Archive for 'Career Satisfaction'
Be Daring: Try Something New
October 17th, 2008. Published under Career Satisfaction. No Comments.
While we love our comfort zones, career development stagnates with routine. Once we settle in to a position and know exactly what we can do, that’s all we do. While this strategy keeps us from failing, we don’t really succeed either.
Risking failure forces us to stretch our skills. Mary Ann was a successful college student in her last year at school. She could have coasted through her classes, graduated, and headed to law school at the end of the year. At the prompting of one of her professors, Mary Ann applied for a prestigious scholarship, something she had dreamed of but didn’t think she could get on her own. She put all of her effort into the application process and learned much about herself.
In essence, she failed and did not win the scholarship, but the process opened many doors for her; she won the school’s highest honors and accepted a job directing economic development in a small community. Mary Ann’s life would have been smoother had she not taken the risk, however she is grateful for the diversity it brought to her life.
Pick one of your daydreams. What can you do to make that dream a reality? If you go for it, you never know what opportunities await you.
Being Brave at Work: Asking for Help
October 15th, 2008. Published under Career Satisfaction. No Comments.
You’ve made a mess of things with an important project. The orders you placed for one client are mixed up with those for another. The accounting is all tangled up, you clients are getting angry, and you can’t fulfill your promises. The situation seems hopeless, and you are certain you are going to be fired.
We make mistakes all the time but the key to limiting their effects is asking for help. While it is difficult to admit that we are wrong, a larger problem is that we do not know who to turn to.
Before you encounter problems, try to find a mentor at your company. A mentor does not have to be your immediate superior; all you need is another employee who has seniority and knows the company intimately. By networking with your co-workers, you can determine who has the most to teach you.
The next step is to work up the courage to speak with your mentor-to-be, but make sure you have a clear idea of what you need from the partnership. Most likely, the person you ask will be honored by the idea and will agree to help you out. Once you have established a relationship with your mentor, you will have someone to run to when you no longer know what to do.
Fight Your Fears — Find a Friend
October 13th, 2008. Published under Career Satisfaction. No Comments.
Sometimes, when work problems have you completely stumped, in the words of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, you need to use a lifeline and phone a friend. While we often think that the road to success is travelled alone, our friends can give us the strength we need to take the chances that will lead to larger goals.
If you work alone, you can only rely on the skills you possess. You have no one to buoy your spirits when you are discouraged or to share your successes. Our friends often know our abilities better than we do. Where we see ourselves through a lens of self-criticism and doubt, our friends see a strong, smart, able-bodied compatriot. Don’t keep your work life a secret when you are having trouble; talk out your troubles with a friend and brainstorm solutions. You never know when creativity will strike.
You can also develop working friendships once you understand the politics of your workplace. Work on projects with a variety of people. Despite some awkward pairings, you will learn which of your coworkers have approaches that complement your own. Every workplace has its power teams, and with some experimentation, you and your group will find your way to the top.
Doing and Knowing What You Love
August 15th, 2008. Published under Career Satisfaction. No Comments.
Doing what you love seems deceptively simple. We should know what we love, but we often confuse this with what others expect us to love, what we do to fill our time, and what we merely like.
Our friends, family and society have expectations of us which vary greatly. If you look at practically any program on television, you will see what society currently expects us to want and love. These images influence our behavior, even if we do not completely understand it.
Sometimes we are pressured to make our hobbies into more than they are. My friend Jen is a crafter in her spare time. She has a flair for making adorable dolls, but once she started taking commissions, her hobby became a chore. In this case, Jen didn’t really love what she was doing. Making dolls was a pleasant time filler, but it was little more than that. In time, she came to take up scrapbooking instead, but has not tried to start up a cottage business again.
When you truly love what you do, you get a sense of joy the moment you begin. Something you love will energize you and make you feel better about yourself, what you’re doing and life in general. Loving your career will bring harmony into your life; in and out of your workplace.
Determining What You Value
August 13th, 2008. Published under Career Satisfaction, Uncategorized. No Comments.
Several of these posts have mentioned that you need to know what you value before you take a job. Often, we think of our values as principles in the back of our minds that govern our actions. However, letting our values marinate in our subconscious means that we may not understand why we act in certain ways.
In college, I took an ethics course, and our main project was to evaluate our moral system and apply our values to some kind of ethical dilemma. I was surprised when it took me several hours just to sketch out some of the major issues. The exercise has given me great guidance in figuring out the role I play in life.
