I'm 31 years old and have never chosen a job in my life, just applied for whatever came up and took the jobs I could get. I've done all kinds of things and realised that I don't have any kind of vocation or dream job, I just like working with people who are fun and good management and other factors don't really come into it with my job satisfaction
Another thing to keep in mind is that you are allowed to have more than one career in your lifetime if the first one turns out to be a bad fit for whatever reason. You're not locked in. If you work one career for ten years and then decide that it just isn't fulfilling and you need to follow a totally new path, you can choose to do that. Sometimes it helps take the pressure off of Choosing a Career if you remember that it's actually Choosing a Career (For Now).
dealing with finals and mending a broken heart, this christmas season def is a bit miserable so im ALWAYYYS looking forward to this series everyday! thank you so much leena for the joy you bring!
I am a bank clerk. I don't care about anything i do at work, it can all burn for all I care. But it finances all my hobbies and things I care about outside job, so..
I'm literally trying to figure out how to reinvent my career in some way that allows me to pursue becoming a scientist whilst not starving so this was really helpful, looking forward to the exploration of the Venn diagram!
Omg I can relate I'm a SOCIAL Scientist as well lol so it's even worse... I've had some good research experiences and I love it but I'm becoming a teacher for a few years, plan to continue with my PhD then haha
so many good quotes in this video! here's what i took away from it: - institutions don't love you back - you need to differentiate between what you love and what you're actually interested in learning about - don't share your pearls with pigs / don't give more than you're asked for - what job ENABLES you to live a meaningful/fulfilling life? - what is a worthy use of your life?
As a 22 year old who's been through a 3 year uni degree in tv and radio and has decided I don't want to go in either I am hella confused about what i wanna do with my life next! Literally my only 'passion' is making gaming content on youtube and twitch but I know there's a very very small chance that I'll be able to do that as a career! ahhhhhhhhhh!
I just finished my degree in film and media art. I can’t decide either. do I teach media arts or go into film making?advertising? Or do I open up my own photography studio? I choose a degree with lots of different stuff that I’m interested in so i could try them and pick one. Just stuck on the picking
@@stellastarblossom There's so much you could do! The problem is picking one thing and sticking to it for me! Like I've decided I like watching TV but I don't want to make it haha
Hey, hopping in here as a 30 year old with a media degree and some perspective (Idk, maybe helpful?). You don't have to stick to the thing! You can try one out for a while and see how it goes. In the 7 years since I finished my studies I've worked in film, for the stage, at a design bureau, local municipality and as a freelancing illustrator. I've enjoyed all of it and each job has brought me closer to what my passion is ☺️ You don't have to know at 22 or 23! You figure it out along the way and realise how you want your everyday life to look. Because your life outside of work helps you figure out the work you want to do as well. Hope this helps!
The thought that popped into my head reading this comment thread is, "why choose one?". For you all that have knowledge, skills, and passion in seemingly different fields, why not combine them? Even fields that may on the surface seem like they can't overlap, share certain fundamentals that can be built and expanded upon. I feel like we often try to pigeon hole ourselves into the criteria of a certain job, that we forget that we individually bring our own flavor to the work that we do.
It's interesting, I worked for a charity, my was job making money for that charity, and the company treated me absymsal. I was paid poorly, over worked/stressed/etc. and the general feeling I got was "everyone wants to work for us because we're this amazing charity, you should feel privileged to be here, (whilst we're treating you terribly)" and "how dare you ask for things that would make your life better but cost us, we're a charity, don't you want the money to go towards our charitable work?!" I left and work for a non-charity public body now and yeah, they are about profit, and yeah, it's not a" branded" place that is well known for doing amazing work and has people desperate to work there, and maybe I don't ~quite~ like where all the money goes, but the working environment and the way I'm treated is SO MUCH BETTER and I'm so much happier
not to mention a lot of charities don't send as much money as they'd like you to think to their "causes". Often folks at the top take quite a lot of money and a ton goes to parties and galas.
Just in case you don't know, that Venn diagram method is called Ikigai! It's a Japanese method of finding your life's purpose and my tutor at uni showed us it last year :)
I'm currently strugging with the job, which (a little bit) hurts my moral spine... The heart of the CEO is in the right place, and we produce a product which brings joy. But my (kinda accidentaly accuired) position in marketing means, that I need to convince people, that they need MORE of our thing. This isn't the place for an anti-capitalist to be :/ But I like the day to day, and for the first time in 10 years I'm not crying on a weekly basis from stress and frustration. Sooo, I guess I'll stay here, learn what I can, and move to some non-profit eventually?
