Everyone has some idea of what their ideal job would look like. Unlimited vacation, respect, a company car, power over your destiny, meaningful work, etc. Most of us probably don't currently work at our dream job and so we hop around looking for a better deal. I try to mold my current job into the job I want it to be.
What are some examples of what I mean? Several companies ago I was working somewhere that didn't have an automated deploy process, and regularly ssh'd to production to make changes. In my mind, the ideal workplace would have some kind of automated process to get changes into production, so I set one up. No one asked me to do it, I just felt it was important and did it.
Another example, from a different employer, when I arrived there was no code review practice in place. I talked to the team and suggested we should try requiring at least one other person's approval before allowing a change set into the master branch. There was some arguing at first, but we decided to try it for a sprint. In the end we decided to keep doing it and I felt like I'd made a change for the good.
On a non technical note, the first team lead I ever had said something to me that I've tried to carry over everywhere I've worked: "I always have time for my team, even if I look super busy, please interrupt me." This is an attitude change that costs almost nothing to implement and has an outsized impact on your team. Just letting them know that you're there for them helps set a positive tone.
What are you looking for? Is it more autonomy? Is it more impact? Is it a company car? If you can't list the things that you're looking for, you won't be able to make changes towards those things.
How do you get there? Ask yourself "What can I do right now to move $CURRENT_JOB towards $DREAM_JOB?" And then, look at the outcome of that. Did your action have any impact?
If yes, congratulations, you are now one small step closer to having your $DREAM_JOB. Lather, rinse and repeat.
If not, all is not lost, but this could be a sign that your current employer is not open to change. Try again, and see what happens. I take the view that we can all be agents of change regardless of where we sit on the org chart. There are things I can do on a daily basis that will impact those around me. Some simple examples:
- being helpful
- being positive
- empathizing with others
- implementing process changes
- automating tedious tasks
This may not work in all situations. You need to gauge the impact your changes are having. Are people responding? Is the climate such that your changes can work for the good? Sometimes you come to a roadblock. Sometimes you get a clear message that what you're trying to do is not supported by your employer. Eventually, you have to ask yourself a harder question: "Is it worth pushing for change here, or should I try to find somewhere that's more open to change?" In my opinion, as long as your changes are working and you're happy with your compensation, then keep pushing to make things better.
And of course, if your $DREAM_JOB does come along, well... take it.
Latest comments (3)
I really like this way of thinking. My current job is not perfect, but I realised that they were a lot of things I was actually in control of, or at least things I could influence. It's very unlikely that everything will be perfect, but it's better to be active about our work environment rather that be passive and just change every 6 months because we haven't found the perfect job yet.
There is a connection between my job quality and how I actually act in my daily work. If my impact for an atmosphere in the office or how my and my co-workers' project goes is quite enough, I am much closer to
$DREAM_JOB.Opposite situation occurs when I lose the work-life balance. If my thoughts are wandering around what's going on outside the office, then I know that something is going wrong.
No matter what, thanks for posting. I've just realized that I am happy with my current employer :)
The advice to try to move your current job toward your dream job is a great piece of advice. I have witnessed a person who is the "sour apple" in every team I have been: the person who complains a lot, always has negative retro feedback, and is generally sarcastic about everything. Yet often the obstacle to fixing these things is simply that the person who noticed the problem wants someone else to fix it. That sour apple person should have just gone in and worked out a good solution. I have often personally found that winning support for a new practice or technology in a software team is simply a matter of making it easy to adopt. Underneath all the pushback is usually just the fear that the new thing will cost more for the team, so anything you can do to lower it will help adoption happen. Make it easy to understand, easy to maintain, etc. and the rest will follow.