{"id":1180,"date":"2004-12-15T03:33:39","date_gmt":"2004-12-15T08:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/example.org\/the_ideal_job"},"modified":"2004-12-15T03:33:39","modified_gmt":"2004-12-15T08:33:39","slug":"the_ideal_job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/?p=1180","title":{"rendered":"The ideal job"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom,  at TrueTalk Blog, expanded on my Electronic Arts post to show the
\nother side of the job dilemma. Where my post on EA<\/a> showed the "joys" of
\nworking for an electronic sweat shop, his post, Hourmania<\/a>, discussed
\nthe far more common trap of losing ones life and family to the
\nseductive lure of an apparently ideal job.<\/p>\n

\nHe describes a work situation which most creative people would sell their soul for:<\/p>\n

\n

\n    I work with some of the most talented designers in the world.
\nThey’re boundlessly creative, hugely energetic, and work harder than
\nanyone I’ve ever seen. Unlike the EA story, No one is driving them to
\ndo so. They drive themselves. Their standards continually escalate, and
\nthe work gets better still.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I worked in that kind of environment more than once. These
\nwere the most intensely rewarding positions I have ever held. These
\nwere also the times when I did the greatest damage to my personal
\nrelationships outside of work.<\/p>\n

\nTom puts his finger on the problem:<\/p>\n

\n

\n    We have to get past this "work\/life balance" rhetoric and think
\nmore deeply about our expectations of ourselves. We have to be able to
\ncome up with an answer to when "enough" is "enough."<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There is no pat answer for this one, but I see a number of young people
\nmaking more intelligent choices than I did. For example, I see
\ntwo-career families where one family member puts a career on hold in
\norder to raise a pre-school age child. This is their alternative to
\npaying for full-time child care. They are taking a long-term view of
\nwhat is important and I think that is the key.<\/p>\n

I think that taking the "main chance" is appropriate when that dream
\njob comes along, but both the worker and the family need to set a time
\nlimit and a purpose for the immersion in the dream job. <\/p>\n

If you think of the opportunity
\nas a career\/financial booster with a finite window of opportunity, it might
\nwork out best for all concerned.<\/p>\n

\nThe dedication can be intense, but like going to college or back for
\nan advanced degree, the primary focus should be on what comes
\nafterwards. <\/p>\n

Employment today is temporary. Like it or not, you are an employee at will.  You can be
\nlet go for cause or no cause. There is only one long-term solution. <\/p>\n

Every job you take should be part of a
\nplan to equip you for full self-employment at some later point in life.<\/em><\/p>\n

When one is post-retirement age as I am, there are few positions
\navailable even for the most highly skilled professionals. The internet
\nshakeup of 2001 spilled hundreds of thousands of experienced workers
\ninto the ranks of unemployed. Many of the over-fifty group are still
\nlooking for work. The only solution for most others was to work for
\nthemselves.<\/p>\n

\nPensions are a thing of the past and Social Security may be a mirage,
\nbut a skilled person with business acumen and a nest egg can always
\ngenerate income. The ideal jobs are those that prepare you for
\nlong-term job security as your own boss.<\/p>\n

\nWhat do you think? I welcome your thoughts on this.<\/p>\n

UPDATE: I have written another post, the ideal job – part 2<\/a>, to provide some help in recognizing an ideal job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tom,  at TrueTalk Blog, expanded on my Electronic Arts post to show the
\nother side of the job dilemma. Where my post on EA<\/a> showed the "joys" of
\nworking for an electronic sweat shop, his post, Hourmania<\/a>, discussed
\nthe far more common trap of losing ones life and family to the
\nseductive lure of an apparently ideal job.<\/p>\n

\nHe describes a work situation which most creative people would sell their soul for:<\/p>\n

\n

\n    I work with some of the most talented designers in the world.
\nThey’re boundlessly creative, hugely energetic, and work harder than
\nanyone I’ve ever seen. Unlike the EA story, No one is driving them to
\ndo so. They drive themselves. Their standards continually escalate, and
\nthe work gets better still.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I worked in that kind of environment more than once. These
\nwere the most intensely rewarding positions I have ever held. These
\nwere also the times when I did the greatest damage to my personal
\nrelationships outside of work.<\/p>\n

Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1804],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3R4iK-j2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1180"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1180\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/makingripples.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}