(no subject)

[chipotle]

I'm used to being slightly unfocused except when I have a project, but I have several projects now and I'm more unfocused than usual. What's up with this?

I've written in the past--the very recent past, no less--that I'm not sure what I want to be when I grow up. That's a little facetious, but of course, it isn't entirely so.

Recently, postvixen talked about the "corrupt and short-sighted corporate culture"; while I'm certainly not consciously going through job ads the last few weeks thinking nah, this would just put me deeper into the corrupt and short-sighted corporate culture, my enthusiasm level is markedly low in a way that I don't think I can attribute solely to a deficiency of vitamins and St. John's Wort. In the interest of full disclosure, this week has had a really high proportion of "close but not quite" jobs, where I have most of what they're looking for but am missing something that's definitely a must-have.

I'm certainly not going to turn down any jobs in my ostensible field, nor stop looking, but there's no denying that my interest level is steadily dropping--yet at the same time, my lack of success in getting a new position is clearly affecting my interest level in personal projects.

I'm beginning to wonder if maybe the theoretical $8/hour barista job might not be a better "career" move than I'm giving it credit for.

Comments

[rancourt.livejournal.com]

Speaking as someone who traded a six-figure lifestyle for barely-two-digit hourly wages and much less stress...

...I'd recommend it in a heartbeat.

[dbcooper.livejournal.com]

Seconded.

While I have interviews coming up, only one purports to be in a job fully applicable to my degree, and that might actually be another lie.

I have a doctor buddy in St. Petersburg who owns a tanning salon, and has talked about needing a receptionist. If I don't have a job after Necronomicon (http://www.stonehill.org/necro.htm), and the position is still there, I might take him up on it.

[mordrul.livejournal.com]

About 6 years ago my sister was a sales rep. for Pfizer labs, the #1 in the country for three years running. She too made a 6-figure income, sufficient to buy a $250k home in the middle of the city, and a whole crapload of stock options. She walked away from it, though, because she was just too stressed out. She now has her own business as a health and safety consultant, and also has a side job where she works about 5 hours a week at a local sporting goods store (she only has the job so she can get an employee discount on goods). She's making a fraction of what she used to, and repeatedly mentions she never looks back for a second.

While it does seem money isn't everything, I have to note she first saved up a nice wad of cash. The mortgage on the house and the utilities are more than paid for by the 4 people who rent apartments in it (it's a big house, over 100 years old). What she earns as a consultant pays for all of the rest of her living expenses, and the company itself pays for the car. But still, she'll always mention quality of life first if you ask her about her employment history. I guess the moral of the story is, it's good to get out of the rat race, but it helps if you've run it a while first to get yourself ahead.