The Ideal Job - Essay Example

My Ideal Job   It is not uncommon today to equate an ideal job with financial success or material comforts. What this means is that high-paying work for many may be considered to be the ultimate dream work without consideration for other variables such as whether they like the role imposed by the job or whether they have the aptitude, skill and temperament for it. Take the case of Amy Morrison in Ruth Sidel’s piece. She wanted to be a doctor “primarily for the money”. In choosing the ideal job, it is my opinion that people should look at their interests or whether they would enjoy a particular work or field because everything else will come thereafter.

If one likes what he does, he will excel in it and, hence, would be successful in the process. A great deal of motivation comes from enjoying what one does and that many people are not getting ahead because they do not like what they are doing. This is the very thing that Jay Walljasper described when he said that “ we are not leading our lives but merely following a dizzying timetable of duties, commitments, demands and options.”  The idea is that by doing what one does best, a working person’s life could be more successful and meaningful not just in the area of wealth acquisition but also there is the achievement and satisfaction of other aspects such as in the personal and professional areas.

For me, an ideal job is an occupation that I could perform and look forward to doing each day. I would not like some work that pays me to do something that I would not enjoy or would not be related to my interests. Imagine if you are stuck in someplace you do not like, which Michael Ventura said would take about 26 years to accumulate one year for yourself.  That is why I am looking at jobs in the creative field that is also mobile and non-traditional. I know that this will inevitably lead me to the media or the arts.

Alternatively, I might consider working in the high technology sector for the sheer dynamism of this particular industry at present. These work options are ideal for me because they require knowledge, skills and temperaments that I have or I would want to have. I am careful to expect something out of my personal conception of occupations. There is the possibility of long years of training for a selected work, say, if I aimed to be a magazine writer or that career path taken by Marissa Mayer of Google renown (who is now the CEO of Yahoo), with the career-ending up well below my expectation.

That is why it is encouraging to find people in this field talk about the advantages, benefits and the beauty of working in the creative field. For instance, Beker stated that the creative class brings about new ideas, achieving results in high technology and the creative field, covering jobs being performed not just by writers, designers, musicians, composers and the like but also mathematicians, engineers, physicians, social scientists, teachers and managers. This demonstrates a wide range of prospects and opportunities especially now that we are within the so-called information age.

There is an assurance that by following what I want or by choosing a career path based on my skills and interests, I will be succeeding. I have mentioned my inclination for high technology occupation. Based on what has been said so far – both in the news and the academic literature on the subject – the industry could be a bit unstable. Richard Florida, for instance, warned that the field is characterized by instability and frequent turnover, citing the fact that the median job tenure for workers ages 25 to 34 is 2.

7 years and that by age 32, the average worker has had nine full-time or part-time jobs. I believe that this condition is more of a challenge rather than a problem or a negative characteristic. The instability may be attributed to the mobility of employees who hop from one job to another. The challenge does not stem from a lack of available work but from the dynamism of the sector. In addition, as Florida has admitted, creative workers are able to compile an abundant portfolio of opportunities and experiences for their career growth.

In conclusion, there is a strong argument in favor of subordinating the financial aspects of choosing an ideal job. Based on what I have learned, motivation plays a crucial role in achieving success in all aspects of my future career. If I focus on a well-paying job and sacrificing all other factors in the process, I will risk being unhappy. It would take tremendous and tedious effort on my part in order to be motivated just so I could perform well at work. As I finally choose that job in the creative or high technology field, I am assured that what I will be doing is the right thing for me.

In this way, I would be living a life that does not support what Sidel called someone else’s life script, preferring to go on my own journey living out my aspirations, hopes and dreams. References Beker, Ivan. Proceedings of the XV International Scientific Conference on Industrial Systems (IS'11). NOVI SAD, 2011. Florida, Richard. Cities and the Creative Class. London: Routledge, 2004.