I'm in the same position. the company I work for is great, they pay well and treat employees respectfully. but my position is basically convincing people in a roundabout way how they need to buy our client's products to make their lives/business better. though I'm learning a lot (even some things I'm not actually paid for), I'm currently using this job to save money and trying to channel a more meaningful writing career.
I Love that you reference Ursula. I was in a really abusive employer situation and I remember reconsidering the little mermaid and realizing how perfectly it depicts the abuse of powerful people and personas and institutions against the eager innocent woman. It really struck me because I remember always disliking Ariel thinking she was really dumb for trusting the witch and going off away from her family and all this craziness. But I just realized how she was manipulated and how her eagerness for life and her dreams were intentionally manipulated and stolen by the witch who knew more and experienced more and still took advantage of her. And then in the interview with Meghan Markle talking about the abuses of the royal family, that ridiculous institution. She referenced the same little mermaid story and it made so much sense. She of course was talking about how Ariel‘s voice was stolen in that whole process, and that’s exactly what she experienced and that’s exactly what I experienced because once you’ve been manipulated and abused you don’t speak out because affectively your voice is stolen.
This is certainly not possible in all workplaces, but I find it so helpful when working for an employer who's values I absolutely don't align with (even if there is wonderful work happening within the institution) to become a union delegate if you're lucky enough to be in a unionized institution or start a union drive! While you can't influence an institution as lower level employees from within since you have basically no power, you do have collective power! I think of my career as my work-work but then also my workplace-work which has to do with union bargaining and then my outside work-work which is about community work and supporting friends/family
I liked that use of Venn diagram to figure out what you want to do with your life. I'd say don't despair if you don't find something right away that hits the center... In those other petals with overlap you might find something worthwhile.
excellent ideas, Leena! Thanks for sharing... I love how you also talked about working to live instead of living to work! And how a company's ethics matters, I feel similar but never put it into words before... it helps reflecting when made verbal~!
When you spoke about not being able to feel happy when you know where the money is going... I resonated with that so hard. I tried, for a while, to just enjoy my life, go to therapy, work on my anxiety etc. But the problem was that once my mental health reached a generally OK place, I could never shake the fact that I worked for a company that would lay off all of my friends in a heartbeat if they could get the labour cheaper elsewhere, that were actively offshoring and paying those offshore workers shit wages. I didn't enjoy the job itself too much to be honest, but the real deal-breaker was exactly what you said: my heart just didn't feel happy being a cog in someone else's very depressing, capitalist funnel machine.
"that's how we get our legs and lose our voice" OOF that is a beautifully put tragically accurate sentiment 😓 I'm in the last slog of a uni degree I've thoroughly fallen out of love with, and have absolutely no idea what I want to do with my life now 😕
I recently had an interview for a waitressing job in which the middle aged white man conducting the interview relayed the most stone cold statement about valuing work life balance and then proceeded to tell me at the end that I’d only get the job if I did 10am till 6pm Christmas Day 🙄. I did not take the job.
i'm currently leaning towards trying to pursue a career in academia, because it seems to be the best fit. i see a lack of perspective in the field of study i'm passionate about and i feel like i could make some change there. however, there are several parts things to an academic career that i don't like. so maybe i have to find something that has some or most of the good things from academia, but with fewer or none of the drawbacks. ah, questions, questions, questions. great food for thought video though! and looking forward to seeing the diagram applied!
