As I was swapping out the guts of a computer yesterday on the job, a very unsettling thought crossed my mind; I don’t like to chase down computer hardware problems.
This train of thought led me to really start thinking that I am perhaps in the wrong career. I then eventually had to ask my self if that even mattered.
There are many great sites out there to get one thinking about careers and being happy at work. I ran across this sort of fun quiz on Monster today “Discover Your Perfect Career.” I think that is a really silly name, but the quiz did get me thinking and actually all of the careers it mentioned at the end are things I have dreamed of doing.
The quiz said that I am an ENFP (Extravert, Intuitive, Feeler, Perceiver). I actually think this is pretty accurate. And some of the careers it recommends are Career Counselor, Journalist, Graphic Designer, Copywriter, Corporate Team Trainer and Psychologist. As I said, these are all things I have thought of in the past.
But do we have to be happy at work? Does work have to be meaningful and fulfill me? Or is this a bunch of touchy feely crap that we have bought into? I am not sure that our parents, that would be the baby boomers, gave this a bunch of thought. I have a very hard time imagining my dad sitting around wondering if being an insurance agent completes him. I don’t think he worries too much about whether or not he is happy at work. I also have a hard time picturing my father-in-law, a very logical practical Dutchman, wondering if he is happy enough at work.
What do you think? Do we need to be happy at work, are just somewhat content?
