www.fastcompany.com: “Good job fit” is one of those overused phrases that has lost some of its meaning. What is it? What happens when the job you thought was your dream job, or the job that would catapult you to great success makes you feel anxious, out of step, scrambling to keep your balance?
When we talk about good job fit, we overlook the thing that is most important, And to get to that stage, we can’t take shortcuts–we have to deploy a kind of emotional intelligence that I call EQ Fitness.
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I think this pattern of thinking about what makes you happy can also be helpful when considering a major. I know I struggled for a long time with the fact that everyone expected me to be a lawyer or something else "smart" because of my grades, but that is not what makes me happy. Coming to CMU, I once again felt that pressure. I feel like in our industry there is an expected career path that many of us do not conform to, which can be really troubling to us. I have certainly worried about the fact that success for me has nothing to do with Broadway. It made me question why I came here, but in reality this was the best school for my situation and for what I want to do with my life and therefore I should feel no pressure to go into a path leading me to Broadway if I do not want to. It is not the right job for the life I want to lead. I feel like the faculty does a good job with this by bringing in people from all areas of the industry and not putting down those who do not see themselves remaining within the boundary of theater.
I was kind of hoping this article would be more about figuring out where you want to work in terms of seeing if a company is a good fit for you, but it seems to be more about trying to decide what kind of work you want to do. I think at this point I’m reasonably confident about the type of work I want to do. Maybe I’ll get into it and it won’t be what I expected, but obviously for now I think it will. I definitely feel the idea of not necessarily wanting to climb as high in the org chart as possible. Even if it is an objectively better job (whatever that means) I wouldn’t want the type of responsibility associated with really high up jobs in a company. To be fair, I might change my mind about that, and that decision will not be for a long time if it ever comes, but I don’t find the idea of turning down a CEO position crazy or surprising. It isn’t like the job you have prior to an opportunity to be a CEO doesn’t pay enough, and not only might it be the wrong type of work for what you like to do, your job shouldn’t be the only priority in your life unless that is what you want.
Though this phrase may seem cliché, the article explains that the key to finding the right job is being true to yourself. While this text relates specifically to paid careers, this idea should be applied to the realm of education as well. In my senior year, I found so many of my classmates applying to certain university programs for the sake of finding a “good, stable job.” Practicality is a factor to consider when choosing a path, but this method is not effective when choosing a direction for the wrong reasons. My classmates were often driven by the expectations of their parents to be a doctor or a lawyer because it is a respected occupation that pays well. A few years ago, my parents thought I would keep theatre as a hobby, and eventually become “serious” and choose to study something more academic. Fortunately, they began to take me seriously when they saw that technical theatre was something I was incredibly dedicated to. My passion, and time commitment to the field, showed myself and my family that this was the right way to go.
I often think a lot about what really makes me happy, and whether or not I’m making the right choices in terms of my future. I know that growing up we’re often told that artistic pursuits don’t often lead to success or sustainable incomes, so up until the end of high school I never wanted to have anything to do with the arts, yet here I am in a CFA drama program. Now that I’m here a lot of people are telling me I should be a scenic designer or something of the sort. But that kind of thing doesn’t really interest or stimulate me, nor does it make me happy. I think I, along with a lot of other people get trapped by what we think others expect from us, and believe that that’s the path we should take. I’m thankful that the professors here often talk about how we can use our knowledge to do work outside of the constraints of theatre, because in the end it may not be what actually will bring me fulfillment in life.
This article didn’t quite lead me to where I though it was going and I am pleasantly surprised. It is a nice refresher to hear something like especially with where my head is at now and where it tends to go being in environments like the environment here at the School of Drama. I tend to find myself choosing to work more, do more, and sacrifice sleep or other essentials. However, there are certain things I won’t sacrifice and this article reminds of those and why I need to not sacrifice for work. I know myself and I need to make decisions that will best fit Me at the time of that decision. This is highly underlined in the stories within this article and for good reason: A job is only worth it if it is working for you as much as you work for it. If I need to have a balance in my life than I need to stick to jobs that give me that but if I need to be busy more than I need free, I need to choose a Job that can provide that and this can be done with aspect in your life or in your job which is something very important to keep in mind when it comes to work.
I found this article overwhelmingly unhelpful as someone who is currently trying to look for work which will be well suited for them. The entirety of the article can be summed up with the sentence of be honest with yourself and know where your strengths lie. Though that is true and, on some level, helpful I’m afraid I was looking for some more expansive tactics and methods that are helpful in securing employment that you are fulfilled in. There is always some element of uncertainty when applying for the position even if you’re the most emotionally intelligent person in the world you can not always predict how a description of a job may translate into reality and you could be unhappy. I know for me the people that I work with can often be more important than the job itself so through the interview process getting a greater idea of the company and it’s working relationship on a bigger scale and even getting the opportunity to meet those people I think is vital in making those decisions.
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