I honestly think if you have a love for academe it can never be taken from you. I was going down the research path in social/health sciences (which I loved) and have pivoted to teaching for a few years. I am no less academic. Perhaps more of an organic intellectual, which is even more of an improvement. All that to say, remember that it's in you, not the job
This is so timely, wow. I've already watched it three times in a row. I am quitting my job at the end of the year, and this video basically summed up a year's worth of agonizing. I stumbled into a weird industry early in my career at a small company owned by a very generous and moral guy. He made a bit of a misstep in selling the company, and the new corporate ownership is the opposite of everything we stood for. It really has made my heart feel small. I spent a long time trying to find someplace else I could feel good about working for, and I finally decided to go out on my own. I've found another consultant to subcontract with who gives me that big heart feeling. The work itself is basically tangential to the feeling of knowing that I'll be doing the right things for the right reasons again. I'm gonna go watch this video again. ❤️❤️❤️
I used to work in education, where we give a lot of love to the field and to the students, but it took me a while to realise my employer/the education system wasn't loving me back. I've been at home a while now and I have no idea if I'll ever go back to teaching. I am really curious to see where I'll go, though. This video made me feel a little more at ease about it all :)
oh boy this is timely!! i’ve been laser-focused on nonprofit jobs for a while because i wanted to align with my values, but it’s been nearly impossible to find a stable job with good pay where i live, so i have my first corporate interview today. i have conflicting feelings on it, but i know that i’ll keep organizing around the issues i’m passionate about whether or not it’s my job
Love this discussion! After over a decade of working at random jobs for shorter periods of time (retail, food service, grocery, farm work, etc) I've been lucky enough to have been offered my dream job (which I started just over a month ago). I wake up every morning eager to go to work, which is a wonderful feeling and one I"m very grateful for because I know not everyone gets the chance to do a job they love which also pays the bills. But it is possible! :) Really enjoying all of these misery-mas videos!
I watched the video where you explained wanting to take the lid off of something for a career or interest when I was in graduate school several years ago deciding to drop out. The video was really helpful for me to settle on which path to take moving forward as I thought about what it is that I want to know the nitty gritty details. I decided on teaching and am now teaching high school and am very happy. Incredible to hear you reference that meaningful video here. Loving this month’s videos!!
I have been incredibly lucky to work where I am right now. I am doing an MLIS and going in to librarianship, and working in a library while studying. I managed to find an intersection of my interests and my political views, and that’s really cool tbh
I was a big firm corporate tax lawyer for and now am a deliriously happy Readers Advisory Librarian at a large public library not too far from my home.
There's a recent article by IGN about the gaming company Bungie - it's a really insightful read on how companies promote and say they support something but then fail at actually making it happen. It really shows that no matter how passionate company leads are, there's bad apples in the business and we gotta try to push to make these companies better. On a personal level, I studied video and photography because I fully believed I wanted to be a photographer. Sadly realized the photography business is for rich people who can afford material LOL I've moved to doing video editing since it still gives me some kind of creative outlet and I'm actually quite happy even though the freelance life isn't easy.
your talk about the venn diagram makes me feel like im in the right place because i am good at working with people and I get joy from working with people and one of the things that helps the earth is people being excited and informed about it and it's beauty. And i work in customer service at a museum helping teach them things!!
If you work at an oppressive work environment the solution is not to leave, it’s to change it. Unions can be incredibly powerful, creating solidarity among your colleagues and taking back power from your bosses is possible and is the only way to create a tolerable work place when simply leaving is not possible. Work is not about finding fulfillment. It’s about survival. Loving your job isn’t the answer, and it’s not even possible for the majority. Tons of people live in poverty or close to it but can’t just leave their jobs, people are forced to work at low paying jobs to survive. Education isn’t accessible to all people, people of color are especially at a disadvantage in the US. The only thing that can change these peoples work lives is unionizing. They can demand better pay and work conditions and that shouldn’t have been left out of this video.
the way you posted this video THE EXACT SAME DAY i send a full rant to my friends about not knowing what career to choose even though i'm in my mid-late twenties
Really enjoying the videos this month! I would like to give a shout-out to the charity sector - work is never perfect, but finding a cause that you really believe in and working towards that can be great. And there's a variety of roles within that from IT to communications, digital, finance etc.
