If you ever wanted to do something completely different, this is it.
If you’re like most people, you’ve wondered what your life would be like if you’d taken a completely different path.
But for a jeweler, what would that mean? A New York Times feature helps to answer that question.
The newspaper looked at various jobs and determined what their “polar opposite” would be. It based its analysis on U.S. Labor Department data outlining the tasks and skills associated with each job.
As it turns out, the opposite of a jeweler is a physicist.
Many people in the jewelry industry fall into the Labor Department’s category of “Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers.” Among the top skills for that work are finger dexterity, visual color discrimination and “judging the quantifiable characteristics of things, services or people.”
That’s apparently very different from the role of a physicist, who needs skills such as mathematical reasoning, information ordering and “ability to organize groups in different ways.”
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Others in the jewelry business fit into the Labor Department category of “Retail Salespersons.” Some of their top skills include service orientation, persuasion and sales and marketing.
Once again, that’s apparently the exact opposite of what a physicist does; the jobs are deemed to be opposites.
The focus on physicists is not as random as it may sound. It’s the job that, along with “model,” appeared most often as an opposite in the New York Times’ feature. That means it’s highly distinctive in terms of the skills it uses and doesn’t use.
Read more at The New York Times
Family Legacy, New Chapter: How Wilkerson Turns 89 Years of History Into Future Success
After 89 years of serving the Albany community, Harold Finkle Your Jeweler faced a pivotal decision. For third-generation owner Justin Finkle, the demanding hours of running a small business were taking precious time away from his young family. "After 23 years, I decided this was the time for me," Finkle explains. But closing a business with nearly nine decades of inventory and customer relationships isn't something easily managed alone.
Wilkerson's comprehensive approach transformed this challenging transition into a remarkable success story. Their strategic planning handled everything from advertising and social media to inventory management and staffing — elements that would overwhelm most jewelers attempting to navigate a closing sale independently.
The results speak volumes. "Wilkerson gave us three different tiers of potential goals," Finkle notes. "We've reached that third tier, that highest goal already, and we still have two weeks left of the sale." The partnership didn't just meet financial objectives—it exceeded them ahead of schedule.
