Several summers ago I was just starting a new job at a new company. I was discussing how excited I was with my uncle and he asked me about the “work” I would be doing. I responded by telling him my job title and rattling of the list of responsibilities I would have. He asked me a very simple but powerful question: "How do you define “work"”? I started to re-purpose some of what I had just said and he stopped me and asked "Does “work” have to result in compensation – what about all of the other valuable things you do"?
I eventually stopped talking and started listening. My uncle had been in Corporate America for his entire career. In later years he also bought and ran a farm and much later still, he taught classes in organic farming to weary farmers from all over the state – they had come to join him for a pasture walk on his 100 acre farm just south of La Cross, WI in a small town called Coon Valley, WI - population 200. That day he talked to me about work in a new way - a way I'd not conceived of before. This stuck with me and has become part of how I define "what I do for a living", today.
The distinction that I'm attempting here is between the value often assigned to where we go to work or our title and responsibilities, compared to the actual contribution or difference we make to people and organizations. The first I would define as a "job" and the second I would define as "work". This distinction is important because it's often how we self-identify, self-actualize and certainly how we derive value. If we see "job" and "work" as synonymous terms then we might be missing a way to encompass more in how we define and value ourselves and what we bring to society.
I'm not intending to pass judgment in any way, merely establish a more thorough way of defining the broad range of activities we all engage in as part of how we thing about, talk about and value "work". If I go to work each day at ACME Company and doing my job gives me what I need, then there's no need to read any further. A good day’s wages for a good days work is a respectable perspective to have about one's "work". I would define this as more the notion of having a "job".
If like many of us, we define our worth by not only the wages we make, but also the value we transcribe in doing the "work" we do, then "job" is an insufficient concept and term. And what about the "work" we do outside the walls of our employer? We teach our children how to be adults, we teach our fellows how to be better spiritual beings, and we teach our aging parents how to use the Internet or an ATM machine. We volunteer time in schools, organizations and places of worship. We take care of our homes, we help our neighbors’ plant trees or build additions, and we give of our time, our minds and our might in an effort to be valued citizens. Is this all not part of the concept of "work"?
If we identify ourselves by the "work" we do rather than the "job" we have it seems possible to more aptly derive the kind of robust value that is reciprocal to the effort we contribute. This speaks to the idea that "everything counts" (paid positions, internships, temporary positions, volunteer roles, mentoring roles, etc.) rather than defining the "work" we do by the constrained walls and hours of a place of business or set of responsibilities.
From an employer’s perspective it’s important to me to know all of the experiences, talents and skills a prospective employee will contribute to my organization. Some of those might have been the result of non-job related activities that are no less valuable to the talent acquisition equation.
From a job seeker’s perspective it’s fair to include everything on your resume, your online profile or while discussing a potential position with an employer. That’s why outplacement experts coach job seekers to take a thorough inventory of ALL experiences, talents and skills they possess before they start writing a resume, networking or marketing themselves to potential employers.
What do you think? How do you define "work" and do you count every activity you engage in as part of that equation, whether you are compensated monetarily or not?
For those of you still looking for “work”, this might be a good exercise to embark on – you may discover things about yourself that you wouldn’t have considered relevant and valuable to an employer before.
People want to help you, but you have to tell them how! Like the Yellow Brick Road, job search is scary, uncertain and long, but there are people along the way who can help!
You can do this!
p.s. Two past blog posts you might also find useful when exploring this subject: "Non-Profit Jobs" http://bit.ly/9sxhXS and "Will you do what it takes to get the job you want?" http://bit.ly/aRxBxa
I find this distinction between job and work really interesting. What it reminds me of involves my senior capstone class from my undergrad where we discussed the meaning of vocation. All of the things that you listed under work, the paid/unpaid work, volunteering, doing things that you might love, those could all fit under the category of "vocation" as well. Vocation refers to a calling, things that people do that make them fulfilled, a part of a larger community, and so on.
ReplyDeletePeople sometimes have jobs in order to pay the bills; I've done it and didn't really find myself in a position where I loved my work, or felt it was part of my vocation, my calling. However, I think that the most satisfying jobs are ones where our vocation/work are fulfilled.
This doesn't mean that I disagree with you; in fact, quite the opposite. I think an interesting direction could be is how do people find fulfilling employment that is both job and work, job and vocation? Or, should people just find a job to pay the bills and then find their work/vocation elsewhere?
Also, I read an interesting article lately that I think really applies to what your overall blog is about: NPR, Nov. 17, Job Seekers find bias against the unemployed, available at: http://www.npr.org/2010/11/16/131367533/some-will-only-hire-if-you-already-have-a-job?sc=fb&cc=fp
Another resource that can hep you with your project in Leslie's class deals with the distinction between full/temp employees, and how temp employees re-negotiate their identities. Even if you don't agree with the conclusions, I think that the opening parts of the essay, at least, would be helpful to your project. It is:
ReplyDeleteJordan, J. W. (2003). Sabotage or performed compliance: Rhetorics of resistance in temp worker discourse. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 89(1), 19-40.