Working for work
I started writing a comment in response to Mark's post about finding a job he enjoys but it quickly turned into something closer to a post. It's both I guess.
The things I like about my job (I love my job, actually) are the following:
I set my own hours.
I can work from wherever I want.
My boss is the best manager I've ever had.
I'm constantly challenged.
The work I do makes the things better.
The work I do doesn't make things worse.
I constantly interact with people who are smarter and more talented than me.
There's always work to be done.
I don't have to pretend to be something I'm not. All I have to do is be myself.
I don't love my job in the sense that I do it in my spare time, but I can't imagine anything else I'd rather be doing for 8 to 12 hours per day. In the past couple months I've been offered two jobs that each pay more than twice what I'm earning now, but I don't think I'll ever go back to working a job I don't wholly enjoy.
I think finding jobs we love begins with figuring out what's most important to us and what ultimately makes us happy (duh). The people I know who love what they do either have jobs in which they do work that's important to them or jobs that otherwise allow them to spend the majority of their time doing what they enjoy. In my case it's a bit of both.
I think there are two tracks to finding jobs we enjoy: patiently sticking to a plan while remaining open to compromise, or having a clear vision of exactly what we want and the will to get it. We may need to relocate, spend some time working jobs that we feel are boring or beneath us, settle for less money, or otherwise sacrifice before we get the jobs we want. But if first and foremost we're looking for work we enjoy, none of those things should be a problem.
Regardless of which track you take, persistence is undoubtedly the key. Finding a job you enjoy isn't easy--you really have to work at it, persistently, over time. No one is going to call up out of the blue and offer you a job you love, you have to make it happen. Try making a plan. Like, in the next six months say you're going to figure out what you really enjoy doing. Once that's done, maybe take six more months to identify a job that will move you a step in that direction (whether it's relocating, identifying a job with the same company/organization you want to end up working for, finding a job that will introduce you to a network of the right people, finding a job in which you'll build a resume and gain new skills that'll help you get the job you want, etc.). Then take another six months to actually get the job, and give yourself, say, a two year limit for working that temporary position (don't tell your employer it's temporary, obviously). Then give yourself a month to get acclimated to the new position before you begin the daily search for a more ideal position. If your new, more ideal job isn't your dream job, return to step 1 and repeat. If you've done each step correctly, each one of these jobs will continue to be more enjoyable than the last and bring you closer to people who can help you find work that's better still. Plus, since you'll be doing what you enjoy, you'll get great experience that'll help you land your ideal job.
And this is really the key, I think: you have to make finding a job you enjoy your job. We should all constantly be making connections, putting ourselves out there, taking on work we don't have to do to impress someone who may be able to bring us closer to the jobs we want, taking on work outside of our day jobs that we can use to build resumes/references/portfolios, etc..
Just because we have day jobs doesn't mean we should stop looking for other/additional work. I apply for small jobs a couple of times a week and virtually all of the jobs I get lead to additional work. That's how I got the job I have now: I took a short term (3 month long) job doing something I thought I'd enjoy (and that paid shit), impressed the hell out of the people I worked for, and landed in a job I love that I didn't even know I wanted. I had a plan similar to the one I suggested above. The job I took to get closer to the people and places I wanted to be (the job I was doing when I got the sort term job), which I loathed and worked for almost exactly a year, gave me skills I needed to get the job I have now.
Not only is figuring out what makes us happy the the first step toward finding work we like, I think it's also hardest. Because really, we're not just looking for something that makes us happy, we're looking for something that makes us happy that we can spend most of our waking hours doing and something for which we're willing to to sacrifice most of our waking hours to get. But, like most things, if you're willing to put in the work, it's less a matter of if, and more a matter of when.
The things I like about my job (I love my job, actually) are the following:
I set my own hours.
I can work from wherever I want.
My boss is the best manager I've ever had.
I'm constantly challenged.
The work I do makes the things better.
The work I do doesn't make things worse.
