Tuesday, May 10, 2011

I just don't want to work in an office.

Announcing a new topic series called..."I just don't want to work in an office". In case you haven't figured it out yet, this is designed for seniors in college and new graduates who are trying to navigate the process of finding and keeping the right job.

I remember being a senior in college and suddenly realizing that I needed to get a job. Not only did I not know what kind of job I wanted but I also had no clue how to get hired. Almost everyone I knew was in the same predicament...with one striking similarity: none of us wanted to work in an office. The idea of four walls and a desk, watching the clock slowly tick by...maybe it was an office's similarity to a classroom that made this so unappealing to those of us stricken with senioritis.

But here's the thing....we're grown ups now. This isn't recess, there are no swingsets...and the reality is that most work requires some sort of shelter from the elements. I think what we all really meant was "I don't want to be stuck working in a BORING office job." Now this resonates with me. I have certainly endured painful hours of trying to create meaningful work out of mindless tasks, watching the clock slowing change from 4:59 to 5:00. No one likes that. But that's not to say that working in an office has to be boring. It's a matter of which office and what you're doing. I've spent the last 2 years working in hopping, busy, productive, creative office environments and have loved (almost) every minute of it. You just need to find the right office AND the right job!

This series will be about filling in some of those gaps that your wonderful (or not so wonderful, as the case may be) education may have left behind. Some of these topics overlap with the general focus of this blog, but my hope is that this series will particularly equip newcomers to the job market with the tools they need to get a job that moves them towards a career.

I'll continue this series each Wednesday so stay tuned for next week's topic "Practice-jobs or get thee an internship".

1 comment:

  1. The day I realized that my life resembled more Office Space than not, I took a sick day! It's so difficult when your expectations of the big life you were sure of in college doesn't align with the reality of paying bills. Thanks for the inspiration that you can still create within the confines of those prison...oh sorry..I mean cubicle walls...

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