about a year and a half it finally dawned on me that I didn't want to make car tires for the rest of my life and I quit and went back to school.  That factory is now a specialty boutique of various shops.  They haven't made car tires there for years.  Does making car tires for $18/hr interest people today?  Maybe yes for some, but not for all.  I wonder what the $18/hr rate of 1970 translates into today's wage scale?

[desertrat77]

Not a valid answer.   At best, it's just lazy and emotion-based.

 

The requirement is asking the scout to exercise his intellect and ability to articulate.   His personal feelings have no bearing whatsoever.   If he can't summon the energy to outline the interesting points about a profession, it sounds like he's not ready to earn the MB.

[Stosh]

Not a valid answer.   At best, it's just lazy and emotion-based.

 

The requirement is asking the scout to exercise his intellect and ability to articulate.   His personal feelings have no bearing whatsoever.   If he can't summon the energy to outline the interesting points about a profession, it sounds like he's not ready to earn the MB.

 

How can one say that what interests a person has no bearing on one's feelings?    I would have thought those things that interest me would be 100% dependent on my feelings.  I think I'm missing something here.  Not all MB's are going to be of interest to everyone, especially the eagle required ones.  Seriously, the citizenship MB's are not all that interesting unless one is into history and/or political science.  I canoe, I kayak, I sail, I enjoy fishing out of a motorboat, I came within a few feet of getting my life-saving certificate as a youth.  But I have no particular interest in swimming.  I swim because I have to, not because it interests me.

 

If someone asked me if I ever wanted to be a scuba diver, or a commercial fisherman, I would say absolutely not.  I have no interest in spending my time on a boat unless it's going after some large-mouth bass along the shoreline casting for supper.  Whitewater canoeing and  kayaking is really fun as long as one doesn't end up swimming. 

 

I do my annual BSA swim test every year became my interest is such that I can then take the boys out canoeing and kayaking.  That's the only time it interests me in getting wet! 

[AKdenldr]

As a merit badge counselor I would not accept it.  From the cooking merit badge which I counsel that has such a requirement:

1. Food-related careers. Find out about three career opportunities in cooking. Select one and find out the education, training, and experience required for this profession. Discuss this with your counselor, and explain why this profession might interest you.

I would make the scout have a full conversation with me.  But mostly I would not accept it.  If scout is absolutely not interested in that career at all, why did he select it out of all the possibilities for a career in that field to spend his time researching?  If he did research.  (Read that as skeptical.)  I find sometimes the scouts will test to see if I am a pushover or not.

 

In school this type of work is a "F or D".  Teachers don't put up with it.

[desertrat77]

How can one say that what interests a person has no bearing on one's feelings?    I would have thought those things that interest me would be 100% dependent on my feelings.  I think I'm missing something here.  Not all MB's are going to be of interest to everyone, especially the eagle required ones.  Seriously, the citizenship MB's are not all that interesting unless one is into history and/or political science.  I canoe, I kayak, I sail, I enjoy fishing out of a motorboat, I came within a few feet of getting my life-saving certificate as a youth.  But I have no particular interest in swimming.  I swim because I have to, not because it interests me.

 

If someone asked me if I ever wanted to be a scuba diver, or a commercial fisherman, I would say absolutely not.  I have no interest in spending my time on a boat unless it's going after some large-mouth bass along the shoreline casting for supper.  Whitewater canoeing and  kayaking is really fun as long as one doesn't end up swimming. 

 

I do my annual BSA swim test every year became my interest is such that I can then take the boys out canoeing and kayaking.  That's the only time it interests me in getting wet! 

I'm tracking with your point of view.   I guess I'm looking at the question this way:   there are many jobs I don't want to do.  But if I'm going to earn a MB that is based on a particular profession, I should at least be able to figure out three high points about said profession, and articulate them to the counselor.   Even if I have no personal desire or innate ability to join the profession myself.

 

When I was in the AF,  Airmen would sometimes approach me and ask my advice "should I retrain into career field X?"   I'd been around long enough to know the positives and negatives for many career fields.   I gave them a balanced view so they could make their decision.   Many of these career fields I knew were unsuited for me personally, but I still needed to know the good and bad of each.

 

Re feelings:   I guess my stance is a bit harsh.   Nonetheless, I think an important lesson for young folks to learn is to differentiate "duty" from "feelings."   There are a lot of things an adult must do, regardless of feelings.

 

PS   For example, your tire factory story is a good one in many ways.   I'll borrow one thought from it:   let's say there was a Tire Manufacturing MB, and it had the requirement "explain why this profession might interest you."   Though you know first hand that it doesn't interest you personally, there were (at the time) benefits nonetheless:  high pay, retirement plan, established/needed product, stability, etc.    Those aspects may not interest some, but the scout should at least make an attempt to articulate them.

 

PPS   Concur, those swim tests each year become less enjoyable

Edited March 29, 2016 by desertrat77

[Stosh]

Okay let's try it out....

 

1) Slinging burgers at Micky D's....

 

2) School lunch "lady" at the local middle school....

 

3) Peeling potatoes for the US Army....

 

 

Nope, none of them interest me one bit, but I can see where someone might find it interesting, there are lot of people out there doing this kind of thing every day.

