Something is different about work. I can see it in my immersion on career-work news. I can see and hear it with our clients from Career Counseling Connecticut. I can even feel it with my own work as I reflect on my career.
Regarding our careers, “we” want something better. If you have time this weekend, try to find an old movie or documentary that shows people working in the mid-20th century. I love to read but I find emotional shifting works better when visualizing. You’ll see a lot of men (a reflection of the times) working in factories or other blue-collar jobs or you’ll see mostly men with a sprinkling of women in office jobs. Those jobs are more similar, presumably, to those who come to Career Counseling Connecticut’s website. You’ll see a few things that were common: (1) Strict boss-worker authoritarian relationships (2) Highly repetitive and mundane work. So many things we take for granted such as calculating numbers for inventory/profit/lost/costs were once done by hand with a calculator. There was no e-mail or texting. Secretaries were the communication hub. Their job was to literally listen to the boss and type what he said (yes, he… sorry but another challenge of the old days) or retype the same type of letter that she must have written hundreds or thousands of times (3) Distinct hours, obviously in person but also with a distinct break between work and personal lives.
Compared to those days, many people have better bosses (hard to believe but true!) and more interesting work. The modern work world is not all bad. But the cross-over between work and personal lives has made many people miserable…. if they are in mismatched careers and/or do not like what they do.
There is a big difference in how this plays out for those who are bored/unhappy with their work during the day and those who like their work. Taking home the former – because your work is in your mind – is misery making.
I have some misery than at any time in the 15 years of running Career Counseling Connecticut.
Careers do not change by themselves. You need to take charge. We can help.