Challenge or comfort?

[missroserose]

I applied for another job last Friday.

I don’t honestly think they’ll hire me, or even that I’ll get a callback, but it was at the only other place in town I’ve ever actually thought that I’d really like to work at. However, there’s a good chance they probably won’t even consider me for this particular position - mostly due to lack of experience in the specific field.

I still like my job here at J&W, but it’s not really been much of a challenge lately. I often feel like I’m butting my head against the ceiling of what I can really do here. But at the same time, it’s really comfortable - steady income, good people, no real surprises.

The new one, however, would be a challenge in itself to learn - plus opening up a fair number of side benefits. So we’ll see. If they call me for an interview, then I can start freaking out about changes. Until then, I’m not going to worry about it.

Comments

[tygenco-x.livejournal.com]

Where'd you apply to? out of all curiosity.
The whole second job thing in Juneau isn't all that uncommon, considering the cost of living and all that. Hell, it's not that uncommon down here either but that's beside the point.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Actually, that's what makes it a bit terrifying - it'd be an entirely different first job. If it were a second job it wouldn't be so high stakes.

If anything comes of it I'll probably go into more detail then. At the moment, I'm more in the "don't want to jinx it" category...not to mention there's the Power of Google thing that I could probably stand to avoid right now.

[tygenco-x.livejournal.com]

Hm. Well, seeing as I'm in a similar state--the whole "don't jinx it, don't jinx it"--I can only recommend to you what I'm doing. Which is reading a bit, responding to writing prompts, and currently enjoying one of the songs from the "This One Moment" cd--done by some guys in Juneau and Anchorage, wonderful instrumental pieces. Very relaxing actually. The composer listed for it is Ford James I think; you might like the music.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm actually pretty lucky in that if this doesn't work out, I've still got a perfectly good job. But I appreciate the advice nonetheless - I might have to check out that CD.

here's an odd question...

[bkleber.livejournal.com]

On NPR yesterday I heard a piece by a woman about to turn 50. She said that she, along with nearly all of her contemporaries, were working rewarding, interesting jobs. She had one friend who asked for a letter of recommendation. This particular friend had held high-power executive positions in TV & Radio stations for the last 20 years, and was applying for a job as a secretary. This was a little surprising, but she explained that she felt she no longer had anything to prove, had no desire to have stress or responsibility, and just wanted to enjoy herself. She got the job, and is now the happiest of her contemporaries because she really loves her job and it doesn't follow her around and stress her out.

The woman writing the piece went on to talk about how a lot of people she knew had decided to persue jobs that they thought other people thought they ought to have, but that as they got older they decided they had finally figured out what woukld make them happy - and those who chose to follow that path were indeed much happier.

Now it sounded to me like those women of whom she was speaking took challenging jobs because people thought they should, but in the end didn't enjoy them all that much. They must not be like the kinds of people that I know - the kinds who thrive on challenge and get bored and frustrated in what you're calling a "comfortable" job. I think I've got exactly two friends who took the jobs that they did because they wanted low-stress positions. One is a lawyer and biologist who is working as a legal secretary because she enjoys riding herd on her lawyers more than she enjoys court room work, and the other is a librarian because she has no tremendous ambitions, and just wants to do something she likes.

So I assume that you're one of those people that finds the comfortable job frustrating and, eventually, uninteresting - rather than bending to the societal pressure to outdo everyone around you. I guess the question in my mind is, what do you want to end up doing, ultimately? What, right now, do you think would make you the happiest?

Re: here's an odd question...

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

That's hilarious about the legal secretary - to me especially because it is great fun to be able to badger people about paperwork sometimes. (Whereas other times it's just frustrating that you have to badger them, but hey.)

I would hardly say I'm an overachiever, so no, I'm not necessarily looking for a different job just for a challenge - I've only applied for the one, and that's only because it's at one of the few places in town I can see enjoying working at more than here.

Frankly, what I want to do most is singing and acting; that's been the case for some time now. However, I've only moved towards that goal in fits and starts, in large part due to my incredibly strong dislike of being broke. On the off chance I do get hired at this other place, though, there's a good chance I'd be able to make significant steps towards that goal - which is a major reason why I even bothered applying. You know, the whole "you miss 100% of the opportunities you don't try for" thing...