The perfect job
11/07/16 05:32
I’ve been thinking lately about a few young adults I know who are struggling to find their career paths. In their thirties, they can’t seem to find jobs that work for them, and have been wandering from job to job and from financial crisis to financial crisis for some time, some of them for more than a decade. Their employment history has proven to be a challenge for other aspects of their lives including relationships with spouses, parents, children and other family members. As I write, I know that I am not doing a good job of describing their situations in part because each situation is unique. One is back living temporarily with parents while job searching. Another is working at a convenience store to make ends meet while trying to discover some other direction for his career. Another is getting by financially but feels stuck in a job that he doesn’t like. It really isn’t fair to consider them to all be in the same category. What they have in common is their age and the sense that they haven’t yet found the right job.
Our society is filled with the advice to young people to follow their passion. Usually this takes the form of “find what you love to do and then do it.” It is good advice in theory. If you love the work you are doing it doesn’t seem like drudgery to go to work. The problem with that advice is that it doesn’t take into account the simple fact that not every passion provides enough income to cover rent and groceries. One of the biggest factors in the economy of our country today is the rapidly increasing divide between the rich and the poor and the shrinking of the middle class. So called “entry level” jobs are decreasing in pay. Minimum wage doesn’t cover the basics of survival. The number of jobs that lead to riches are few and growing even more scarce. Young workers entering the market often have to accept a dramatic decrease in their lifestyle compared to their parent’s standard of living.
The malaise over jobs is not restricted to those in their thirties, however. I have had many conversations over the last couple of years with mid-career adults who are dissatisfied with their jobs, but who feel stuck and don’t seem to have options beyond staying with a job that makes them unhappy. I recently read an article that claimed that the majority of Americans were living so close to financial distress that they didn’t have reserves to cover an unanticipated expense of $400. A car or home repair can easily exceed that amount.
I have very little personal experience from which to garner advice for these people. I’ve been blessed to have discovered, very early in my life, a vocation that is meaningful and that has provided for my family. While my career is not one that leads to riches, it has provided a home and the things that are most important to us such as education for our children and occasional travel. We have been able to donate to the causes that are meaningful to us and save modestly for the future. I can’t really imagine starting out in an entirely new profession or switching career paths.
What I don’t know is how much I happened into a job that I love and how much I learned to love the job that I have. When I was a student, I envisioned myself in specialized ministries. I interned in counseling and pursued quite a bit of training in that field. At one time I was a candidate for full credentialing as a marriage and family counselor. A mentor advised that a few years of experience in parish ministry might strengthen my resume. A few years turned into a few decades and I never left the parish. A while ago I considered becoming a Conference minister and pursuing judicatory work, but my timing wasn’t right and the crumbling of mid-level judicatories in contemporary mainline churches means that there are very few such positions left in our denomination. Looking from the perspective of my current situation, I’m grateful that I didn’t make that switch.
I remember times when I was less satisfied with my job than is now the case. I have been frustrated with the challenges of working with volunteers. There have been times when a bully has made my position uncomfortable for a while. Congregations don’t always make the choices I think are best. I spend more time raising funds and administering an institution than I would like. The days are long and time off is often short. Still, over the years, I have learned to balance the joys and frustrations and I have discovered ways to get small amounts of personal time for renewal. I don’t know if my “perfect” job is the product of the job being right for me and me being right for the job or the product of both me and the job changing so that we are a better fit.
I guess what I’m thinking is that not every job is a perfect match on the first day. Part of finding joy in work is sticking with something long enough to learn to love it. Love is often portrayed in our society as an instant flash of emotion. In reality it often is the product of a deep commitment to sticking together through hard times. If you can’t have the job you love, perhaps you need to learn to love the job you have.
My heart goes out to those “thirty-somethings” who can’t seem to get on their feet. It is a challenging and difficult world and it can be difficult to find a meaningful career. Perfection is elusive and often simply can’t be attained by those of us who are imperfect.
