As you probably know I moved jobs earlier this year. The job I started was not the one I expected to be doing. As opposed to having a senior level, hands on position of dealing with major projects I have ended up in a quasi-team leader role, coordinating a variety of people on a large volume of minor projects.
This was not the job I signed up for but for some reason I seem to have ended up doing it.
Had I been told this is what I would be doing when I took the job I probably wouldn’t have taken it in the first place. However, I did and this is the situation I am now in and I am not too sure what to do about it.
On one hand I have a job I can do with my eyes closed, have a comfortable salary, pleasant commuting arrangements, a few interesting projects, flexible working and nice people to work with. Thing is I don’t find what I do particularly engaging. I know that at one time I found what I did at work engaging and have been struggling for a while to grasp at that again. Basically my current job supports, facilitates and indeed even forms part of a lifestyle I enjoy. However, career wise I don’t think it is taking me anywhere.
I can solve this quite easily by causing a fuss about my present position where I am at the moment or just ditching them for another employer (there are benefits of being in a massively undersubscribed professional field). However I don’t know if I should.
At the moment I am quite content. I turn up to work, complete some tasks, some interesting, some mundane, often have lunch at a café or restaurant, do some more work in the afternoon and then disappear off home at an entirely reasonable time with a mild buzz at having spent the day flirting with a selection of girls and feeling like the whole event was some kind of quasi-social, quasi-functional, quasi-academic exercise.
And that’s fine. But it’s not what I wanted when I applied for the job. I don’t know if it’s what I want now (well, except for the flirting thing which is cool).
I think my present job is a bit of an unintended dead end. But it’s a really comfortable dead end. Kind of like a cul-de-sac of air conditioned executive houses in the American mid-west. I don’t know if I should sit back and pull out my recliner of inane contentment or get out the Mustang and leave as fast as I possibly can in a smoke of rebellion against my comfortable existence.
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4 comments:
Mate as you know i moved on because i was in the same situation - happily cruising along, no real struggle at work, nice easy journey into and out of work and really easy hours. But I needed the challenge and having moved i feel a hundred times better for it and am really glad i did it. If i was you mate id say go for the challenge. Either kick up a fuss about the fact you arent doing the job you got told you would be, or move on
yeah thing is tho i am quite happy with things as they are and don't want to mess with a recipe that seems to be working for the time being.
Yeah i can completely understand that mate, and im not suggesting doing something that makes you unhappy. but at the same point how long do you wanna carry on just drifting, having an easy life and not living up to your potential. How do you know you wouldnt be happier if you did?!
hello, what a very interesting problem you have! I think you should weight up how much you enjoy your relatively stress-free lifestyle against any harm you think it would cause to your career. however, I imagine it is good to have some team leaderish work on your CV to show that you can "care". i wish i had a nice cafe to have lunch at or the time to take a long lunch - i'd enjoy it if I were you.
that concludes my thoughts on this issue :)
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