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Thursday, November 06, 2008

Job Satisfaction: Where Can I Find It?

With the economy still in its current slump, ask someone to define "job satisfaction" and I guarantee you that most of them will say: "Having a job. Period."

There is definitely some truth to that, I admit. But I am still a firm believer in doing what you love for a living and finding happiness and satisfaction in your job - no matter what the stock market says. After all, we spend most of our waking lives at work...don't we deserve to enjoy it just a little?

So if you're currently in a job that makes you happy (at least for a good portion of the time), then I congratulate you. Stick with it and thrive!

But if you're waking up every day wishing you could call in sick and then grudgingly trudging off to work, maybe it's time to start taking a peek into the job market.

Now, I'm in no way advocating that you should chuck your current job and set off into the world, searching for your next career. That would be madness during ANY economic time, but especially this one. Rather, I'm suggesting that while you continue to work at your current job, start thinking about what kind of work would satisfy you.

What kind of experience do you have? (And can you translate that experience into another field or industry? You'd be surprised to find out how universal some of your experience can be.)

What kind of skills do you have? What are you truly great at, and do you love doing it? (This is so important! You might be great at, say, accounting practices, but you might not really like crunching numbers all day. On the flipside, you might love being a salesperson, but fail to close a lot of deals. Both of these situations need to be taken into account so you can make the best decisions for yourself and your checkbook.)

What do you like about your current job? (Be thorough in your evaluation and get to the root of what you like. On the surface, it may seem that you like answering phones, but really, it's the contact with the clients that you like.)

What don't you like about your current job? (Again, dig deep to the root of the matter. You might think you hate dealing with expense reports, but really, it's the fact that you have to hunt them down from your co-workers that drives you crazy.)

If you could be anything you wanted, what would it be? (I know this seems like a "kid's" question, but I love it. It's been the starting point of many a successful career!)

Remember: don't just answer these questions from a "work" standpoint. Answer them from your personal life as well. How can you parlay your fascination or skill with a hobby into a great career (and subsequent satisfaction)?

I came across an article that can get you started on where to find job satisfaction:

Where Do America's Happiest People Work? by Kristina Cowan, PayScale.com

In this article, Ms. Cowan cites a study by the University of Chicago called "Job Satisfaction in the United States." She writes: "The study says the occupations where people report being happy overall, not just in terms of job satisfaction, involve helping others, technical and scientific expertise, or creativity."

That's some food for thought to keep in the back of your mind when you begin to evaluate new career opportunities!

Ms. Cowan goes on to list the top occupations (as found by the study), and they include:

"1. Clergy
2. Firefighters
3. Transportation, ticket, and reservation agents such as travel agents
4. Architects
5. Special education teachers
6. Actors and directors
7. Science technicians
8. Miscellaneous mechanical and repairing occupations
9. Industrial engineers
10. Airline pilots and navigators"

Go ahead and read the article here. It might be just the catalyst you need to find your own source of job satisfaction!

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