When I was in college I had several jobs to pay the bills that ended up being things I didn’t pursue for the rest of my life. I worked in a bakery. I assembled machinery. I drove truck. I even spent a summer tipping garbage cans into the back of a compactor truck. None of those were jobs I loved, but I learned to get better at each one. Each was easier on the last day than on the first.
Thus comes my one piece of advice to those who feel stuck in a job they don’t like: While you are looking for a change, invest enough energy in your current job to get better at it. While you search for the perfect match, make the current match better.
Our society is filled with the advice to young people to follow their passion. Usually this takes the form of “find what you love to do and then do it.” It is good advice in theory. If you love the work you are doing it doesn’t seem like drudgery to go to work. The problem with that advice is that it doesn’t take into account the simple fact that not every passion provides enough income to cover rent and groceries. One of the biggest factors in the economy of our country today is the rapidly increasing divide between the rich and the poor and the shrinking of the middle class. So called “entry level” jobs are decreasing in pay. Minimum wage doesn’t cover the basics of survival. The number of jobs that lead to riches are few and growing even more scarce. Young workers entering the market often have to accept a dramatic decrease in their lifestyle compared to their parent’s standard of living.
The malaise over jobs is not restricted to those in their thirties, however. I have had many conversations over the last couple of years with mid-career adults who are dissatisfied with their jobs, but who feel stuck and don’t seem to have options beyond staying with a job that makes them unhappy. I recently read an article that claimed that the majority of Americans were living so close to financial distress that they didn’t have reserves to cover an unanticipated expense of $400. A car or home repair can easily exceed that amount.
I have very little personal experience from which to garner advice for these people. I’ve been blessed to have discovered, very early in my life, a vocation that is meaningful and that has provided for my family. While my career is not one that leads to riches, it has provided a home and the things that are most important to us such as education for our children and occasional travel. We have been able to donate to the causes that are meaningful to us and save modestly for the future. I can’t really imagine starting out in an entirely new profession or switching career paths.
What I don’t know is how much I happened into a job that I love and how much I learned to love the job that I have. When I was a student, I envisioned myself in specialized ministries. I interned in counseling and pursued quite a bit of training in that field. At one time I was a candidate for full credentialing as a marriage and family counselor. A mentor advised that a few years of experience in parish ministry might strengthen my resume. A few years turned into a few decades and I never left the parish. A while ago I considered becoming a Conference minister and pursuing judicatory work, but my timing wasn’t right and the crumbling of mid-level judicatories in contemporary mainline churches means that there are very few such positions left in our denomination. Looking from the perspective of my current situation, I’m grateful that I didn’t make that switch.
I remember times when I was less satisfied with my job than is now the case. I have been frustrated with the challenges of working with volunteers. There have been times when a bully has made my position uncomfortable for a while. Congregations don’t always make the choices I think are best. I spend more time raising funds and administering an institution than I would like. The days are long and time off is often short. Still, over the years, I have learned to balance the joys and frustrations and I have discovered ways to get small amounts of personal time for renewal. I don’t know if my “perfect” job is the product of the job being right for me and me being right for the job or the product of both me and the job changing so that we are a better fit.
I guess what I’m thinking is that not every job is a perfect match on the first day. Part of finding joy in work is sticking with something long enough to learn to love it. Love is often portrayed in our society as an instant flash of emotion. In reality it often is the product of a deep commitment to sticking together through hard times. If you can’t have the job you love, perhaps you need to learn to love the job you have.
My heart goes out to those “thirty-somethings” who can’t seem to get on their feet. It is a challenging and difficult world and it can be difficult to find a meaningful career. Perfection is elusive and often simply can’t be attained by those of us who are imperfect.
When I was in college I had several jobs to pay the bills that ended up being things I didn’t pursue for the rest of my life. I worked in a bakery. I assembled machinery. I drove truck. I even spent a summer tipping garbage cans into the back of a compactor truck. None of those were jobs I loved, but I learned to get better at each one. Each was easier on the last day than on the first.
Thus comes my one piece of advice to those who feel stuck in a job they don’t like: While you are looking for a change, invest enough energy in your current job to get better at it. While you search for the perfect match, make the current match better.