WHY YOU SHOULDN’T SETTLE JUST FOR ‘ANYTHING’
Would you accept any offers? – asked my unemployed friend last time.
Tough question. Especially today. Especially if you are above the age when your parents should finance your needs. But, I think it is a tough question from all angle
Would you accept any offers? – asked my unemployed friend last time.
Tough question. Especially today. Especially if you are above the age when your parents should finance your needs. But, I think it is a tough question from all angles.
Usually, our needs (mainly financial), our ego (me, without a job? you kidding me, right?), our social upholding (I am indeed somebody), or simply our character (I can’t just sit at home, I need to do something) float us from one job to another. We are proud, thrilled and grateful if one job title flows into the next (hopefully a lever higher) with the greatest smoothness and silkiness.
Usually, we love if our career path is stepping on the ladder steps one by one (or skipping some would be even better) without any stop, pause or step backwards.
When I talk with my friends about their jobs, they all feel they would worth more, they are being used, they do something that has nothing to do with their education, diploma(S) or forgive me to even mention, their interest. They complain and complain each time we meet. Yet, they check-in at 9 am and check-out at 5 pm (best scenario) and receiving their salary on the 5th of each months.
When I interviewed candidates for certain positions, they all promised me the stars, the Moon and the whole Universe. They prepared their Oscar-winning motivation speak and tried to convince me (or themselves?) that is was exactly what they wanted. If they played along the whole way, they got the job. But what happened next is clear: full disappointment – both sides.
So my question is: why do we settle?
And let’s not consider now the money-aspect – just for a second at least. Why? Because in most of the cases when we are talking about CAREER, we don’t jump into a job for the money (or well, at least we should not). And when you go to work as a waitress, babysitter etc. to earn money – that is clearly not the issue what I am talking about here. So money is put aside for now…
Why do we settle? Why do we cheat on ourselves? Why do we lie not only to the recruiters but to ourselves? Why are we afraid of pause for a second and reflect?
Do we settle for security? Do we settle because it is convenient?
There are endless quotes pumping up on the internet everyday: ‘do what you love and you never have to work again in your life’ – ‘follow you passion and you shall succeed’ and so on, and so on. Everybody seems to ‘like’ them, ‘share’ them, believe in them. So it seems, in theory we are all aiming for THE JOB, but what stops us in practice?
What if I ask you the question: DO YOU LOVE YOUR JOB? How would you answer? If you are one of the many, called: majority; then you would have a gentle hiccup now giving you the clear answer.
How is it that we select our boyfriends/girlfriends with such great care, with unreachable expectation lists and clearly defined features – and if finally we manage to find somebody close to it, we still dump them after their first mistake?! Yet, we are so easily settling in our career life for something we absolutely don’t enjoy and spend 80% of our days with that activity days after days, weeks after weeks and years after years?
Why is it OK to be single for years and waiting for Miss Right / Mr. Right but it is shameful to pause for a few months and find Miss/Mr RIGHT JOB?
Where is our care and consciousness when we accept a job offer? Have you ever considered going to an interview with the inner mindset of ‘great! now I can check them out’ – instead of shaking from up-to-toe and answering their questions as a diligent pupil. Have you ever left an interview assessing whether YOU would actually be happy working with them, instead of praying for their next call?
I understand that we all want to work. Of course we want! But such as you don’t go to bed with everybody who smiles at you charmingly, maybe you should not sign every contract either just because it was printed on a silky-colored-appeling paper.
Don’t settle! That is the easy-way! Go, find out what makes you happy! And yes, sometimes you will end up changing your jobs more than you plan, sometimes you even make total U-turns to reach your next role, or even get on hold for a time; but don’t settle for security, don’t settle for titles – settle for happiness!