J.T. AND DALE: Bored with your job? It was created that way
But you can make it more interesting
- Kristi
DALE: Odds are a new job won't help. Here's the hard truth, and I'm calling it Dauten's Law: "Jobs are designed to be boring."There are exceptions, of course, such as an emergency room ... although let's face it, after awhile, most emergencies are routine. The reason jobs are boring is that they are created with the expectation that someone could reliably do them; that is, the company intentionally removes the suspense. A job without suspense is like a movie without a villain.
J.T.: My company did an informal survey and concluded that the average college grad today is bored with a new job within three weeks. While most students are ready to throw away their textbooks, many are shocked to find that life on the job can make them long for school. The first step is to take a deep breath. It takes time to adjust to a new job or company, so give it a chance. Next, when it comes to the boring tasks you are responsible for, ask yourself, "Why does the company actually need to have this work done?" Look at this from a larger perspective.
There's a book called "The Fred Factor," by Mark Sanborn, that does a nice job of explaining how to love what you do, no matter what it is. It comes down to perspective, and this book gives some great advice in that area. Besides, Dale is quoted in it, so you know it must be good.
DALE: Thank you, and thanks to Mark. But back to Kristi: There's an art to making a job more interesting. If you tell people you're capable of doing more, they're likely to dump additional boring tasks on you. However, if you spot pieces of the job that are exciting, you usually can get more of them.
Shortly after college, I got one of my new company's executives interested in an area of market research that I was fascinated by. Within a year, I was called manager of special projects, a job doing mostly the sort of research I found enlivening. The job got me around Dauten's Law because it wasn't a job designed by the company, but by me, for me.
Dear J.T. & Dale: I've been hearing a lot about the need for workers to develop their personal brand in order to get ahead professionally. I just graduated from college and have never really worked in a professional environment, so how can I possibly "brand" myself?
- Seth
J.T.: You are right. This is a hot topic, and something workers of all ages and experience levels need to consider. These days, you need to know how to differentiate yourself in the workplace - young people especially.
DALE: I recently interviewed the head of human resources for Proctor & Gamble, the company that is the greatest creator of brands, and I asked him about his "personal brand." Guess what? It was clear he had never given it a thought. So, does that mean a "brand" doesn't matter? No. Because really, a brand is just what you're known for. And even if you're just starting out, you can help shape the impression you make.
J.T.: You can use the values, strengths and interests developed in your school experience as your foundation. There's a great resource that can come in handy: it's www.personalbrandingblog.com, a site dedicated to the subject of creating a personal brand, run by Dan Schawbel, who developed the personal branding methodology after recognizing its importance when looking for his first job. He ended up with the company he worked for creating a job just for him.
DALE: You start by asking yourself what you'd like to be known for: perhaps creativity, perhaps mastery of technical data, and then you find ways to reinforce and communicate that specialty. If you're skillful, you help your employer create a job that lets you do more of what you love doing.
Jeanine "J.T." Tanner O'Donnell is a professional development specialist and founder of the consulting firm jtodonnell.com. Dale Dauten's latest book is "(Great) Employees Only: How Gifted Bosses Hire and De-Hire Their Way to Success" (John Wiley & Sons). Visit them at jtanddale.com, where you can send questions via e-mail, or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10019.
