What is a rewarding career and how you can get one - the new definition
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Yesterday a headline in one of the Finnish tabloids told us that a famous model (in Finnish scale, that is) was choosing to have both a career and children. This was shocking to the reporter writing the story.
That got me thinking.
If having both a rewarding career and a family is interesting enough to get on the front page of a national newspaper, something in our definition of career must be terribly outdated. If a career is still defined by only work and how much money you make it’s no surprise that people are unhappy, work overtime and spend virtually no time with their families.
My favorite band Switchfoot has a better definition:
This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose
To me a career is a question about who you want to be, as a whole and not just during the 8 hours (or more) you spend at work every day.
It might be that you really want to be the guy or girl working crazy hours - because that’s just who you are. Well, I guess it’s fine with me then. After all, no one else can tell you what a good life is like for you. That’s something we all have to find out for ourselves. But for me that’s not who I am.
No conflict between work and family
The age-old conflict between work and family is about to be resolved.
If you look at your life as a whole and plan accordingly you’ll make your career such that it contains all the elements that are important to you. In my case that means that I need to be able to do something that allows me to be creative and make an impact on the world. That could be programming, writing or doing business. But I also need to dedicate a big part of my time to my wife and son. Otherwise I just won’t be happy.
So, following my own advice, that’s what I use as a starting point for creating my career plans.
Not what my boss thinks I should do.
Not what would make me the most money.
Not what would give me the quickest promotions.
After I started thinking about careers like this, I’m much more relaxed: I don’t have to be fighting for promotions or getting the most attention at work. My life is about so much more. This job is just one part in my career plans.
Do what you are best at
A fellow blogger Graham Lutz put it well in his comment to my question about what motivates him:
Being my best motivates me. I feel my best when I’ve been productive.
I think it’s a great advice for planning your career. Plan to be your best. Do the things that you feel great doing, that feel like you. At your best.
To me this blog is one of those things that most people would see as a hobby, but according to my new definition I say that it’s an important part of my career. I don’t want to be just a programmer, but also a writer. And this is the one place where I can be my best on that front.
I encourage you to find the areas in your life on which you can be your best and then work on the ones important to you. Think about the long term commitment but don’t start something just because you think that it’ll make your life better in two years. Do things that you enjoy doing today that will also give you long term benefits.
For example this blog is something I really enjoy writing, but I also have well laid plans on how it will further enhance my life in two years’ time.
If you are a programmer, find out which part in software development is the one you are interested in - and just do that. Don’t get fooled into thinking that being promoted to a management position is the only career move there is. Actually, being promoted will probably just take time away from the other aspects in your career (family, own projects). But if managing is the one thing you like most, then go for it. Just remember that this is your life and you are the one responsible in making it a great one.
A bad career move doesn’t mean turning down a seemingly great work offer. It means doing something that makes you feel unhappy.
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July 31st, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Great Post, Jarrko! Thanks for the shout!
July 31st, 2007 at 6:43 pm
You’re welcome, Graham.
And congratulations on writing the 100th comment on my blog!
December 1st, 2007 at 12:56 pm
This brings to mind an episode that Shane and I went through at the inception of our business.
He had a client that offered him and his friend a raise from contractor to remote employee. Shane’s friend accepted, and I couldn’t understand why Shane was hesitating so we talked it over for 2 days.
1) Shane saw it as a pretense for the company to pay him about the same money but demand twice as much from him
2) Shane saw that this would kill his contractor business.
3) Shane didn’t really at heart believe that employees are more secure than contractors.
So he passed.
A year later Shane doubled his income independently while his friend doubled his working hours, complaining incessantly.
December 1st, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Hey Peter, thanks for sharing the story!
Shane definitely did the right thing. But could it be that the client was really thinking that they would be helping Shane and his friend by “promoting” them to remote employees?
I’ve seen in my work that often the company (at least the one in which I work) thinks that their contractors would want to be part of the bigger organization - and that we would be “saving” them from a lot of uncertainty by just hiring them in-house. I’m curious: Have you noticed this attitude among your customers?
December 1st, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Thanks Jarkko,
In this case I’m quite sure the company was not acting benevolent.
Regarding the benevolent employee status, I’ve seen it once in the last year. We have one client that employed it’s flash developers even though they work remotely because the company new that the flash developers would be more loyal given health benefits.
(It’s funny how flash developers tend to not work on site. have you noticed that?)
I think the key word in your post is “rewarding”. A career that rewards you. It comes down to what we perceive as rewards.
December 1st, 2007 at 10:27 pm
I love your conclusion: “rewarding”.
I guess a dream job happens when the all parties involved see “rewarding” in a same way: The rewards and benefits that the company offers are something that the employee sees as rewarding as well.
And that’s where it gets tricky. Different people perceive rewards differently, and in a bigger company the needs easily start to conflict with each other…
December 11th, 2007 at 3:36 am
Great points Jarkko, especially about finding what you are best at.
I have also thought a lot about this issue and posted a review of some of the most and least rewarding careers at.
http://live-it-true.com/most-rewarding-careers.htm
Thanks again for the thoughts!
April 27th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I wanted to thank you for this post. As a 22 year old woman, I am feeling very lost and anxious about this life that is before me. Who am I, who do I want to be? On top of all the questions, there is this nagging feeling that everyone else is doing such amazing things with their lives. I work in a job that is okay, mostly because my coworkers are fun. But it doesn’t ignite any passion, and it doesn’t leave me feeling like I have contributed anything to the world. In a random google search, I was led to your blog. And you words helped put things into perspective. Rewarding and successful mean different things to different people. I still don’t know what career path I will pursue. But in my search, I will remember your words. I will stop measuring success by other people’s definition. I will start looking within for my own wants and needs and feelings of fulfillment. Thank you.
April 28th, 2008 at 11:20 am
@Monica: You know what? I think the fact that you are feeling lost and anxious can well be a great gift - because it makes you think about what you really want to do. Many people start thinking about it way too late in their lives - at 22 you still have the time to do anything you want if you just start defining your success and your way to it.
I share the same anxiousness and in a way this blog is my way of looking at the world and trying to make sense of it, thus creating my own definition of success, and what I want to achieve in this life.
It’s not as easy as just going with the flow - but much more rewarding (and interesting), I think. ;)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and good luck!