Don't Let Your Job Become Your Identity

In the US, we tend to self-identify by occupation so during times of unemployment or under-employment, we don't know how to behave.

OPI has published a book, among others, featuring it's top-selling color, I'm Not Really a Waitress. There's a reason this color resonates; so many people take jobs because they need to pay bills while they wait for their big break, whether that's in acting (a traditional career for waitstaff) or in some more mundane career. Waitstaff can make good money, so it's a great part-time job for those in-between times. I've had acquaintances who have spent years waiting tables or bartending while they went to school or sought the job of their dreams. You can make good money in these jobs, whether it's as a career move or survival mechanism. Others, who are tired of the daily office grind, fantasize about running off to work as a bartender in a vacation spot. This fantasy is particularly popular when people have issues with family.

It's important to know who you are, aside from your career. Elizabeth Roberts, of Tenacious Titans, reminds us that we shouldn't fall in love with a corporation because the corporation can't love us back, though it may appear to do so at first. Without a sense of self, corporate cutbacks can cause huge losses in self-esteem. Even if you're doing contract work because projects can last for a long time. I've known contractors who have worked for years on the same project.

I met someone at a networking group a few years ago and she had been offered a project that was supposed to last for a year and was her perfect situation. She turned it down. Why? Because she was looking for a permanent job and said she couldn't, in good conscience, take the job knowing she might leave before the end of the year. I told her that she shouldn't feel more committed than the corporation; if their needs changed, they'd have no qualms discontinuing her employment so she should have no qualms leaving if she found the perfect job before the end of the year. On her part, there was no immediate reason she couldn't work in that position for a year; it would be different if she already had fixed plans to go to school somewhere (and was admitted) or was moving too far away to work at that location.

One of the problems with contract work is that the contracting company wants committed workers; however, even if a corporation offers a 1-year contract, that doesn't guarantee work for one year. Things change frequently in corporate America, so your project could get canceled. I know a guy who started a project and a month or two later it was canceled and so was he. The person who had to let him go may have felt bad, but the corporation as a whole was focused on its bottom line. He's took advantage of the down time and planned a couple of trips. When he got back he was going to look for a new project.

There have been times when I've struggled with how to present myself; one of my colleagues just tells people she works at the big, giant corporation; while true, it's misleading, but avoids questioning and pity. I was at a political fundraiser, chatting with some guy. He asked what I did and when I said I was looking, he walked away. That was unimpressive.