I have a question, though. How do I go about finding a career I love while also looking for a new job, when I have no idea what I want to do or what I might be good at? How do I avoid just guessing again and taking the dart while blindfolded approach when I have an urgent need to make decisions about what I'm looking for/applying for/networking for right now?
I have been unemployed a few months after a few years trying on different kinds of jobs for size. Getting let go from my most recent job was good, in that I hated it 90% of the time, but bad, in that I'm now among the unemployed in a tough economy. I've only been in the working world a few years, and already feel like I may never find something I'm passionate about, that really fits me and my values, or pays a decent living. I'm trying to stay positive and figure out who I am and what I really want as I look at what's out there, but there's an urgent need to make a choice soon, at least about what I'm going to do next. Bills won't pay themselves and I have to feed, house and clothe myself.
Should I just jump at whatever job might sound interesting for now and figure it out as I go along, so that I can support myself in the short term, or do I take the next few months to really delve into who I am and then start the job search again when I'm clearer on what I want? Won't staying out of work for a little longer make it more difficult for me to land the next position?
Angelaof CO4:07AM February 01, 2011
BUM and earlymusicus, I get that you're angry. And it sounds like you might have good reason to be. My question is, how long are you going to hang on to that? How long are you going to let that color your perspective on what the world has to offer?
I don't want to imply that you haven't had completely crappy experiences. And I'm certainly not taking the fluffy bunny approach to positive thinking that says if you'll just think happy thoughts your problems will go away.
Here's the thing. You're in a crappy situation. It sucks. You want to fly the bird at the entire world. You've got a choice. You can either feed that anger by constantly complaining about how unfair it is, or you can work on moving through that anger.
If you choose the first option, that's a rough row to hoe, because it's going to go on the rest of your life. Do you really want to keep feeding that feeling the rest of your life? Not only is that going to feel terrible, it's going to limit you, because that's the lens you're going to look at everything through. And when you look at the world through the lens of anger and bitterness, expecting to have that anger and bitterness confirmed, guess what you're likely to get?
I don't know where you are in your process. You might still be in a place where you just need to be angry. Fine. That's part of the process of moving through. But at some point the anger that's part of the process turns into a toxic habit if you don't step beyond it.
If you're at a point where you're are interested in taking steps past that anger, I just wrote a post about with some ideas to explore:
Anti-Worker, your perspective is a popular one, and it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Someone believes that it's unrealistic to be enamored with their work, and guess what? They're likely to find a path that proves them right.
If I hadn't seen so many people prove that belief wrong, I would be more inclined to buy into it. But I've seen it happen time and again. I've seen people in challenging situations create careers they love. They have refused to stay stuck and helpless.
I'm not suggesting that, if you don't love your work, you have no one but yourself to blame. It drives me nuts when "positive thinkers" imply that if I'm in a negative situation, I just haven't thought positively enough.
"Who's to blame" is irrelevant, unless you keep pointing the finger of blame elsewhere (which renders you powerless).
Instead, I'm suggesting that, wherever you are right now, you can start taking steps to bring more of what energizes you into your day. That might mean making small changes over time, or it might mean wholesale change.
Unless you happen to be dead, there's no reason to throw your hands up and surrender.
Curt Rosengrenof WA12:10PM January 14, 2011
earlymusicus of MI : I think you should expatriate if you have such a low opinion of our Country. Go where life is "better".
Brave at 61of MA11:24PM January 10, 2011
Most people aren't in jobs or careers that they "love." They're working to keep food on the table and a roof over their head. For others, a job is just a means to an end (e.g. in a high-paying field to support a high-end lifestyle.) Very few people get paid to do what they love and in some cases getting paid to do it would be impossible. To expect people to be enamored by what they do is unrealistic and pours salt on the wound, even in the best of economies.
The Anti-Worker5:33PM January 08, 2011
Ditto. Ditto. Ditto for Try being in Your 50's and some. I was just let go from a federal government agency yesterday. I was told that my conduct was unacceptable qnd that I talk too loud for starters. I do tend to talk a little louder than others because both my mother and husband have caused me to yell to get them to hear me after they have asked me to repeat myself for the second and third time. My work told me that they had warned me and tried to help me to no avail (Big Fat Lie). Besides two women on the other side of my cube laugh loudly and continuously all day, every other day at least. But I had learned from working as a contractor for this agency to shut my mouth and never complain about the conduct of others, or I would be called a bad person.
I was also told that I had a negative and pessimistic attitude with and toward my co-workers. I have 30+ years experience being a business analyst in the computer world (I worked my way up the corporate ladder from a programmer (that mimics a cross between an artist and a computer doctor - on call after- hours to boot) to a business-systems analyst (that mimics an architect having long interviews with clients, designing blueprints AND building and testing the protocol and the final product. Most of my co-workers have only 2 years experience at this agency, not to mention that they were school teachers before landing this job. But apparently, the Y-generation knows-it-all, and any suggestion, questioning or advice for solving problems or design and client satisfactio issues are taken as very serious "unacceptable behavior." Oh and don't even use the union (yes the government has them) or go to EEOC offices in your agency/company. This is the second time I have tried to use the EEOC office in my place of work, only to find that the persons I interview with are mostly working for the agency/company that I work for. So, you know the rest of the story. And so, no retaliation for going there is such a bunch of Bull***hit and lies, it makes you wonder about the First Amendment and whether or not we are living in a communistic country.
And oh, by the way, my supervisor (or team-lead) made a lewd comment about persons associated with the [American] legion. She said that our kids would be saying "Grandpa, take me to the legion [for a children's event]. This comment offended me in that it says that only older people belong to the [American] legion, and implies that they are not worthy of the Y-generations respect. Well, I have a son who is a Physician Assistant for the US Army. He has served in Iraq and will go to Afghanistan in the spring. To think that he has to risk his life for people who show him this kind of dis-respect! No wonder we live in fear of gunmen and bombs in our workplaces.
In addition, I was scolded for not being sociable in my group. Yet I attended 3 events held by upper management, only 2 persons from my workgroup attended only 2 events. My team lead attended none of them.
BUMof MD3:08PM January 08, 2011
Creating a career you can love? Please. In this stinking rotten country that has declared all-out war against the working class? In this stinking rotten country that rewards corporations for sending jobs to China? In this stinking rotten country where corporations discriminate against workers in their 50s and the long-term unemployed? Please get real! The fact is that this country hates workers and is doing everything it can to eliminate American workers. And that's a fact that all the positive outlooks will never change. Until we have politicians with the guts to do something about the trade imbalances and the offshoring of jobs to China and India, until they bring back manufacturing, don't look for any improvement in anything. America has been shown in many studies to be the worst country (of the major industrialized nations) in which to be a worker; American workers are treated like yesterday's trash. We are the most productive workers in the world but that productivity has not resulted in improvement in life; American workers have seen their wages decrease while their productivity increases. America, quite frankly, s*cks!
Reader Comments
Back to blog
Angela of CO 4:07AM February 01, 2011
Curt Rosengren of WA 12:10PM January 14, 2011
Brave at 61 of MA 11:24PM January 10, 2011
The Anti-Worker 5:33PM January 08, 2011
BUM of MD 3:08PM January 08, 2011
earlymusicus of MI 9:34PM January 07, 2011