New Job Directions
Jan. 19th, 2011 11:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
laughingstoneThe writing is on the wall. I've begun dusting off ye old resume. But before I can get my laser focus on and begin to manifest my destiny, I need to search my mind. There are doubts, detritus, questions.
I've done so many different jobs, in so many different industries, to varying degrees of success and happiness. I keep trying to get closer and closer to something that will be sustainable for me. Even though sustainability is, in many cases, a thing of the past in our job industry.
And for all the jobs I've done, I've wondered about tons more. I've read that NYC garbage workers are reportedly some of the most satisfied with their jobs.
I've also worked for myself a fair bit. I like the flexibility. And I love working with and for friends. It's so fulfilling to work in community.
Soome cataloging is in order. Starting from the beginning.
Things I've gotten paid to do:
Retail: Always meet new people. Active. Physically tiring. Fast-paced. Low wages. Have boss, but they are usually peripheral.
Self employment/marketing & writing: Challenging to keep a full pipeline. Relationship-building. Project based. Feels helpful. Unsteady pay. No boss. Flexible.
Self employment/house cleaning: Active, project-based. Satisfying. Good pay. Physically tiring. Love doing it for friends. No boss. Flexible.
Self employment/house renovation: Loved the physical part of it. Loved the problem solving aspect of it. Gave me a new confidence in my abilities.
Self employment/music: Just started getting paid to sing vocals for a musician's recordings. I love it so far! The pay is good.
Higher education/student services: Typically boring with lots of paperwork. Only occasionally interesting. Non-flexible hours. Offices usually have fluorescent lighting which I hate. Okay pay.
Preschool/parent involvement: LOVED speaking Spanish and working with Latino parents. They're such sweet people. Hated my corrupt supervisor. Low pay.
Digital newspaper/video producer: Still my fave job so far. But I felt the company was moving too slow, lacked accountability, and sales employees were being treated unfairly. Didn't feel like the company listened to me. Creative. Relationship-building. Believed in the product. Flexible. Low pay.
Yahoo!/Online editor: Lots of flexibility. Not an editor type, so didn't quite fit with the group. Boring work. Didn't believe in the product. Like working for a technology company.
Current company: Company does listen to me somewhat. Have lost faith in product. Social environment is tense, which is harder when there are so few employees. Can't get funding. Like some things I do: creating webinars. Don't like others: cold-calling. Generally like working around social media and in technology though. Somewhat flexible, but that flexibility is frowned upon by the CEO's daughter, who works harder than everyone else, but probably has hella stock. Sucky pay.
So my doubts right now are:
1. Will I ever find anything I enjoy and that pays well?
2. Should I keep trying to create a "career" or should I try to work for myself?
3. Should I write a book on my endless career search and make a lot of money? :)
4. If I feel that my purpose is to add beauty and spread happiness to the world, what is my career?
I've done so many different jobs, in so many different industries, to varying degrees of success and happiness. I keep trying to get closer and closer to something that will be sustainable for me. Even though sustainability is, in many cases, a thing of the past in our job industry.
And for all the jobs I've done, I've wondered about tons more. I've read that NYC garbage workers are reportedly some of the most satisfied with their jobs.
I've also worked for myself a fair bit. I like the flexibility. And I love working with and for friends. It's so fulfilling to work in community.
Soome cataloging is in order. Starting from the beginning.
Things I've gotten paid to do:
Retail: Always meet new people. Active. Physically tiring. Fast-paced. Low wages. Have boss, but they are usually peripheral.
Self employment/marketing & writing: Challenging to keep a full pipeline. Relationship-building. Project based. Feels helpful. Unsteady pay. No boss. Flexible.
Self employment/house cleaning: Active, project-based. Satisfying. Good pay. Physically tiring. Love doing it for friends. No boss. Flexible.
Self employment/house renovation: Loved the physical part of it. Loved the problem solving aspect of it. Gave me a new confidence in my abilities.
Self employment/music: Just started getting paid to sing vocals for a musician's recordings. I love it so far! The pay is good.
Higher education/student services: Typically boring with lots of paperwork. Only occasionally interesting. Non-flexible hours. Offices usually have fluorescent lighting which I hate. Okay pay.
Preschool/parent involvement: LOVED speaking Spanish and working with Latino parents. They're such sweet people. Hated my corrupt supervisor. Low pay.
Digital newspaper/video producer: Still my fave job so far. But I felt the company was moving too slow, lacked accountability, and sales employees were being treated unfairly. Didn't feel like the company listened to me. Creative. Relationship-building. Believed in the product. Flexible. Low pay.
Yahoo!/Online editor: Lots of flexibility. Not an editor type, so didn't quite fit with the group. Boring work. Didn't believe in the product. Like working for a technology company.
Current company: Company does listen to me somewhat. Have lost faith in product. Social environment is tense, which is harder when there are so few employees. Can't get funding. Like some things I do: creating webinars. Don't like others: cold-calling. Generally like working around social media and in technology though. Somewhat flexible, but that flexibility is frowned upon by the CEO's daughter, who works harder than everyone else, but probably has hella stock. Sucky pay.
So my doubts right now are:
1. Will I ever find anything I enjoy and that pays well?
2. Should I keep trying to create a "career" or should I try to work for myself?
3. Should I write a book on my endless career search and make a lot of money? :)
4. If I feel that my purpose is to add beauty and spread happiness to the world, what is my career?
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no subject
Date: 2011-01-20 03:57 am (UTC)Host Cuddle Parties! :)
Just listened to a talk/interview with BJ Fogg, head of the Stanford Persuasive Technology program. He said that he took 7 years to complete his undergrad (among other things, he was an English major, then premed), followed by two masters (4 years) and a PhD. So, you're not alone in taking some time to find a good fit.
Some suggestions from his talk:
* To stand out from the crowd, it's much easier if you focus. The more focused the better. For example, rather than trying to become an expert on all the possible uses of Facebook (a difficult, if not impossible task), you might choose to become an expert at explaining Facebook to parents.
* To help identify what you're passionate enough about to become an expert, imagine that you're planning an extended vacation. What books would you bring?
* Once you've identified your niche, ask yourself, "What would success mean? If I hit a home run, what would it look like? Who would be my customers? How would I help my customers achieve their goals? How can I help people to do what they already want to do?
* if you decide that you want to work for an existing company, start acting as if you already have the role you want. Start sending a report every week to the person for whom you want to work. At first, they're going to be "WTF?", but eventually, they're going to realize you're already doing the job, and will find a way to fit you in.
* Success leads to success. Initially, set tiny goals that you can meet every day. What's the littlest step you can take? As your confidence grows, you will naturally want to expand them.
* Choose to hang around friends who make you feel awesome, who promote you to others.
* Take the time to identify and feel gratitude about the good things in your life. When you feel gratitude/appreciation, your ability to hope will increase.
* What are the barriers to getting the results you want? How can you remove those barriers?
no subject
Date: 2011-01-20 05:43 am (UTC)Grand idea! Wanna come? ;)
In general, I love all the tips BJ shared. Thank you for your awesome synopsis. I want to noodle on them all some more.
And for some reason, this one stood out to me most:
if you decide that you want to work for an existing company, start acting as if you already have the role you want. Start sending a report every week to the person for whom you want to work. At first, they're going to be "WTF?", but eventually, they're going to realize you're already doing the job, and will find a way to fit you in.