As a lost uni student, this was very helpful! So far I think I want to stay in academia, become a historian and work for a public university (private universities don't get to reap the benefits of my public education!), but it's all still very hypothetical so it's nice to have a mental structure to build backup plans upon
I've just moved from the commercial sector to the charity sector, but in the same role. Still intensely dislike my day to day job even though it's nicer knowing the profit goes to research rather than shareholders. BUT my job still relies on making and moving tatt no one needs across an ever heating world... turns out the aim doesn't cancel out my core value of not making loads of junk but that's the only kind of work I have on my CV hahahaha I needed this video
I love that you post at lunch time bc I like to tune in over my lunch break! ❤ Funnily enough a lunch break from a job that I'm meh about... probably bc I have no big picture purpose... 🤣 looking forward to tomorrow's video ❤🙌
I did a law degree, took one look at the legal industry and NOPED THE EFF OUT. my "career" is as a public servant doing policy. my calling is something completely different--and I would rather not tie my financial stability to it! your career doesn't have to be the same as your calling IMO
Love all this advice! One thing I've really found on the topic of not giving your best to your employer: I'm lucky enough to have a flexible work schedule, and I know that my most productive time is in the mornings. When I first started at this job, I'd start work at like 7 or 8am, and it was great. But then I'd find I'd struggle in the afternoons/early evenings to get my own work done (either side projects, house work, hobbies, etc). Once I realized this, I switched things around, so that I do my own work first for a couple hours, and then start work at 9:30 or so. My work output hasn't changed at all from what I can tell. But the work that needs more self-organizing and self-discipline (i.e. my own work, where I don't have a project manager and technical architect and colleagues helping me organize and scope my work) now happens at the time that my brain is best at that.
Ooh this is such a good video (well all your videos are amazing but this hits so hard right now.) I was sat doing some training for my new job which I'm very excited about. They are a childcare company who are paving the way on reinventing the education system. They're building longitudinal studies, working with 4 universities (including open to reach a more varied group of educators) and inviting students from around the world to see their work. They're focusing on sustainability in relation to the childcare industry and aim to teach under 5s how to grow and cook their own food, look after and understand nature and to explore their individual interests. I knew I was excited. But I cried during the training. Cried with absolute pure joy. They shared a ted talk by Sir Ken Robertson. That video shaped my entire approach to teaching (and I've taught all ages 0-18) 7 years ago during my training and here it was again. There are people in my industry who think like me. I've found them to help me grow and my daughter reaps the benefits too. Ahhhhahahaha I'm so so excited! Oh and "no jobs on a dead planet" is basically something they really focus on. Let's teach kids how to care for the planet or who cares what job they're prepared for, they won't be here and neither will the jobs!
who you're making money for is such a huge thing, I used to think that I just hated all work and there was no career that I could ever not feel extremely negative about, but somehow by chance, I ended up with a job at a climate charity and the difference of just knowing where the money is going makes the actual work far more enjoyable than a similar role I've held in other industries/ it makes the cognitive burden of the work far easier to handle.
Thank you for organizing and verbalizing a lot of the concepts that have been rolling around in my brain the last few years. This aligns so much with what I was already feeling, but I wasn't sure how to make it an action plan.
You're so on point, Leena! The advice I give to younger artists in the film industry is to chase the projects, not the companies. Things are very different these days and you don't end up working for one company your whole life. It's also not detrimental to your CV. You can change your mind, take a break and come back so long as your portfolio/reel is strong.
Misery-mas has been great! I'm really enjoying the diversity of content! The video where you sugested those movies was fun, but really the best thing to get me on the so called christmas vibes is this series. I started christmas like I do every year with the best of intentions and now that we are half the way there life has been doing its best to strip me out of them. But i'm haging in there! I wish everyone here is having a lovely love chirstmas time this year!
I got my Master's in sustainable transportation last year, a subject I'm really passionate about, but quickly realized that the program had trained me for a day-to-day career that I just could not get excited for. I've worked 9-5 in offices before and know it's not for me and that's what the degree was really built for. I'm now trying to figure out how to build a career myself that lets me be a part of that cause but within my own schedule/energy limits. It's really hard trying to imagine a path for yourself that maybe doesn't exist yet. I'm excited for the Venn diagram exercise tomorrow!
@@allyson-- Honestly I realized I need something that gives me flexibility with my time while also keeping me physically active, which is what I had before I went back to school (as a massage therapist), and school just made me really appreciate it more, just with a lot more debt lol. I'd gotten it in my head that it wasn't a "real" job because it wasn't in an office with lots of benefits and it's taken me some time to let go of that idea and just do what I actually like to do.
@@lemonlemonster Thanks for sharing that. It does seem like many office-bound scientists live a largely stressful & overbooked lifestyle due to no choice of their own. I'm really glad you found something that suits you! The idea of working a "real job" is fuvked but weighs on so many people. I got a two year degree in biology & I carry this dread because I don't feel cut out for working in a lab, consulting, or teaching. And I'm uncertain of the other options, so I'm trying to figure out where to go next. And wondering whether it's really plausible for me to have a job that I "like"
That overlap between joy, skills and what's needed in the world, wow. I have a clear idea of what I wanna do. I love talking to people, being helpful, explaining stuff, presenting things. I also love labs paces, workshops, doing things with my hands, seeing physical evidence of things I did. I think I'd thrive being a tour guide on a science campus, in labs, in museums, in factories. Except... does that exist? I feel like you just work some place and eventually someone is like "hey we got people coming thru, can you give them a tour?". Is "tour guide" a legit job?? For now I'm in a teaching degree and I guess I'll be fine with that.
