These days I’m plugging away at a job change, so I end up reading a lot of stuff about finding the right career, working to your passions, and the like. One of the more entertaining (if often light and fluffy) places I visit has been Curt Rosengren’s Occupational Adventure blog.
Recently, Rosengren posted a Career passion question meme. I figured I’d give it a whirl. It’s interesting even if you’re perfectly happy in your current career.
Then I figured, hey, why not post a thread at the Dope and let other people give it their own whirls? Besides, it’s more fun to see what everybody else answers. So here you go. Bold indicates the original questions; my answers follow non-boldly.
What kind of work would you do if you got paid in the juice you get from your job, rather than money? (i.e., what jobs would light your fire in a big way?)
I think I’d like to work in public radio, eventually becoming an Ira Glass style figure who develops a show and invites a bunch of other people to contribute. I’d like to create something shaped by my vision but that incorporates a lot of other people’s sensibilities.
If you had to choose a career that had nothing to do with any of the work you’ve done thus far in your career, what would would it be?
I think I’d run an entertainment venue. A restaurant could be interesting, although the only things I know about owning one is that a) it’s a lot of work – no, seriously, a lot of work, and b) it will lose a lot of money – no, seriously, a lot of money. My dream project, though, would be to create the strip club equivalent of Toys in Babeland. (I’d link, but I don’t know that it would be work safe – it’s a pleasant sex toy shop in Seattle and NYC). A place that focused on the tease more than the strip, and that would attract couples and people looking for a good time. (Maybe I’m just influenced by recent burlesque shows, though.)
If that all seemed too difficult, I might become a reference librarian, which is also difficult but has an established career path.
What did you want to be when you were a kid?
A writer, mostly. A magician. Sometimes a superhero. And grown up.
**List five things you love doing, work or play. **
Reading. Going to movies. Talking to people about things they’re interested in. Learning new things. Bouncing ideas off people and giving them feedback.
Pick one of those things. Why is that so much fun?
Talking to people is one way of learning new things, actually, so that one combines two passions. I tend to know what I think about stuff – who would know better? – but I’m always deathly curious about what other people believe, how their lives work, what they do in their jobs. I like to see the wizard behind the curtain, not because I want to expose the works and point out hypocrisy but because it’s interesting to me to find out how human interactions work.
What do you like most about your current job?
I’m tempted to cop out and say nothing, the paycheck, or surfing the web in my downtime, but really, it’s the people I work with. And when the job was challenging, I enjoyed becoming an copywriting jack of all trades, learning how to do letters, pamphlets, brochures, and whatever else needed doing because the department wasn’t that big. (It’s still not that big, but there’s less to do.)
What do you like the least about your current job?
The boredom, and the lack of challenge. Commuting distance comes in a close second.