Chapter 7

Your Worldview on Work

What is your worldview? The word itself sounds abstract and philosophical, like the lofty topic at a coffee shop debate among bespectacled college professors wearing tweed jackets with suede elbow patches. Not so.

Your worldview is at the foundation of your core values and it has hands-on practicality in your daily life. It is a collection of your convictions, attitudes, and opinions that defines your beliefs about reality. It is the lens through which you see the big picture. It triggers your reactions and responses to the world and to life itself, and it determines your sense of right and wrong.

Here are some examples of worldviews:

• My happiness depends on the happiness of people around me.
• I need to be independent and take charge of my own life.
• It is important for me to excel over those around me.

Your worldview helps you answer thought-provoking questions, such as:

• Who am I?
• Where did I come from?
• What is my purpose in life?

Applying Your Worldview to Work

Instinctively, you use your worldview to make large and small decisions in all areas of your life. You can apply it to your attitudes about work and your career choices. How do you view work? Do you view it as a way to use your talents and skills, make a positive impact on your community or the world, help solve other people's problems, make a difference, or make a living?

Interviewers probably will not use the term worldview, but you will know they are referring to it when they ask the following questions:

• What role does work play in your life?
• How would you describe your ideal job?
• What is a great day at work for you?
• What type of co-workers do you prefer?
• How would you describe your ideal employer?

Work Makes the World Go 'Round

The world is driven by work. It's part of life that consumes an enormous number of waking hours. If you are not lucky enough to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth, win the lottery, marry a millionaire, or rob a bank without getting caught, chances are good that you will work to earn a living.

The workaday world is a recurring theme of many hit songs that celebrate or damn work (okay, mainly damn it) and pay tribute to the 40-hour work week, including:

• Workin' for a Livin' by Huey Lewis and the News. The song title about working stiffs says it all. The prospect of never earning enough money or not receiving a well-deserved bonus or salary increase is a common refrain for those who are just scraping by.
• A Hard Day's Night by The Beatles. The Fab Four wail about working like dogs. Obviously, this was before they made megabucks and became cultural icons.
• Working for the Weekend by Lover Boy. Well, the song title is partly true. Some people work for the weekend, while others work on the weekend, usually in service-oriented industries that cater to people who don't work on weekends.
• Taking Care of Business by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Work is business when you make serious cash. But you still have to bust your tail to “catch your train on time and get to work by nine and start your slaving job to get your pay.”
• 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton. Working eight hours a day can be a real grind. Why not five hours? Or three? In the movie Office Space, computer geek Peter Gibbons admits he performs only 15 minutes of actual work in any given week. (You call that work? Sounds pretty cushy to me.)
• Money for Nothing by Dire Straits. If you learned to play the guitar or drums, you could make money doing nothing on MTV. That beats installing microwave ovens or moving refrigerators and color TVs. “And the chicks are free.”
• She Works Hard for the Money by Donna Summer. This is a timeless message that motivates women to take charge of their lives. The song, which chronicles a food server's tough times making ends meet, became the “You go, girlfriend” cheer before people said, “You go, girlfriend.”
• Manic Monday by The Bangles.Everyone dreads Monday, but this song wistfully contrasts a mundane work routine with the joys in life.
• Draggin' the Line by Tommy James. The 60s and 70s pop idol sings about working hard (on his farm) and “hugging a tree when you get near it.” (Note: The lyrics sparked the term “tree huggers” in reference to people interested in ecology.)
• The Banana Boat Song (Day-O) by Harry Belafonte. Dock workers in the Caribbean load bananas onto ships all night long and look forward to going home at sunrise. You can almost smell their gritty sweat.

And let's not forget the American folk classics, I've Been Working on the Railroad and Sixteen Tons. Hard work built this great country of ours.

Clearly, all of these songs convey a worldview that sees work as drudgery, which could be related to the lyricists' own attitudes about work, or simply because hard work is a staple topic in the music industry. What, then, are some joyful reasons that people work besides earning a paycheck?

• A love for what they do
• Personal fulfillment
• To contribute to the greater good
• To accomplish personal and professional goals
• Camaraderie with coworkers
• To enjoy client interaction
• To fill time with activity
• Change and challenges
• Recognition

The best worldview regarding work is using all of your talents and abilities while you develop and grow as a person and make a difference in the world. Not too many jobs fit this description, but it is something to which you can aspire. Hopefully, you will find employment that allows you to whistle while you work instead of telling your employer to take this job and shove it.

Whatever your personal reasons for working, the bottom line is that almost everyone works for money, compensation, salary, remuneration, or whatever you want to call it. It pays for a roof over your head, clothes on your back, and food in your mouth. It also enables you to take care of your family, send your children to college, buy the latest high-tech gadgets, take vacations, and save for retirement.

Worldview Provides Career Direction

If you desperately need a job and are willing to consider any offer, then your worldview may not make any difference. You need a job, any job, so you can pay your bills. However, having a worldview or philosophy of life might give you some career direction, help you in your job search, and enable you to zero in on what you want in a job. Your worldview will help you avoid jobs that are a poor match for your talents and abilities. As you mature, you can look for a job that aligns with your worldview and philosophy of life as shown in the following three examples.

Home Sweet Home

A candidate hoped to use her architecture/design background to create sustainable housing to address urban decay. Her worldview is that everyone deserves a chance and having a safe and secure home leads to the betterment of society.

Crazy good worldview: People are put on this planet to use their talents and abilities to serve those who are less fortunate.

Crazy bad worldview: People are put on this planet to use their talents and abilities for their own benefit and hedonistic pleasures. Skin on skin; let the love begin.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

A candidate who believes that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect applied to a medical residency program that operates a free clinic as part of the residency. Residents, faculty, staff, and students work together to impact health care.

