When you know you’ve landed the right job?
A closed friend of mine just told me that she’s ready for a third child. One of the reasons she mentioned is that the timing is right now. She just got a long due promotion and won’t get another for quite some time. So she’s thinking what she wants in life, what will fulfil her, and a baby sounds about right. With a new kid, it brings a sense of new beginning and hope, as life will change, and ideally for better and more fulfilling. I was supportive with her decision. Yet it made me reflect whether it came from a place of not feel fulfilling with her job or life.
It made me wonder when did I realise I landed to the perfect job (for me!). I didn’t have any serious job before the current one but I had the opportunity to try many.
– I worked in a immigration law office when I was 16, as translator and assistant and ruined my childhood dream of becoming a diplomat.
– I worked in Reuters part time when I was in college for 6 months and was disappointed with corporate culture.
– I was summer intern at a sister organisation of mine and felt miserable.
– I was summer intern at US Congressional Budget Office and felt isolated and lonely.
None of them felt like a career I wanted to pursue. One way I knew they were not right was when I asked myself, do I want my boss’s job? They all came back with a straight no.
I am fortunately to land in my current job right after I finish grad school, not knowing much about what it is about, the people I’d work with, not even the mandates of my organisation. And then we moved to Manila and I finally feel i’m in the right place. Not that I didn’t like it when I was in Head Quarter in the US, it just didn’t feel as fulfilling and rewarding as being in the country where what I do matters. I was also fortunate that I had an amazing manager, someone that really brought the best of me, allowed me to build confidence, and inspired me to be and do better. I am also lucky to land in the Philippines where people are genuinely kind and nice, which I had no clue prior to making the decision to move. I am lucky to have met my colleagues and built strong and trusting relationships.
Bottom line: finding passion in a job is a combination of years of hard work and quite a lot of luck.
It was a busy day or work and the girls entertained them quite well! Also something fun to built.
Gratitude: a conversation between Sofia and Lizzy made me smile. We were doing our evening reading (Sofia and me, and Lizzy just hangs around). Suddenly, Lizzy announced to us that she’s planning for our trip to Paris. She said: first, we wait until coronavirus is gone, then we go to Paris. Sofia immediately said: you don’t focus on the future, you focus the present! 😀
Our New Journey 