“So maybe searching for a passion is not so bad. But it is also important to remember that there is no one way to find it, and someone else’s passion may be your idea of drudgery. And sometimes life – and work – is simply going to be putting one foot in front of the other. Or as Professor Warr said, “On the way to happiness, there must be unhappiness.”

from “If Not Passion for the Job, at Least Warm Feelings”

And another good article on the subject…

“When people say, “Find a job you’re passionate about” they really mean to include it under the broader 21st century mandate: “Go out there and become self-actualized.” This sounds a whole lot scarier and impossibly vague. That’s because it is. A lot of the career angst over “passion” is part of a larger learn-as-we-go process of how to be individuals in an increasingly individualistic culture, as Wilkinson puts it. We should celebrate greater individualism and the quest to personalize our career, despite the associated stresses — just as we celebrate women’s freedom despite how it complicates women’s lives. It would be nice, however, if the career advice industry would frame their obsession with passion in larger sociological context, and reinforce how new a concept it really is.”

from “Being Individuals in an Increasingly Individualistic Culture”

via How to Make Smart Use of Smarts in the Workplace – washingtonpost.com.

It’s a great idea, but if you’ve worked more than 10 minutes in corporate America you realize that smarts are seldom recognized and often hated.  Sure, the occasional gearhead with no social skills leaks through, but most of the time intelligence plus a $1.25 will buy you a Coke.

I’m smart (and modest).  I haven’t had to push my brains in years.  Years.  I’d like to think that somewhere engineers or biologists or someone who matters use their brains to do incredible things.  It’s a fantasy of mine – forgive me.

“Desperate for a job? How does CEO with a six-figure salary and flexible hours sound?”

Recession turns many laid off workers into entrepreneurs – Jun. 23, 2009

According to the MainStreet.com Job Opportunity Index, the jobs are not in the most populous states such as New York and California but are in the less densely populated middle of America. North Dakota, the 3rd least populous state in the U.S., took the top spot on the Index while New York came in at #35, Illinois ranked #36, and California landed at #44.

via Job Opportunity Index: North Dakota Ahead of the Rest | News | Money/Investing | Mainstreet.

I suppose this shouldn’t be much of a surprise.  The coasts had the most impressive gains during the boom years and consequently had the softest job market during the downturn.  To a certain degree this is comparing apples and oranges, though – there may be farming jobs in North Dakota and hedge fund jobs in Manhattan, but the opposite isn’t true.

But there ARE retail jobs in both locations, so a downturn in Manhattan employment may mean more of a loss of high-paying jobs.  Those high-paying jobs do have some trickle-down effect:  hedge fund managers employ nannies, cleaning services, limo drivers and also indirectly subsidize waiters, dry cleaners and private school teachers.  Therefore a dip in one job market can cause more widespread damage in another, even if the “primary” job losses are equivalent.

Just my two cents.

For that matter, even if you are unemployed you still receive a base amount of vakantiegeld from the government, the reasoning being that if you can’t go on vacation, you’ll get depressed and despondent and you’ll never get a job.

via Going Dutch – How I Learned to Love the European Welfare State. – NYTimes.com.

The article gives a good glimpse at working life in Europe as compared to the US.

Mr. Sanchez, 51, was a jewelry salesman at Tiffany & Co., on Fifth Avenue, for 23 years. After hearing what has become a familiar phrase — “You’re being laid off” — he put himself on a different sort of track to future employment: he is training to become a D.J.

via Some Laid-Off Workers Seek New Careers as D.J.’s – NYTimes.com.

I think this is a refreshing trend, but sometimes the news media treats it in a bit of a cutesy fashion.  I have former colleagues who’ve found work in odd “side” professions life bartending or event management.  I’m hoping to work as a clown at some point in the future, believe it or not.

So if you love doing something stupid, do it.  Now is the time to do it when people won’t judge you or think you’re “wasting” your talent.  If you always wanted to be a dog trainer, or a professional sand sculptor, or a bonsai designer – go for it.  I’ll be juggling and making balloon animals in the background.

Pro:

…for many people, having a full-time job, even a downgrade, can be better for self esteem than reading the want ads. Says Georgia-based career coach Walter Akana, “I’d rather see people work in a lesser job where they can continue to network and feel good about themselves. I think it’s important for people to be productive.”

Con:

“One of the downsides of taking a lesser job was that I was not in a position to contribute as much as I could have. It was a loss for me and a loss for the company,” says Peter Rosen, Atlanta, who, after business slowed at his HR consulting company in the wake of 9/11, took a lesser job within human resources at another. “Because of my level I wasn’t invited to certain meetings” – the type of meetings that he once ran.

I haven’t had to face going backwards in my career yet. I have had to go from being a senior manager in a multinational corporation, where I managed large teams and sat in on executive level meetings, to a consultant role.  In my consultant role I still interacted with executives, but I seldom managed teams and when I did they were much smaller than the teams I managed in the past.

While the consulting job wasn’t a step down, it gave me a taste of what it would be like to take a lower level position. I interviewed for a lower-level position recently, and I think that obtaining that type of job is a challenge, let alone working effectively once you get it.  Employers are not stupid – they know they are hiring someone with 15 years of experience for a role that requires 8.  They know the person they are hiring technically could be equal (or above) their level, were it not for the bad economy.  Everyone – the job applicant, the employer, co-workers, HR – knows that the “step-down employee” will have some adjusting to do, and not everyone can do it – the loss of perks and salary are bad enough, but the loss of a sense of professional progression can be devastating.

People need to work, of course. I’d like to say that everyone could take advantage of the recession to start a business or restart their career (as suggested in the book Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love), but bills need to be paid sometimes.  I’ve been lucky (and saved aggressively) and I’ve got enough money for a rainy day, but it’s been raining for months now and I’m getting soaked through.  Not everyone is as lucky, and deciding that a paycheck is more important than a sense of professional progression is a difficult but sometimes necessary choice.

Quotes via Should you take a step down the ladder to get a job? – Apr. 1, 2009.

I’m talking about the icy chill of loneliness I’ve begun to experience in a culture that seems to be bustling on by, leaving me as more spectator than participant. I’m talking about the sudden need to put on a coat and tie and just go someplace! Anyplace!

via The Isolation of Unemployment – Well Blog – NYTimes.com.

The comments for this blog post are well worth reading.  Having children makes “getting out” – as many comments suggest – even more difficult, particularly in cold climates like New Jersey.  Not impossible, of course, but difficult and tiresome.

“You had the seminal experience of your life,” he said. “Even family members and close friends just can’t relate.” Both the expatriates and people at home have changed and moved on. What they do not realize, Mr. Storti said, is that the host country becomes home and “home” is not the place it was.

via Itineraries – After the Stint Abroad, the Adjustments Begin – NYTimes.com.