Crazy good worldview: Everyone deserves respect, even those who are unemployed and have no insurance. Everyone working together can make a difference.

Crazy bad worldview: Respect yourself. Who cares about anyone else? Every man for himself.

Independence Day

An individual who believes that you get ahead on your own merit and hard work applied for a position based solely on commission. If he does the work, he will be paid well. He is the master of his own destiny and he controls how much he earns based on his own efforts.

Crazy good worldview: You get ahead in life based on your own efforts. Hard work is rewarded.

Crazy bad worldview: You get ahead in life based on your own efforts and sticking it to the man every chance you get.

Mapping a Career Plan

Create a career plan that aligns with your worldview, and pinpoints where you want to be in three, five, and even 10 years. Career planning, in reality, is a lifelong process that involves choosing a career, getting a job, growing in your job, making a possible career change, and, finally, retiring. For purposes of this book, we will concentrate on getting a job.

When you have a plan in hand—or even in your mind—it helps determine your career direction. You might start in an entry-level job to get your foot in the door, and then acquire new skills and certifications, so you can climb the career ladder. In each job you hold, you can determine what you like and don't like about it, the type of people you enjoy working with, and the type of work you like doing. When people job hop with no direction, they may never end up in their ideal job, or they may never know their ideal job.

As Richard N. Bolles, author of the best-selling career guide, What Color is Your Parachute? puts it:

Good career choice or career planning postpones the “narrowing down” until it has first broadened your horizons and expanded the number of options you are thinking about. For example, you're in the newspaper business, but have you ever thought of teaching, or drawing or doing fashion? You first expand your mental horizons, to see all the possibilities, and only then do you start to narrow them down to the particular two or three that interest you the most.

A career plan with a timeline keeps you focused and on track in your job search. It helps you plan ahead and consider many job options. Often, people get their hopes up for just one job. If they do not get it, they become discouraged and may even abandon their job search. If you are open to many options, your ego will not be deflated if one falls through.

Writing down your goals and committing them to paper will raise your spirits and make you feel like you are making some headway. When the interviewer asks about your job search efforts, you can respond positively with, “I posted my resume on several sites. I search online job postings daily, and send letters of inquiry to organizations that could benefit from my skills and talents.” These proactive statements show that you are organized, systematic, and persistent, which are good traits to have associated with your candidacy.

Be nimble in your job search. Organize your time, your contacts, and conduct your search thoughtfully according to your career plan. Then, be ready to toss it aside and react to that last-minute call.

Your career timeline should project one to three years out in a down economy. Think about the future and the bigger picture down the road. Ask yourself what types of skills you will need, such as the ability to work with all four generations (Silents, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y), communicate effectively, and be tech savvy. You should sign up for courses, seminars, and workshops that will add to your skill sets in hot areas, such as the latest software technology, communications, and conflict resolution.

Many interviewers will inquire about your career goals by asking the following questions:

• How does this job align with your professional development?
• Why are you applying for this job at this point in your career?
• What type of position do you want to be in ultimately?
• If offered this job, what would be your next job after this one?

One of the most frequently asked questions is: Where do you want to be in five years (or three years)? The best way to answer this question is to focus on the job itself and how you would use your skills to accomplish the job duties. “After five years, I hope to assume new responsibilities in a higher position in the organization. Professional development is important to me, and I would like to continually add new skills to my repertoire to enhance my value in the organization.”

If you don't have any career goals, or you just haven't thought that far in advance, sell your skill sets. Talk about your hard work ethic and enthusiasm. Describe your hunger to do whatever the job requires, and a willingness to roll up your sleeves. Talk about trying to get your foot in the door and learn the business from the ground up. Do not mention that you need a paycheck to pay your overdue bills, your electricity has just been shut off, and your landlord is ready to evict you for nonpayment of rent—you will come off as a real desperado.

When Job and Worldview Don't Align

If you receive a job offer that does not align with your worldview and career plan, then you have a difficult decision to make. Is a bird in the hand worth two in the bush? Sometimes, yes. If the wolves are howling at the door, and you have a family to feed, then accept the job offer and keep your eyes open for a better job. Sometimes it is easier to get a job when you have a job. You will need to make the decision based on your own unique set of circumstance and the importance of your worldview.

There are some positives to veering off your career course. People from different backgrounds with unique experiences often bring fresh perspectives to a job. In fact, many discoveries in the sciences can be credited to individuals who were newcomers to that particular field. By applying a different viewpoint or set of experiences to a job outside of your comfort zone, you might do something extraordinary.

Some people are risk takers and like to veer off course to add cool new experiences to their worldview. It is a great way to gain a fresh perspective. Most people don't try this, preferring to play it safe.

You must change your career path if your industry is imploding due to the economy or if technology is taking over. Think automotive or manufacturing. Think about what happened to the Encyclopedia Britannica when Wikipedia appeared. In addition, look into your crystal ball to see if there could be any external threats to the organization or your job. Try to stay ahead of the curve by adding skills to your unique value proposition (UVP).

Square Peg, Round Hole

How do you respond to an interviewer who observes that the job doesn't match your skills; for example, you are overqualified, or your expertise lies in other areas? He wants to hire you, but thinks you might be unhappy working there.

Emphasize how your experience and skills fit the job, or how they could be adapted. Talk about your transferable skills that are a good match for the job duties. If you are overqualified or your expertise lies in other areas, you could say:

“This job lies slightly out of my past positions, but it fits into my long-term plan of learning about….”

“My qualifications might seem a little more than what is required for this position, but where I think they might be best utilized in this position is in the area of X because I can do the following…(list your skill sets).”