[Stosh]

I'm tracking with your point of view.   I guess I'm looking at the question this way:   there are many jobs I don't want to do.  But if I'm going to earn a MB that is based on a particular profession, I should at least be able to figure out three high points about said profession, and articulate them to the counselor.   Even if I have no personal desire or innate ability to join the profession myself.

 

When I was in the AF,  Airmen would sometimes approach me and ask my advice "should I retrain into career field X?"   I'd been around long enough to know the positives and negatives for many career fields.   I gave them a balanced view so they could make their decision.   Many of these career fields I knew were unsuited for me personally, but I still needed to know the good and bad of each.

 

Re feelings:   I guess my stance is a bit harsh.   Nonetheless, I think an important lesson for young folks to learn is to differentiate "duty" from "feelings."   There are a lot of things an adult must do, regardless of feelings.

 

I just focused in on the "It does not interest me" part of the answer.  As indicated, there are certain jobs that are good to know about, but they serve no interest to me based on my feelings of what I want to do with my life.

 

Yes, slinging burgers holds no interest for me, it does pay for a lot of young people's education and for that reason alone might interest them.  The interest is in getting a further education and not slinging burgers, however.

 

Lunch Ladies?  Might have an interest in kids more than the job, some might just need the job, but how many people are seriously interested in middle school students during their lunch hour and whether or not they particularly like what's being served.  As long as the food stays off the walls and ceilings, it's a good day.

 

Army KP's?  It might be interesting in that one is not going to necessarily get shot at while peeling potatoes.  Well, at least the odds are a bit more against it than being on the front lines. 

 

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE TO COOK.... mainly because I'm interested in eating well! 

 

Whereas I love to cook I would never be interested in doing it professionally. 

Edited March 29, 2016 by Stosh

[chrisking0997]

As a merit badge counselor I would not accept it.  From the cooking merit badge which I counsel that has such a requirement:

1. Food-related careers. Find out about three career opportunities in cooking. Select one and find out the education, training, and experience required for this profession. Discuss this with your counselor, and explain why this profession might interest you.

I would make the scout have a full conversation with me.  But mostly I would not accept it.  If scout is absolutely not interested in that career at all, why did he select it out of all the possibilities for a career in that field to spend his time researching?  If he did research.  (Read that as skeptical.)  I find sometimes the scouts will test to see if I am a pushover or not.

 

In school this type of work is a "F or D".  Teachers don't put up with it.

 

interesting so far.  Im focusing specifically on the "explain why this profession might interest you" part.  If the scout did all the previous portion of the requirement with the counselor, and the scout believes he is answering honestly with "it does not interest me", is that good enough?  After all, the requirement does not state "find out about three career opportunities, at least one of which interests you" or "hypothetically discuss with your counselor why this career might interest you".  Further, if the scout has zero interest in the subject, why is his honest answer not good enough?

[blw2]

My take is that this whole thread so far is based on "not enough information."

 

Personally I agree with Stosh that it's a valid answer, but perhaps incomplete.

 

It might be cause for a re-direct with something like "Well, then what was it about this profession that you thought might be interesting?" or "why then did you try for the badge?"  

 

As I see it, It's a lead to a conversation OR a lead to amendment. We're just trying to get him to think, and to express the pros about what otherwise as a whole might be a con to him.  If this were a written thing, that might be his 1st sentence.  Now he has to justify it.

 

So as I see it it's not a reject in itself.  If that's what the scout thinks after all....that's his answer boiled down to the nut of it!  So how then is that a WRONG answer?

[Stosh]

Cooking MB???

 

I'm interested in nothing but marrying a great cook so I never have to wonder what's for dinner!!! 

[desertrat77]

@@Stosh, okay, I'll bite

 

For example, the lunch lady job.   Though I have zero desire to apply for a lunch room job, I'll try to state why it might interest me.

 

1.  Steady work.  Many of the ladies have worked in the same school for years, decades even.

2.  Impact.  When I retired from the military, I was a substitute teacher for a year.   One thing I learned right away:  for the vast majority of the kids (in the elementary school where I taught), the only balanced meals they consume are at school.   If they are fed at home, it's microwaved crap or fast food.  Some kids received food packs on Friday, no-cook finger foods they could consume at home on Saturday and Sunday because they'd go hungry otherwise.   The kids would stash the pack in their book bag and eat in secret at home over the weekend.

3.  You get holidays and summers off.

 

[Stosh]

LOL!  Love it!

[desertrat77]

 

  Further, if the scout has zero interest in the subject, why is his honest answer not good enough?

If he has zero interest in the subject, why is he pursuing the MB in the first place?

 

Earning a MB doesn't make a scout an expert in the subject, but he should have some level of knowledge.   "I'm not interested" strikes me as the easy way out.   He should be able to articulate the pros and cons of any profession of any MB that HE signs up for. 

 

For example, let's say there is a Lunch Lady MB.  If he has zero interest, why bother?   Why waste everyone's time?   If he has some interest, and wants to legitimately wear the MB on his sash, he might take the time to talk to a couple lunch ladies and ask they what motivates them.   The ideals that strike a cord with the scout, he can articulate them to you.   Requirement fulfilled.

 

Then he's showing initiative, which is one of the key parts of earning an MB.

Edited March 29, 2016 by desertrat77