What Does Your Career Mean To You?

Contributed by Jay Schroyer

Every time I see a hot dog vendor, I always wonder, does that guy really like his job? I mean, he sells hot dogs! How exciting or fulfilling can that be? But then you think about it: he makes hungry people happy, gets plenty of sunshine (and rain), lunch is never a problem, and at the end of the day, he’s his own boss. But all jokes aside, I imagine that the hot dog vendor is a happy man or he wouldn’t be doing what he does.

We can’t all be hot dog vendors, but we can search within our own careers for that deep-rooted personal meaning. I always think that the meaning is affected by three questions: what do I do, how do I do it, and what’s in it for me? You have to believe that your job is more than just a paycheck.

What Do I Do?
I’ve always thought that people who work for the Salvation Army or Greenpeace automatically have a stupendous amount of personal meaning in their jobs. Even if you’re just the janitor there, you’re working for a corporation that makes people’s lives better so by proxy, your job has meaning. As much as I’d like to believe that it’s that easy, I know it isn’t. I’m sure there are plenty of people there that dislike their jobs.

Your job title or the company you work for will not always dictate personal meaning. For more shallow people, I’m sure being able to say they work for computer giant IBM as a CEO is plenty of personal fulfillment, but some of us require a little more. Perhaps you really like the tasks you perform at your job, making sure that every little detail is perfect, and that brings you personal satisfaction. What you do can bring special meaning to your employment.

How Do I Do It?
Of all the things that can affect your personal career fulfillment, I think how you perform your job indicates the highest level of satisfaction. Perhaps it’s because how you do your job is a very visual representation of your attitude towards your career. Sullen workers dragging themselves around the office and answering the phones with a barely perceptible mumble do not exactly ring of personal career excitement. These are the same nasty, bitter people that don’t hold the elevator for others who work on their floor or take up two parking spaces in the parking garage. How you perform your job and interact with coworkers and clients can be an important key to your job’s personal meaning. Perhaps you will find the personal fulfillment of your career in the fact that you can be the most helpful, most cooperative, and most friendly worker in the company. You relish extra tasks, always thank those who have helped you, and go out of your way to help others in completing their work. Your joy, or disdain, for your job can automatically decide if your job has meaning to you.

What’s in It for Me?
The last question is an age-old answer to every favor that’s ever been asked of someone: what’s in it for me? And this is a question that only you can answer. Why do you come to work each day? Your answer can be culled from our three questions: I like what I do; I like working hard; and I like the paycheck are three possible responses. You have to ask yourself: do I really like performing the duties of my job, or do I just like doing things for others, or do I have to work because I need the money? In a modern world that prides itself on the ownership of things, our salaries seem to always overshadow any other personal meaning that we can pull from a job. Look beyond the paycheck and take a good look at why you do the things you do the way you do.

My guess is that the hot dog vendor falls into all three categories as will many of you if you enjoy your job: he likes what he does because he gets fresh air and is his own boss; he likes how he performs his job because he goes out of his way to accommodate his customers; and finally, what’s in it for him is a steady paycheck and a sense of ownership and accomplishment at the end of the day. Feel free to use these three questions if you feel like your job isn’t what it could be. Perhaps there is a personal meaning for you in there somewhere that you’ve never fully realized.

About the Author:
Jay Schroyer has worked in the client and customer service end of business for over five years in retail, advertising, and printing. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English writing and communication.

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