4

PASSION OR PROSPERITY

You knew your first “real” job wouldn’t just fall in your lap, but you didn’t quite expect just how far from your lap it would be. You’ve spent months and increasingly sleepless nights sending out resumes, having networking coffees with third-degree connections like your father’s college roommate’s wife, and LinkedIn stalking what feels like anyone with a manager title. And you’ve gone from a search criterion of “a socially impactful role focused on analyzing and communicating big data at a culture-driven, innovative company” to “any job that pays more than minimum wage and requires some level of thinking and communicating.”

You’ve moved in with a new roommate, Macy, who is getting a PhD in environmental science. She’s barely around, and when she is, she’s locked in her room with her painfully philosophical boyfriend. You’ve been paying your share of the rent by bartending at a college pub in the evenings (you can’t seem to get away from these college kids!) while doing your job search by day. It’s all you can do to shower the bar stink out of your hair before collapsing into bed at 2:30 A.M.

Then one morning, you awake to an alert about an email from your high school English teacher’s cousin (seriously . . . you’ve been networking with everyone!). It turns out, her friend is hiring a content editor for the website of a large bank. Although it’s not what you pictured as your dream job, it does sound way healthier—and more in line with your communications degree—than pouring drinks with names like “blue balls” and “rockstar blaster” for frat boys. You apply immediately.

Three weeks and two phone calls later, you find yourself in an awkwardly fitting second-hand Ann Taylor suit explaining to a hiring manager named Pete why you are passionate about financial institutions as a means toward human empowerment. You think to yourself how ridiculous that sounds as you’re saying it, but Pete seems to be eating it up. He says he’ll get back to you in the coming days.

That evening you go out with a few friends to the local Taco Tuesday happy hour and recap your interview. You are going on about how excited you are to pour yourself into a job that you love, and how difficult it is to find meaningful employment that is actually . . . meaningful, when a woman at the next table turns to you.

“Sorry for eavesdropping. I’m actually hiring an office manager—I can let you know how to apply if you are interested.” It turns out the woman, Stacey Allen, is the executive director of a nonprofit that trains Seeing Eye dogs. That sounds much more meaningful to you, and you exchange contact info with Stacey, promising to follow up in the morning.

You go through a series of interviews with Stacey and her leadership team. You also hear back from Pete. Somehow, the unthinkable has happened: you have gone from zero job prospects to two job offers in the course of three weeks. And you don’t know what to do.

On the one hand, the bank job is more related to your degree, has plenty of opportunity for advancement, and pays 43 percent more than the nonprofit.

On the other hand, you—like 62 percent of your generation—feel more inclined to work for a company that is doing good than one where you can make loads of money.¹ Seeing Eye dogs are awesome because they’re dogs (you love dogs, and still desperately miss your childhood labradoodle, Coco), and The Seeing Eye is a well-established, proven institution that makes a real contribution to the lives of people who are vision impaired. That’s compelling.

You spend the rest of the week deliberating. To your surprise, this choice is actually more upsetting than liberating. It feels heavy in its significance. You make lists of pros and cons, assign weightings to each factor, and try to calculate the right decision. But math can’t save you this time, and you need to make the call.

If you decide to go with the less-risky, more lucrative bank role, since it is more in line with your education, go to Chapter 7.

If you decide to go with the more impactful role at The Seeing Eye nonprofit, go to Chapter 6.