This Q is weird for me rn. I was never interested in "having a career". Ended up in university doing librarianship/information management. Worked in a university library for 3 and a half year, and just month ago went corporate back office where I manage clients, organize shipments, put complaints into the system. More then two years into working in a library I felt that maybe that will be a career, not just a job. I did very good there and I was doing extra stuff, volunteering in local and global organizations. So I kind of did leave that job when I was doing the most? But I don't really miss/mourn that. I had to get a new job and that need was bigger then that feeling of having a career.
What do you do if you don’t know what brings you joy, that’s the million £ question haha! However, as a person who’s worked on big brands a for almost ten years now, my experience is, work there as long as you can to get the experience you need. But it’s defo not worth doing long term.
Sometimes I am quite scared to make what brings me joy into my career because I am so afraid that I will no longer enjoy it when it becomes my full-time job. What I love to do is make video essays on RU-vid and I am working hard to make it my career. But I can't get rid of the fear that if I do reach that success I want, I'll end up just hating what I love. Do you have any advice on this, if I may ask?
I don't know if it is the same for everyone with ads, but exactly after the moment when Leena asks "What is a worthy use of your life?" the add pops up, for me with some electronics 😂. Kind of sad but also I chuckled and now I'm sitting here wondering if that's the algorhytm at random or are they so smart now to send such intricate subliminal messages?😂
I’ve managed charity shops for most of my working life and it’s great fun but even there you have to look round the company and see passed the charitable work there doing my last job I just got up and quit on the spot because of the upper management they just didn’t care about the staff on the floor and doing all the hard work and only cared about the trustees
I have an interview coming up for a job... And I found out yesterday that I have covid. So now I'm second guessing if I even want the job. I'd be moving up from my current position (less outside and physical work). But transportation is an issue and I'd have to reschedule the interview anyway. Ugh I like working there but I'm reevaluating everything and coming up with zero answers.
I feel like the who you're making money for is critical for me because to be honest... I don't want to be making anybody money (unless it's for a charitable organization). I'm becoming more and more anticapitalist by the day and it sure is making the sales element of my current job tricky. I should have gone into education...
Just a sidebar…. One aspect of life that women have to negotiate/ contemplate?? Is caring. Either for children if they choose to have them or caring for a disabled/elderly relative. Yes, I know men can be carers too but the majority are women. I didn’t not know (when I began my short lived nursing career ) that I would have a child with autism. I didn’t know that austerity would lead to no support/respite. Choose carefully as none of us know the future.
Leena...I believe you would appreciate reading Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth". Possible you have read it already. If so, what do you think? I feel the book aligns with the perspectives you have shared in this video. Love you and your videos Leena! You are so cool (and so is your sweater)! 🥰
I couldn't find any good running shoes that for sure didn't use sweat shops. What do I do at that point? I've had jobs where I have to work on concrete and I have to have good extremely comfortable and supportive shoes so I don't get back pain in that environment. All the fancy 90% ethical brands make flats or generic 'running' shoes that don't look like they have good traction or arches.
Just as a heads up for viewers thinking about it, NASA isn’t a corporation, and imo has done a lot of positive good in the world. (Lookin’ at you rechargeable batteries)
I‘m very late to the party on this one, but this video has put into words so concisely all that I‘ve been thinking about in a much more jumbled way as I‘m preparing for my first big career reorientation and transition in almost a decade. very much inspired by the idea that job should make your heart feel big and not the opposite. Thank you Leena for putting all of this in a nutshell!
I despise the word career being used as a word to describe a profession or a calling/vocation. Career has come from a race track. A career was what a race track was called. Using this word to describe a profession or a calling or even an avocation or job, which is a small piece of work, is demeaning to the course of work or professions as it reduces it down to something fast paced- tense- hectic and many employers seem to take that to heart and demand that employees are always on high speed and so on for only the purpose of their own bottom line.