To begin laying out your values system, do the following:
- Think about your family upbringing and religious background. What were the major lessons and principles you learned from these sources? Are they right?
- Consider how you treat others. Should you act in this way? Is this how you want to be treated?
- Remember how you have been treated. Do you approve?
After you have answered these questions, ask yourself “Am I consistent?” If you are, you have a clear understanding of your principles. If you aren’t, you need to think more about what is important to you. If you understand your moral framework, you can choose a job that will not weigh on your conscience, making you more satisfied.
Why Should You Take a Job?
August 11th, 2008. Published under Career Satisfaction. No Comments.
A large part of career success lies in knowing yourself and finding work that agrees with your values, desires and strengths. Be careful about choosing a career until you know yourself and the company or industry you might work for well. You should ask yourself three questions: “What do I value,” “What do I enjoy,” and “What do I need to do in order to feel challenged or fulfilled in my work life?”
The next step is to look at potential jobs and careers. Do the companies and industries share your values? Will the work be challenging or fulfilling? Will you like what you do? These questions may not be easily answered. If possible, ask your extended social network if they know someone who works at your target company. A connection like this may give you more valuable information about the internal reality of that company. If you don’t have any personal connections, schedule an informational interview to speak directly with someone in the company.
Through knowing yourself, you understand what situations will best suit you. While money is often the immediate motivation for a career, it rarely leads to personal satisfaction. If you enjoy what you do, it is no longer work - it is just part of your life.
Concepts and Reality: Our Perceptions of Careers
August 1st, 2008. Published under Career Satisfaction. No Comments.
We often get involved with careers based on an idealized conception. My friend Mary had this experience in college. She started working at the tutoring center on campus because she loved the idea of helping people learn. The students she worked with, however, expected her to fix their mistakes and act as a proofreader. They were not interested in learning anything. Thinking her difficulties were based on the setting, Mary began tutoring for a specific department on campus, but her experience was the same. After spending two years following a dream that never became reality, Mary quit tutoring and became a reference librarian. Now, she helps people find information, but she is not expected to give them all the answers.
In order to avoid an experience like Mary’s, ask specific questions during your interview. We have conceptions which go with titles like “office manager,” “human resources supervisor,” or “teacher” which may vary greatly depending on the employer. The interview is your opportunity to find out more about the job itself and determine if it matches your ideas and values. Make sure you are clear on the responsibilities and procedures you will be expected to perform. Being informed will help you separate dreams and preconceptions from reality.
Considering Why, Who and What when Choosing a Job or Career
July 30th, 2008. Published under Career Satisfaction. No Comments.
Marcus Buckingham’s questions of why, who and what (see previous post for more details) can also be good guides for the job searcher.
Why: If you know a company’s purpose, you can determine if their position would be in accord with your own values. Many job search guides ask you to list what is most important to you to determine which jobs are best suited for you. If you value helping children, you might want to work in a daycare or school, and not at a corporation which endorses child labor.
Who: While looking for a new position, you should understand who you will be working with. Some people work best in a large group or with one or two close coworkers, so you should know your strengths. Be careful about getting too attached to the idea of working with specific people because they may move on, leaving you in a situation you dislike.
What: Understanding what exactly you will be doing is tantamount to choosing a job or a career. If you accept a job advertised as “writing” for the local newspaper without asking questions, you might be writing ad copy instead of covering stories. Even if you share your company’s goals and like your coworkers, your success in your career will come from following through on your daily tasks.
Three Important Questions: Why, Who and What
July 28th, 2008. Published under Career Satisfaction. No Comments.
There comes a point in everyone’s life when you wake up and a feeling of despair sets in. You just can’t bear to go to work again, speak to the same people, and do the same monotonous tasks.
When Marcus Buckingham, author and motivational speaker, works with someone facing this problem, he asks them three important questions:
- Why this job? What is its broader purpose?
- Who are you working with?
- What exactly do you do at this job?
By exploring these questions, you can isolate the real reasons you are staying in an unsatisfying job. Often we can be enchanted with the idea behind our work or with our co-workers, making us loyal to a career that is not meeting our personal needs
The people you work with may keep you in a job with no opportunity for advancement. You may like preparing documents and giving presentations, but you may not care for your company’s goals or motives. Dedication to a career helping people may keep you working with doctors and nurses you despise.
These questions will help you gain a deeper understanding of your relationship with your job and what you really value from the experience.