How to choose a meaningful Job?

Rajesh Kumar

Ever so often I have I seen this lost look in faces young and old! The look that expresses a sense
of being so very out of place. I call this the “Sikka Gayab Look” (if you were to toss a coin into air
and it suddenly vanishes, the look on your face would be a Sikka Gayab Look!) Professionals of
all ages and experiences have always found themselves faced with this Vethal. I am not an
expert in Career Mapping; personally I have found most of these tools to be at best chic and
nothing more. The human mind is a brilliant mystery, not every decision on thought abides or is
bounded by easily explicable laws. While admitting to the above, my intention is to share with
the readers my thoughts on how to choose a meaningful job, or perhaps even, find greater
meaning in your current job.

In the hierarchy of needs, all of us find a place in some part of the pyramid. Let’s leave the top
and bottom of the lot alone; they would probably never read this. For the rest of us, let me find
answers, which have been relevant to me, and may be of some relevance to you.

To find meaning in life has been one of the oldest known quests for man. Much has been
written; much is yet to be written on this enigmatic topic. We spend 50% of our life working and
work takes up as much as 40% of our total time during these years. Our work life is the bedrock
on which every other institution in our adult life rests. The success of our relationships, our
hopes, aspirations and desires rests on our work life. The profession we choose to adopt in
particular colors our attitude towards life in general and ourselves. If you agree with me that the
profession we choose to follow in life has an overwhelming important on everything else that
we do on life, read on.

The Quest For Meaning

“One must know oneself. If this does not serve to discover truth, it at least serves as a rule of life, and
there is nothing better.” Blaise Pascal . For those who are expecting me to give you ten simple tests to
find a meaningful job, this is not the article, please do not read further. However, for those who would
like to know a little more about how to find meaning in a job, I have some suggestions.

The best place to understand anything starts from self-knowledge. There are various schools of thoughts
that exist in perfect harmony with regards to this question. Let me share some of them with you:

1. The shifting goal post concept.

2. The “Chasing a Mirage” concept.
3. The Tool Maker Concept.
4. The “Akashwani Concept”

The shifting goal post concept

There are many buried down under who would share this tale with you. The tale of a life lived in
search of a meaningful profession. Their careers have been like the lives of a mountain goat.
They have landed from one hard rock to the other, always on the edge, always on the move,
always very alone in the careers. Such people are like the serial entrepreneurs we know of. They
create fabulous assets in terms of organizations, they make good organizations great, but they
always move on to something different. If you were to ask them whether each movement was
for the better, they would say yes, and then they would say no. They turned to different
professions and different sectors each time they moved. Each move made them feel special,
each move made them feel that they are closure to discovering their true calling in life, each
time they felt cheated.

At twenty they tried the call centre, at thirty the investment banking, at forty they sat as CEO’s
and at fifty, as directors in boards of big companies. Looking back into a checkered lifetime, one
is never sure whether they found lasting meaning in anything they did. As I said, the goal posts
just keep shifting.

Are they happy? Sure they are, they believed in the GM Ad, Life Is A Journey, Enjoy the Ride!

The “Chasing a Mirage” concept

These are those professionals who could never live in the present. The present was
discomforting for them. They always looked into the past and saw failure and the future held
ample promise of change. In their quest for success in the future and their fear of the past they
have left behind, they forget to live in the present. These professionals have a standard 11
months history in every organization they serve. They neither grow into the organization, nor let
the organization grow into them.

These professionals have great love for themselves and have intrinsic belief in their talents. For
them, the entire professional career path is like a game of Snake and Ladders. They climb every
ladder they come across, and often, find themselves in the mouth of the snake too! They ride a
booming economy and believe that the salary that they draw denotes their personal value. The
demand supply equation is too baffling for them. Recessions like the ones we are living in are
moments of truth for them.

The professional who fall under this category do not ascribe emotional definitions to a
meaningful job. Their goal posts are defined in terms of power, position and CTC. They redefine
the variable every 11 months. They chase a mirage of their own creation!

