I often wonder how young people pick their future profession? Some of us follow in our family footsteps, some of us follow our dreams as a child and others pick something out of the sky.
I was the third kind of person...."pick something from the sky". I picked the school that was still taking applications and the program that looked like the most fun to me....Travel & Tourism. I ended up enjoying the program but it lacked the skills that I need to know to go in the direction that I wanted to go into which was working at a Tourist Board. The lesson this taught me was to examin the course outline and the associated classes. Look at the teachers and where they've worked. Most teachers work in the field their instructing about.
I know from personal experience that I would not have pictured myself working in the auction industry. The funny thing about it is that it fits into all of the things that I wanted to do in my adult career. I get to travel, talk to people about the things they love, work with innovative professionals and work on creative projects.
I love talking to people about what I do and the business I'm in. They always ask me if I "talk fast". I tell them "no, I have a hard enough time talking slow"...Ha! Ha! They are always so interested in what we do.
I wish I would have known about this profession earlier on in my life so I could have properly educated myself before picking Travel and Tourism. I think the auction industry needs to educate our youth about this business. Consider setting up at a job fair or hiring an intern from highschool or college to work at your business. Another good way to find future auctioneers is to mentor a young adult. Teach them the ins and outs, introduce them to people who could further their career.
I just finished my second year at CAI and I wish I had enrolled into the program when I first started working in this industry. I think it's a great learning experience for people in the industry.
On an Aumann Auction note I would like to congratulate our own Tucker Aumann on graduating from the World Wide College of Auctioneering auction school. Tucker is a 3rd generation auctioneer. I always wondered which way he would go but now I see he wanted to follow in his father and grand-father's footsteps. He now has his name as Col. Tucker Aumann on his facebook profile. Watch for him up on the auction podium.