I constantly interact with people who are smarter and more talented than me.
There's always work to be done.
I don't have to pretend to be something I'm not. All I have to do is be myself.
I don't love my job in the sense that I do it in my spare time, but I can't imagine anything else I'd rather be doing for 8 to 12 hours per day. In the past couple months I've been offered two jobs that each pay more than twice what I'm earning now, but I don't think I'll ever go back to working a job I don't wholly enjoy.
I think finding jobs we love begins with figuring out what's most important to us and what ultimately makes us happy (duh). The people I know who love what they do either have jobs in which they do work that's important to them or jobs that otherwise allow them to spend the majority of their time doing what they enjoy. In my case it's a bit of both.
I think there are two tracks to finding jobs we enjoy: patiently sticking to a plan while remaining open to compromise, or having a clear vision of exactly what we want and the will to get it. We may need to relocate, spend some time working jobs that we feel are boring or beneath us, settle for less money, or otherwise sacrifice before we get the jobs we want. But if first and foremost we're looking for work we enjoy, none of those things should be a problem.
Regardless of which track you take, persistence is undoubtedly the key. Finding a job you enjoy isn't easy--you really have to work at it, persistently, over time. No one is going to call up out of the blue and offer you a job you love, you have to make it happen. Try making a plan. Like, in the next six months say you're going to figure out what you really enjoy doing. Once that's done, maybe take six more months to identify a job that will move you a step in that direction (whether it's relocating, identifying a job with the same company/organization you want to end up working for, finding a job that will introduce you to a network of the right people, finding a job in which you'll build a resume and gain new skills that'll help you get the job you want, etc.). Then take another six months to actually get the job, and give yourself, say, a two year limit for working that temporary position (don't tell your employer it's temporary, obviously). Then give yourself a month to get acclimated to the new position before you begin the daily search for a more ideal position. If your new, more ideal job isn't your dream job, return to step 1 and repeat. If you've done each step correctly, each one of these jobs will continue to be more enjoyable than the last and bring you closer to people who can help you find work that's better still. Plus, since you'll be doing what you enjoy, you'll get great experience that'll help you land your ideal job.
And this is really the key, I think: you have to make finding a job you enjoy your job. We should all constantly be making connections, putting ourselves out there, taking on work we don't have to do to impress someone who may be able to bring us closer to the jobs we want, taking on work outside of our day jobs that we can use to build resumes/references/portfolios, etc..
Just because we have day jobs doesn't mean we should stop looking for other/additional work. I apply for small jobs a couple of times a week and virtually all of the jobs I get lead to additional work. That's how I got the job I have now: I took a short term (3 month long) job doing something I thought I'd enjoy (and that paid shit), impressed the hell out of the people I worked for, and landed in a job I love that I didn't even know I wanted. I had a plan similar to the one I suggested above. The job I took to get closer to the people and places I wanted to be (the job I was doing when I got the sort term job), which I loathed and worked for almost exactly a year, gave me skills I needed to get the job I have now.
Not only is figuring out what makes us happy the the first step toward finding work we like, I think it's also hardest. Because really, we're not just looking for something that makes us happy, we're looking for something that makes us happy that we can spend most of our waking hours doing and something for which we're willing to to sacrifice most of our waking hours to get. But, like most things, if you're willing to put in the work, it's less a matter of if, and more a matter of when.
posted by B S Goldsmith at 4/23/2008 06:09:00 PM
1 Comments:
I must have sounded a lot whinier in my post than I intended.
I am doing a lot of the things you mention, and a few others—all of which I'll probably write a post about in the near future. I'm fairly happy with my progress, although I'll still trying to figure out how to get in touch with someone in my network whom I sent a message to through facebook that hasn't gotten back to me ;). Perhaps I should just call him.
My main frustration with my job right now has to do with competing desires. That is, I want to buy a house in the next month or two. Because of that, it's unwise for me to switch jobs right now. Although I sometimes want to.
Post a Comment
<< Home