Reflecting on my short-lived career as a 7th-grade science teacher, I've become a champion of the unicellular Paramecium as a role model for job seekers and career changers. Amoebas and paramecium, members of the Protista kingdom captured my imagination more than 10 years ago; their image has informed my conversations with clients ever since.

Let's consider why these animalcules, a living organism of the lowest order, may serve as a role model for the "wise humans" of the mammalian species?

*The organisms are tenacious in their movement through a watery environment; tenacity is a required characteristic of successful job seekers and career changers in all industries and at all levels.

*Paramecium and their cousins, the amoeba, avoid obstacles with their tiny cilia, and move in what appears to be a purposeful direction. Those who are in transition use their presentation skills to navigate a defined path toward their goals.

*Most importantly, these critters are constantly taking in new material that enable them to grow, feeding their large nucleus, which in-turn receives instructions from the micro-nuclei that are part of this single-cell organism. This macronucleus is like a "brand:" it is sustained by accomplishments, interests, and abilities.

A successful job seeker or career changer can emulate the behavior of the paramecium in this way: constantly and vigorously take-in new information, reach-out to others, ask for feedback, respond to clues, read voraciously. Unlike the members of the Protist kingdom, the Homo sapiens can develop and grow beyond his environment, indeed becoming a "knowing human."