How happy are you?

A lot of bloggers touch on the importance of feeling that your work is fulfilling. There are more books. courses, and personal coaches than ever before. Even so, the news tells stories of people hating their work and wanting to jump ship as soon as the economy rebounds. I wonder how satisfied blog readers are with their work and if they are less or more satisfied than the average audience.

I have created this short five question survey that should take only two minutes to complete. This is just for the blog and I will share the results this Friday. Please share your thoughts about your job here:

Click here to take this brief survey

I met a Director of HR who previously held operations type positions and had no HR experience. I wish it were easier for people to get jobs for which they are capable, but may not be qualified. Does that make sense? Here's what I mean. I firmly believe that as a seasoned manager and leader, I could run any business. Managing and leading skills transfer. Sure, I might have to learn a new type of business, but I could effectively lead most any organization. Am I qualified? I am sure that many would say, "No," looking at my resume.

Some of the best career moves are those that stretch boundaries and defy logic. I have hired many great managers that I would feel comfortable putting in most any position. Management and leadership is a craft.

Are there high potentials in your company that could benefit from an exciting lateral move? What if you asked to be reassigned to a new department or discipline?

Comments

[Rob Brooks]

It's often disheartening to browse job adverts and see extremely specific requirements of candidates.

I recently came across one that required experience on dozens of computer systems, five years of similar work, and fluency in three european languages!

I can never work out if these types of listings are designed with certain (internal) people in mind, or if the 'essential attributes' aren't really essential at all.

Are there ideal candidates applying for every one of these jobs? How can someone who doesn't meet the stated requirements show that they are still capable of doing the work?

[Lisa Haneberg]

Rob - you are so right. I liked the approach that Bren (Slacker Manager) took to fight for a job, which he eventually got. (The post is at: http://www.slackermanager.com/slacker_manager/2005/06/the_first_100_d.html). His example was of an internal promotion and I don't think it would have worked quite as well if he did not already work for the company and have internal contacts. But it makes me wonder how effective really fighting for a position might be.

Having recruited and hired hundreds of people, I can say that the successful candidate rarely has all the qualifications and the best people often have oddball backgrounds. The job description was a bit of a sham.