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Job hunting

What gives you that feeling of accomplishment?

by techcommdood on June 21, 2010

Success
Image by aloshbennett via Flickr

I’ve been thinking lately about how to best shape my job search. I’ve been working as an independent consultant since my December 2008 layoff, and while I’m enjoying the work and the money it brings in, I’ve had a nagging feeling that something has been missing. While I can certainly apply for every full time job that fits my skills and experience (and for a while I had been), I’ve lately decided to hold back and solidly target the opportunities that truly fit how I approach success.

Looking back over my career and its high points, I’ve found a few consistent factors contributing to that fulfilling feeling of accomplishment:

  • Team - Given a choice, I’d much rather be working as part of a team than be off on my own. No one person is ever greater than the whole, and innovation thrives in a social setting.
  • Vicarious Wins – Watching someone whom I’ve mentored or guided succeed, not directly because of my help, but because my help gave them what they needed to grow and succeed on their own.
  • Impact - I love when my work has a solid, positive effect on the team/department/project I’m involved with, and/or when my work positively impacts other teams/departments/projects.

Given this, the knee-jerk reaction is to look for management and leadership roles. The only problem is that many of these available positions call for experience that I simply don’t have (in various engineering, industry and programming disciplines). No one is looking for a technical communications or similar leader, and no one is looking for a generalist. Tight job markets make for picky fishing among those hiring. But that doesn’t mean I won’t give up, and that doesn’t mean I’m limiting my search to these types of roles.

In my search I don’t merely look at the open position but I look at the company as well. I try to learn as best I can about the corporate culture and how teams interact (or don’t interact), and I try to see in what direction – based on corporate mission and vision – the leadership of the companies want things to be moving. Hopefully I can not only find a fit in this manner, but also land it. As you know, the market is still quite nasty, no matter what the talking heads on TV are saying.

So what gives you that feeling of accomplishment? Are you getting it in your current job? Are you searching for it in your job hunt? Does it matter to you, or are you content with just putting in time for a pay check? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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