I admit im still young and I have the experience on my resume perhaps to go where I want specifically in my field. My temp agency contacted me today with a full-time offer at a company (where I temped in the past), the pay is great with benefits and even the hours.
And my contact knows me well, she said this position is career oriented and brought to my attention of the job's lack of flexibility (or its redundancy in other words). My (career) future practically flashed before my eyes, I was speechless for a moment and said I would take up the job offer.
The irony behind this is that when I was temping, I envisioned myself being offered a full-time position at the company and would happily take it and be financially well off. I agree money can buy happiness to a certain extent, and that is how I still feel...but in the long run would it really?
I know people who quit jobs with great salaries merely to go back to school to come back out doing what they love. I had a woman in the office complain about regretting going her route..quite frankly I can see her bitterness at her job.
I would choose doing what I love, with limits. Income is necessary, and a good income is beneficial.
I would prefer to do something that I love to do WHILE making a good salary.
Redundancy and flexibility have different meanings to me. Redundant means boring, always the same. Flexibility means the ability to come in late and work late, or take a long lunch, as long as my 40 hours are contributed. I could be happy with redundant in some ways, but no flexibility wouldn't work with being a single mother of three children at home. They have needs that don't revolve around a 9-5 schedule.
Is this position something you think you could be happy doing, or simply a means of good income? You didn't mention if there is another career that you dream of.
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I would choose doing what I love, with limits. Income is necessary, and a good income is beneficial.
I would prefer to do something that I love to do WHILE making a good salary.
What if it's doing what you love while making an ok/good salary VS doing something you're OK with making good-great salary?
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Redundancy and flexibility have different meanings to me. Redundant means boring, always the same. Flexibility means the ability to come in late and work late, or take a long lunch, as long as my 40 hours are contributed. I could be happy with redundant in some ways, but no flexibility wouldn't work with being a single mother of three children at home. They have needs that don't revolve around a 9-5 schedule.
Flexibility im sure there is some, such as leaving early if I finish my day's work ahead of time or staying overtime if there are tight deadlines. But what I meant was work i receive will likely be redundant (lacking in variety).
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Is this position something you think you could be happy doing, or simply a means of good income? You didn't mention if there is another career that you dream of.
Frankly I've had a similar position while I was temping, some days I hated it some days I was happy with it. I think in the short run including the salary I would be happy just like any other person who wants to be financially independent...but as like any other job with anyone else, there comes a time when we all slip into the comfort zone.
There is another career I dream of, i figure if worse comes to worse I could do this for a few years and if i hate it then, I could jump the bandwagon and go the path I dream..I figure I could either be struggling to make ends meet 4 years from now or do it at the present 2007. Even so, its too early to know whats going to happen a few years from now...if they do hire me, i think they expect me to be with them for a very long time.
What if it's doing what you love while making an ok/good salary VS doing something you're OK with making good-great salary?
In my heart I believe you will only become truly successful at something you truly enjoy doing. You have to be motivated to get out of bed everyday.
Short term, doing what you love might not pay as much as something you feel 'blah' about. But in the long term, you'll reach your salary goals and have numerous intangible benefits doing what you really want to do.
I guess my limits involve how much income to need to live comfortably. I will not be a starving artist looking to sell my work of art to simply survive another month. That is too "iffy" for me.
I think that is truly doing what you love, for some, but it goes beyond my personal acceptable limits.
In all honesty, I have spent more time doing what I loathe for decent money (I wouldn't even call it "good") because I have had other mouths to feed (children) and I have sacrificed my desires in order to meet their needs.
Had I only been accountable to myself I am unsure of what paths I would have taken. I may have been willing to struggle/suffer more, but it's hard to say, even in hindsight.
I would not suggest putting oneself in the position I have. I didn't exactly choose the position, but I always understood that I might be in it.
I am sure I would have been happier in other occupations, but I did not have the education or experience to make many choices. I took the highest paying job...always. I often ended up miserable in doing so.
