It is a sad fact that, especially in high-tech careers,
some workers have been so damaged by their work experiences they have
lost all hope of ever having a fulfilling career. They feel beaten down,
used up and cast aside by their employers and sometimes by their co-workers.
After nearly 10 years of writing this column, and 20-year career in
high-tech companies, I have met or talked with many such people. The
most damaged have resigned themselves to lives of “quiet desperation”,
bemoaning the tedious or destructive elements of their work. They no
longer try to change their career. They simply exist and remain day
in and day out in a job they hate.
I feel deeply for these people. They are one of the main reasons that
I started writing Career Opportunities. I believe that no one need be
trapped in an unfulfilling career that leaves them feeling deadened
and hopeless. Even after meeting so many damaged people, and suffering
career problems myself, I still believe there is a better way. Everyone
has the ability to rise above worthless, unfulfilling jobs and build
a career that means something.
The Outside
So where does the trouble begin. What are the factors that can lead
you down a dead end road? Many damaged workers will tell you their horror
stories of managers that lie, cheat or steal – co-workers that
bully and control those around them – companies that exploit workers
for their own end.
Yes, it is true that there are people in the world that will take advantage
of you, if you let them. There are people to whom ethics are only a
vague concept. The flaw arises, though, when we start to believe that
everyone everywhere is the same. Once you start believing that everyone
is out to damage you in some way, you are in danger of losing hope in
humanity as a whole. You stop trying to change your own life, assuming
that there is nothing you can do and no place you can go to find a better
life. You become more and more disgruntled as time goes on and every
day you only see your suspicions confirmed – there are no good
people left in the work world. Talk about a hopeless position. Instead
of focusing on the outside world, though, you need to focus on yourself
and what problems you might be creating or carrying along with you.
The Inside
If your career has been an endless succession of difficult or dead-end
jobs, you need to turn away from the easy excuses of external factors
and look deeply into your own thoughts and ideas about work and career.
The truth is you will never get along with all of your co-workers. We
are all individuals and we do not always mesh well with those around
us. That said, if you find yourself in heavy conflict with every co-worker
you have ever had, perhaps you are carrying your troubles with you.
You can see this concept in action with those people who constantly
move from job to job, but find the same complaints, the same problems
no matter where they go. Why does this occur? Perhaps they have chosen
the wrong industry. Perhaps they don’t have the right temperament
for customer service. Maybe they don’t like the prevalent attitudes
in the city or state where they live. Until you investigate these issues,
you may never discover where your problems lie. You will simply wallow
in the mire of hopelessness, another damaged worker in the high tech
world.
While there are some workers who are truly without hope – trapped
in horrible jobs with no escape – I cannot imagine I would find
them in the ranks of the, relatively, high-paid, decently well educated,
high-tech workers. If you are feeling stuck, it is often because it
is easier to give up – to stop trying – than continue the
struggle to improve your career. You do have options, unlike some people
in the world, and to not seek out those options is to squander the advantages
that life has given you. In most cases, hopelessness is a choice we
have made, not one forced upon us by any employer. Until you recognize
this important fact, you may never improve your high-tech career.
Comments, Questions, Reviews?
Career
Opportunities