The Tool Maker Concept

The believers of this school of thought form the anti-matter in a universe otherwise filled with
matter. The believers of this school of thought actually run this universe. They are the John Galts
and Hank Reardon’s of this universe. Let me share this concept in greater detail with you.

The Tool Maker refers to GOD in whatever name you know him. For the agnostics, the Tool
Maker GOD can be replaced with destiny.

When quantum physics was still in its nascent stage (it seems to be stuck there), and much glee
was abound regarding the duality of matter at sub-atomic levels, Einstein made a famous
statement, he said “ I want to know how God created this world, I am not interested in this or
that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know his thoughts. The rest
are details.” In short, Einstein did not believe that the Master Programmer loved to play dice
with the universe. He intrinsically believed that in the Universe that we have inherited,
everything exists and has happened for a purpose. We are at best, tools in the hands of a Master
Programmer.

Professionals who believe in this school of thought believe themselves to be tools in the hand of
the toolmaker. These professionals spend very limited time in their entire professional lifetime
attempting to find greater meanings in their profession; they spent little time in search of a
“meaningful career.” They are passionate in whatever profession they find themselves in and
are often more in love with millions of small little opportunities that each day brings for
improvement in their professional space. Like rivers meandering a lifetime before merging with
the sea, these professionals grow in their careers, acquiring career highs and taking on greater
responsibilities. They are the tools that make good organizations great! They are the
Troubleshooters, Loyalists, Knowledge-keepers, and the many other roles that keep the heart of
organizations beating. They are the bread and butter of any organizations. The rest are
Mayonnaise!

The “Akashwani Concept”

Obviously the first scene that comes to my mind to explain this concept is the Monster “Caught
In the wrong Job?” Ad. There are so many of us who waste away in deeply unhappy situations.
There are two ways in which people deal with this dissatisfaction. Some live with it and continue
to plod along all their lives. They do not fight this nudging Mr. Anderson like feeling of Déjà vu’
(Matrix 1).
There are others who carry it around their entire life. While it’s a pain to the professional, it’s a
greater pain to the people who have to do business with them. I personally believe that an
unhappy professional is a severe strain on the GDP of any nation; they ought to be politely
asked to clear that beautiful space for someone more passionate. You come across such people
all around you. An “over qualified” clerk, a subordinate who thinks he should have been the
boss and a customer service associate with a see through pure plastic smile. Such individuals live
a deeply unhappy professional life. While they do not know what they ought to have been, they
definitely know that their present condition is not their lot in life. They believe that they could
be something different.

Both these categories wait for divine intervention, they wait for an Akashwani. A sign that would
change their entire life with the sweep of a magic wand. Its as if they have bought a lottery
ticket to greatness in life, to a meaningful profession. Quite a few of them actual draw the
jackpot. They discover their true calling early in life. Bill Gates, Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendar
Singh Dhoni are living examples. So is Chetan Bhagat. However, not all who wait for the
Akashwani are destined to hear it. Some may hear by refuse to abide by it. Your true calling in
life is something that connects you to your destiny. If you believe that one day you will wake up
and discover your true calling, the wait may be a long one!

In Conclusion
Finding a meaningful career, or, finding meaning in your profession is a very personal matter. All
I can suggest is that you find you type and realize the risks and possibilities that come with it.
For me, as I said, life is a journey, I live each day to enjoy another long mile. This will continue
until I walk my Green Mile.

Rajesh Kumar
Rajeshkmr7@gmail.com
Rkumar@tminetwork.com

About the Writer

A Graduate in English by education, I started my career as a Management Trainee in a RPG

Group company in 1998. My career of 10 years was spent with two primary employers with
whom I have served 6 and 3.5 years. During this time I have handled manufacturing, personnel,
operations, Business Development and HR avenues.

I continue to be in the employ of TMI Group and head their Business Development Initiatives
and new projects in Talent Acquisition and Management.