I'm not sure I have helped you at all. I hope that others will respond with their take on things.
The career path I took fell into line with my schooling, so I went with it and worked hard to get places, networking like mad. It paid off and was enjoyable for awhile until I realized how little it meant. The dissolution of my relationship hammered much of my cynicism home and made me rethink the priorities in my life.
Since that time, I've started my own consulting business from home and much prefer it. I only take on projects I'm interested in and work with companies that I'm comfortable with. So far, so good.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that in order for me to start my business, I needed the previous experience and contacts to get there. The same might hold true for you, if this job gets you to places you want to go.
I was thinking about this question, 'cause I was just reading this really good article in More Magazine, which I really like, about women who had become very successful in their careers, or had raised families but then drastically changed direction to follow some passion that they'd always wanted to do - it was really inspiring, and good to remind me that it's never too late to do something you love.
No job choice locks you in forever, and you can always rethink later on, when you discover (or rediscover) a particular passion. You can always find ways to do things you love, and even completely 180 your life - one of the women in this More article decided to become a DJ after she saw one at a wedding, andwent out and did it. Don't lose hope
Sometimes you have to make sacrafices and stay at a job you hate knowing you won't be there for a long time. My job right now is boring as hell but while I get my masters it's paying my bills and it's good money. Once I'm finished school I will be in a completely different field. I chose not to live at home with mommy and daddy so I can't just work a part time job or have a job I would love bc that field pays crap money. If you have another career path goal or are in school and this is going to be just an in between type job then I say take it. Other wise being at a job you dislike can make your whole life miserable and I wouldn't recommend it.
I would have to say doing something you love will automatically make you successful. But if this is not the type of work you like, save some money and go back to school for something you do like. Eventually, you'll wake up to a job you love. Hang in there and good luck!
And my contact knows me well, she said this position is career oriented and brought to my attention of the job's lack of flexibility (or its redundancy in other words). My (career) future practically flashed before my eyes, I was speechless for a moment and said I would take up the job offer.
But what I meant [by redundancy] was work i receive will likely be redundant (lacking in variety)
Work that is lacking variety is repetitive, not redundant. Redundant means something is duplicated (having two laptops makes one redundant; storing data in two places, makes one storage area redundant; having two people doing something that could be done one by person makes the second person redundant (and likely to be layed-off).
Anyway, if your agency contact said this was a career-oriented position, that is more confusing than the redundancy vs. repetitive issue. To me, career-oriented means a person who is focused 100% on his career and in moving up the ladder (as opposed to someone who takes a job to pay the bills but has passions elsewhere that are more important).
I don't know what you or your agency rep means. Do you mean the expectation is the person in this role is expected to stay in this role and never move into another role (this role is the END of their career path)? Or do you mean career oriented in the sense that the person in this role is expected to be career oriented and will have an opportunity to move to another position to futher their career?
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I know people who quit jobs with great salaries merely to go back to school to come back out doing what they love.
The people who do that have the LUXURY of doing so because they made money with their great salaries and have the financial cushion to quit and do something else.
My advice would be to take the job and make some money. If you find yourself bored after a while (and afer you have proven yourself to your company), you could conceivably move into another role at the same company - a role that might be more rewarding. Or you could then look for another job. By taking this job, it's not like you are signing some kind of contract for indentured servitude - you can leave at any time.
If you're just temping now, what difference does it make? You aren't building a career or making lots of money doing temp jobs.
I would say, take the job, get some experience and after a year or two decide if you want to be doing it for longer. Money will not make you happy alone but it will add to the happiness you already have from non-monetary source. I would not slave for money but many do because they want bigger and better toys. They buy a $30K SUV they pay high monthly payments then they buy $300K house they pay off in next zillion years, again paying high monthly payments while they could buy less expensive car and house and just learn to save money and manage their spending better ie. not maxing out their credit cards, etc. But people are idiots so let them destruct themselves.
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