Whilst I’ve met some fantastic people working in
office jobs, the only thing I am sure of, is that I don’t want to work. At least not like this. I
have been saying this for a long time so please let me elaborate and explain.
When I was the IB president in my high school, my graduation
speech was about being headed into the future while only knowing
what we don’t want. Well, I still haven’t found
what I am looking for. However I have found more and more of what I do not
want.
I am aware that my generation is totally entitled, spoiled
with the constant feel that the world owes us something. That’s what being born
into world peace and stability gives you. I don’t have an issue with working
hard. Hell, when I was at Uni, I used to work full time, write my dissertation,
study for finals, fundraise for charity, train for a half marathon and somehow
maintain a pretty intense relationship. Sometimes I had a morning shift, went
to lectures and came back to work. I complained, but I loved complaining about
it.
So yes, I am ready to work, I am ready to have
responsibility, and I am ready to improve, solve stressful situations and make
things easier for people around me. What I wasn’t ready for is that I should be
grateful for being employed. Being part of the selfish entitled and spoiled
generation – the millennials they call us, I thought I was bringing value to
the company and to the people around me. Shouldn’t they be grateful that they
can employ me? I speak three languages, I learn fast, I don’t ask unnecessary questions,
I enjoy a good pun, I am a delight to work with, I am quick with numbers and if
you are my boss you can be sure that your life will be easier because of me –
if you let me. I wished happy birthday to my former boss a few days ago wishing
for all of his dreams to come true, he replied that if I come back and start
working there again, it would be a dream come true. Put that on my resume and
sign it!
I recently had a job interview. I must say that I have come
a long way since the first one (and it’s literally been three years and three
months) when they asked me how flexible I was, I wanted to work Saturday and Sunday
with no pay, now I was asking how flexible my hours could be. The recruiter
told me that the feedback was that they wouldn’t progress to the next stage
because of my request of flexible hours; she advised me that that’s not how you
get a job. That’s right, I know. But I don’t want to get A job, I want THE job.
I want to know that my boss will want to employ a human being not a robot. An
individual that can distinguish when a situation calls for a ten hours nonstop
and when it’s ok to go for a yoga in the morning without having to skip final
savasana and rush to work. And if you are going to advertise your flexible working
environment on your careers website at least stand behind your statement. And
this is what makes me angry, the constant feel that I should be grateful for a
job. And with the amount of people that need two explanations
for everything, I am guessing it’s not that easy to find good quality people
either. My boyfriend was recently looking for an assistant and he told his boss
that he just wants somebody with common sense, the response of his boss was
encouraging: “Good luck with that mate!”
Ok I get it, I sound like a spoiled child and maybe if once
in my life I would experience scarcity I would think differently, but I can’t
because I was too lucky. My friend, one of the smartest girls I know, who works
for Google told me: I think it’s great that we don’t settle just for anything,
it’s great that we know what we have to offer. And even she had reservations
about her job, her well paid, worldly and an interesting job that thousands
would be jealous of. That proves that it’s never a hundred percent and if you
are smart enough you will always strive for more. I also have a friend who has
a successful business that started out of nothing in a beautiful European capital.
He told me it’s great that it took off and that he is his own boss, but he
really regrets not travelling like I did. My best friend makes an insane amount
of money in the first job she got a few weeks after finishing her masters. “I
am not sure if it’s my kind of thing”, she tells me and keeps applying for
unpaid/almost unpaid internships elsewhere. Another friend recently told me: I
just want to quit everything and travel, she is a Lithuanian working in Malta, and
I guess that’s not travel enough nowadays. Literally everyone my age that I know
is not satisfied with their job, it’s uninteresting work, it’s not busy enough,
it’s too busy, it’s not flexible, not challenging, not paid well enough, too
far from home. Whilst my mom is happy to do the same job for the last ten years for half the
money I made in my first job and rarely complain. Then again, she knows what it’s
like to live under a different regime. Is it me and our generation or is it the
system that’s wrong? Are we finally realising that we don’t have be grateful
for having a job. That’s not to say that we don’t want to do our job well and
that we don’t want to be exceptional at it, it simply means it’s an even trade.
And you know what it’s not true that I am only sure of what I
don’t want. I know what I want now. I want a smart boss that I can learn from, I
don’t need to be micromanaged, I want to have the flexibility which doesn’t
have to mean, I will take advantage of it, it simply means the option is there,
I want my job to be challenging, interesting and ever changing if possible. I
want to work in a nice environment and if I get this, I swear I would even stop
complaining about having to fight the traffic for an hour and a half a day. And most importantly I don’t want to feel guilty when looking for it. And
one day, if I am lucky and determined enough, be my own boss. I know I already
have the right partner for it.
I think this is long enough for now, but maybe one day I can
do a comparison of what it’s like to work in the UK, in Czech Republic and in
Australia and what’s the difference in between the biggest oil company in the
world and a family run business.
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