NUSRAT JAHAN
With parents pushing us towards university majors that are more socially acceptable and the societal pressure on us to pursue jobs we might end up hating, the terms “job satisfaction” almost seem like impossible myths or something spun out from a fairytale. There are many articles on the internet about job satisfaction, but these articles mostly focus on finding your passion, and basically tell you to quit your current job and live your life as an artsy hipster because “YOLO it’s not
so bad”! However, if life had been that simple, every single beggar
in this country would be living an “okay” standard of life.
Sometimes, shifting to a whole new career or leaving a job where we have settled in just to get sucked into the uncertain and fluctuating job market is too much of a hassle. Hence, we choose to stick to our agonizing jobs and make our personalities bitter in the process.
But that does not have to be the case. It is easy to turn the job you hate into something you can tolerate and would not mind to carry on with. How? Well, that requires you to keep on reading.
•Make a pros and cons list or a Venn diagram. What? You think it is childish? That is exactly where you are wrong. Why do you think high school was so much simpler? It is because you were better at weighing out the pros
and cons back then. Think of your current job and the other workplace or job you want to shift to as the two boys from high school who had you all confused. List down everything about your current job, starting from the rights to the wrongs.
• Now look at the list of cons. Is there anything in there that you or someone you know can change? It is important for you to note that at least one thing will be changeable with a strong push from your side.
•Skim through the list of things you think is changeable, pick any two, and start the process. To make it a bit easier, you can choose one that is easy to change and another that is tougher. A few weeks back I was asked to write about how short girls can be great girlfriends, and that irked me a little considering that I am well above the average height scale for a Bangladeshi female. However, I decided to add a little twist to it- I talked about how short girls are great but there are certain myths too, and how some of the reasons why they are “datable” were just bizarre. The co-worker loved it and I left the office happy. It is
time for you to make some changes too, so off you go!
•After you are done kickstarting project- change, start flipping through your list of rights. Is there anything in there that you can spend more time with and have a better role in?
•What about your goals and aspiration? Do you want to become a consultant? You do realize that you need to work first to actually have the experience to give out tips. What about opening up a restaurant or a shop? For that, you will need money, and that means working at the job you hate but pays you well, and start learning to love it.
•This is probably the most important one of all- how is your relationship with your boss? Only few of us are lucky enough to win the lottery when it comes to bosses, and with that being said, we know most bosses are complete jerks. However, what differences lies between you and your boss? Maybe you can make some new arrangement or figure out a compromise. Or you could just pass a few compliments! Hey, whatever works! But know this, a happy boss means a happy day at the office!
With these pointers I gave you, my list comes to an end. I want to conclude by reminding you that quitting is not always the best thing to do out there, but taking control of the situation is. So whatever hurdles your are going through- take control of it, and be the pilot.