Career Mind Set

Posted in Friendster March 2006

I was browsing my blog entries just to see how unprolific I've become when I came across the entry “I wanted to be a...”
I can't help but smile to know how idealistic and naive I was back then. For the Kid “Me”, happiness in a job can be manifested by three things:
* If you can help a lot of people and the country;
* If you look good and cool
* If you can do interesting things
Never did I dream of a job that provides the best compensation package. Never did I dream of a job that promises millions of earnings after a year. If ever I wanted to be someone who earns a lot of money (doctor, etc.), it is not because I know that they have cash-cow careers. When I was a kid, if you give me a job with all the three things listed above, I will be the happiest kid in the world.
But I am not a kid anymore. I hate to admit it, but as we grow up, a lot of things change. Some changes are for the better. Some are for the worse. And I believe that this career mind set change that I have taken is for the worse.
Right now, money is the name of the game. Yes, I still wanted to do interesting things, I still wanted to look good, and given the chance, I still wanted to help other people. But the fact remains and I will not deny it- the one thing that I look for first in a career is the dollar sign. The more hard-cash it can provide, the better.
I’m not sure where or when it happened. I’m not sure who’s responsible for it. I’m not even sure how I became like this. But one thing is for sure- I don’t like it.
I remember Robert Fulghum’s book “All I really need to know, I learned in Kindergarten”.
If only I still have that career mind set that made me dream when I was a child, I will extremely be happy today and I would not think of resigning from my job. Sadly, I don’t… and sad to say, we don’t stay in Kindergarten.