Career Articles

Job Satisfaction: More than Just an Ideal

By Bill Caswell

Who among us doesn’t want a satisfying job?  But most of us feel we have to compromise along the way for one reason or another.  The most common obstacle arises from being under financial and emotional pressure to accept the first half-decent job that comes along.  Other barriers include: the realization that finding a new career is not an easy task; being too busy earning to spend time looking, etc.   But the rewards of a satisfying job are immense – too large to ignore.  You owe it to yourself to be very selective in your job search.  Job satisfaction is more than just an ideal; it is an achievable necessity.

You don’t have to Compromise

When career counsellors work with people in assessing their desired career directions, the counsellors should always aim for the highest possible position consistent with the person’s abilities.  Who would want anything less?  As will be shown below, you don’t have to compromise.

The Advantages on the Job

When you get a satisfying job, a lot of good things start to happen:

• Firstly, you work well and tend to do the job better
• The career is more interesting and challenging
• It makes use of your abilities
• The atmosphere is more stimulating
• You gain recognition and job stature increases
• You might more likely be the one asked to travel
• New job opportunities are more apt to arise
• You stand to be offered more responsibility
• Leadership growth can be a natural outcome
• Your salary is more likely to be better
• Your self-confidence increases

 

Setting up for an Ideal Job

The above “Advantages” give obvious reasons for pursuing the ideal job, but, many people, being buffeted around during their earlier career searches (before enlisting the aid of a career coaching firm), are very ready to compromise.  No need.  Here’s why. 

Finding an Ideal Career

While most people know want they want to do, there are some who have no idea.  If you don’t know what you want to do, the process, although offering a little more challenge, is still the same – the selection and targeting of an ideal job.  While no situation will be the same as yours, we can illustrate a few CCI examples.  Mark M. a mathematician, after a career in academia in the U.S. knew he wanted a change – but not to what.  Today he is employed by a leading high tech company in Waterloo as a junior patent agent in a job that “is extremely invigorating; I never felt so alive in a job in my life!”  Mike D, a PhD. in particle physics knew he would be hard-pressed to find work in his city of choice since it was without a particle accelerator. Presently he thrives in Ottawa in a new-age environmental firm as Chief Research Scientist. Dave D., a former senior bureaucrat with a degree in agriculture, now employed as the Chief Operating Officer of a municipality in Manitoba, says: “I want to thank your team for your sensible, sensitive and practical guidance”.  A reasonable goal is not beyond anyone’s reach.

Conclusion

Finding an ideal job is not an easy task; but it is possible, and, we feel, probable – as long as you start off in the right direction by having a professional in your corner.  An ideal job lifts your personal self-esteem and allows you to become a better, more enjoyable, person, which often is reflected throughout your life, including your home.
 
Good luck and good hunting.

Bill Caswell is principal consultant at Career Coaching International. You can connect with Bill at www.ccinternational.ca.