A friend of mine called me up yesterday stating how badly she hated her current job and wanted my take on how she can find a more perfect one. Not sure if our conversation helped her in anyway, however, since yesterday, the idea of “Perfect Job” has not left my mind. Does a perfect job even exist? Anyone out there on LinkedIn – do you have a perfect job? If yes, please reply in comments and I shall be happy to be proved incorrect or at least learn from your experiences.
So what essentially defines our job? Essentially it’s a collective mix of roles, responsibilities we are required to perform and also areas outside of roles and responsibilities that one need to look into to keep the ball moving (you know what I am referring to :) ). To my mind there is nothing like a perfect job and therefore searching or craving for it is all the more futile. How can you search for something that does not exist? Unless and until you are an entrepreneur – where the rules of the game are yours and yours alone – anything close to perfect job does not exist.
So what defines your job?
# Salary – Don’t think so. Further any increase in salary looks only good for first few months! Thereafter, it’s the role you perform, people you work with and larger context in which you work matter and keeps you going.
# Boss – Difficult one to say. In case your boss is too good and nice types, you will not get enough opportunities to be pushed and therefore your growth will be limited. In case he/she is too pushy or hard wired – you will be always on your toes and may be every moment thinking about quitting. In case he/ she is not accessible – you will always be running after him/her and in case he is always around you would be worried about his/her micromanaging your tasks.
# Peers – May be. In case you work in a virtual environment, peer group does not matter much. However for most of the people working in corporates in large teams, peers play a very vital role. But then they are not a part of your job. They can be enablers, distractors or supporters and this can be very much person specific.
# Work – Absolutely – but only when you are in a right job or as close to as one to a right job. As long as the work you do is exciting, as long as it offers exciting opportunities to learn and grow, as long as the work is not boring and monotonous, #work you do can be a biggest motivator and almost close to being a perfect job. If for some reason you are not in a right job or don’t enjoy the work that you do – then you already are in deep s**t.
In his bestselling book, Man’s search for Meaning, Viktor E Frankl said, “those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’. If I were to extend this to “Man’s search for Perfect Job” – what would the parallel analogy be? Those who have a “why” to work, can bear with almost any “how”.
Anyhow? May be!