Start with a big one. Not too long after this downturn America entered a period of a building boom. Jobs in the field were plentiful. If becoming an architect or an oceanographer is a consuming interest, it should be pursued, and vocational opportunities frequently change with time. The condition of the job market should be considered, but more important is the satisfaction of a vocation which a person enjoys.
Some people are strongly motivated to serve humankind or to pursue a religious vocation.
Barbara Bell could have chosen a number of different vocations but decided to be a social worker, and is helping pregnant teenage girls. Sometimes she is the only person present with a girl at the time her baby is born if the expectant mother has been rejected by her family, and the father, if known, has denied any responsibility. It is a stressful occupation, with obstetrician's hours, but for her, very rewarding. She is well aware that some of her Princeton classmates are earning two or three times as much as she is, but salary size is not her motivating force. The response she gets from grateful clients is reward enough.