In Defense of Boring Jobs

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It's time to defend boring jobs.

Sure I want people to do the jobs that excite them.  I want people to have the kinds of careers that truly let them be themselves.  I want people to – let's face it – turn hobbies into lifelong occupations.

However there are times to do that boring job.  To work at that boring company.  In short, there are times to do things that aren't as exciting as your dream career – because they'll let you reach that career.

  • Perhaps that boring job lets you get valuable skills that you can use elsewhere.  In fact, maybe that job is one of the few jobs that lets you get those skills at all.
  • Those less-than-exciting jobs may let you have experiences that you'll rarely have anywhere else.  Perhaps you go to other countries, or work with technology that's not common.
  • That seemingly uninteresting job could let you make connections that you wouldn't anywhere else.
  • The mind-numbingly dull job you're facing can help you travel or relocate or get to know another area you may want to live.
  • The job you're suffering through may let you step up in your position to a level that would let you transfer your skills and knowledge to a more interesting job or company.

So, yes, we may face jobs that are boring.  But let's not knock them – sometimes that boring job is just what you need to get your more interesting career going.

– Steven Savage

News Of The Day 11/12/2010

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Email for Facebook? eManga for a bunch of Japanese publishers – targeted at North America? Disney’s new game strategy? Wow, we’ve got a lot of market-focusing news today!

 

Career:
Andy Robinson hits it out of the park with how to work LinkedIn so it works for you.

Ways volunteering can work for your career. A lot of this applies to geeky and fannish activities . . .

Location:
Interstate migration? Down less than you’d think, and apparently the census models aren’t that good.

Anime and Manga:
Must Read: 37 Japanese publishers set up a joint online manga portal for North America (and I assume by default, Australia and Britain). This has potential to be huge considering the names involved, the power of a joint effort (and cross-marketing), and of course the ability to not need the middlemen anymore. Power shift back to Japan, cultural shift to more online, and more reasons for a cultural shift to online delivery.

Social Media:
Paul Buchheit, who created Gmail leaves Facebook for startup incubator Y Combinator. That makes the incubator even more attention-worthy, but also makes me think that his work at Facebook is done as . . .

Facebook is supposedly going to launch a Gmail killer, Project Titan. The Techmeme roundup is here aind includes rumors of Microsoft Office integration, speculations on what this means for Google, and more. Me, I want to wait to see what happens, since Facebook is so in the spotlight these days, and has made some stumbles, I’m not sure how this’ll work out.

Tumbler gets a bunch of investment, we get no details.

Technology:
Cisco profits below expectations, as are others, due to cuts in government spending. Something to be aware of if any company you work for or business you have depends on government contracts. I’m still bullish on Cisco as an employer, however – they’re smart and solid. Also some think government spending is poised for growth – which I actually believe, but not necessarily for good reasons.

You’re probably familiar with the Vocaloid phenomena. I did NOT know that one of them had a concert. We’re in science-fiction-film territory here.

Video:
An analysis of the Boxee strategy. Rough summary, get its software used by as many as possible and use that for revenue – not the Box itself. Some things to think about as we try and get a handle on what’s up between Boxee, Roku, Apple, Google, and a host of others . . .

More delicious Netflix statistics to give you a better handle on this Crush Object. Shows how some statistics aren’t always clear, but Netflix’s dominance is obvious (and if I dare say, well-deserved).

YouTube mobile usage seems to be up. That’s not surprising, but it’s just something to pay attention to.

Video Games:
Among all this other Transformer news, the Transformers MMO will get ported to other countries. Congrats Hasbro, you have a new money printing machine.

Sigh. Former crush object Emergent is putting the Gamebryo engine up for sale and looks to go bankrupt.

More depressing news: InstantAction goes under. They even had the rights to Tribes . . .

A bit more insight into Disney’s game strategy which is pretty telling and helps point out some trends: consoles are risky, multiplatform seems very effective, and consumer choice is broad.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Is Disney on to something with their game strategy?

– Steven Savage

Frustration Friday: Emo is a No-No

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Frustration Friday: Behold the Power of Emo

I meet people who are suffering in the job search.  They're worried.  They're tired.  They're angsty.  In short, there are many people who get outright Emo over their job search and career issues.

(For those of you unfamiliar with the term Emo, which knowing the gloriously geeky demographics of this blog is unlikely, it can be roughly summarizes as a kind of angst-ridden, self-pitying attitude).

Here's what I want to ask the Emo Careerists:  what the hell is being angsty doing for your career issues?

Is it helping you on the job search?

Is it helping you network?

Is it helping you in interviews?

The answer of course is almost certainly no, unless you interviews are with people who are very pathological and probably not worth working for.  Emo does nothing more than waste energy and annoy people.  A lot.

Here's what Emo is – it's a cry for pity (often not even alloyed with a cry for help).  That's it.  It's a cry for attention, a cry to be thought of as a sad victim, and of course a cry for validation of one's own sorrow.

Such outcries are just plain annoying because they're manipulative, they're posturing, and they're performances.  It's not a try cry for help – and honest cry- it's a passive-aggressive call not so much for help, but for validation of one's own problems and for attention.

Emo isn't about solutions.

So next time you're depressed over your job prospects, if you suspect you're getting Emo, then it's time for some serious self-evaluation.  If you find you are indeed pulling out the Angst Attack on people, then you're sabotaging your life – and you have enough problems as it is.

– Steven Savage