Chapter 11 - Job Satisfaction

Your satisfaction with the job and career path you choose depends on many factors. Perhaps the most basic considerations are working conditions, compensation, and benefits. You will also be influenced by the amount and quality of the supervision you receive, opportunities for achievement/advancement, and the availability of training/development programs. Whatever career you choose, be sure to find out what a potential employer offers in these areas.

Another way of finding a suitable career placement for yourself is to consider what stage in the "life cycle" of a business, product or service you would enjoy. Some people enjoy being pioneers, totally involved at the beginning of a new venture such as launching a business or promoting a new idea. Some like gathering the necessary resources to start the enterprise such as recruiting personnel, finding materials or equipment and raising funds. Others prefer the action that comes from developing a product or service from its earliest beginnings into something useful.

Some people like analyzing or evaluating work in progress, with a view to finding faults and making corrections at an early stage. Others prefer being in the position of taking an objective overview of all work to date, developing a new sense of what is possible for the future. Other people will enjoy marketing or selling the finished product, service or technique.

Others prefer to deal with "endings" or the concluding phase of development and moving the company forward to the next stage. Some people are attracted to working with the human consequences of organizational and environmental change, with an eye to future trends and requirements.

How do you compare?

Bill Clinton - For you, job satisfaction can be obtained, in part, when your career includes:
Marketing or selling the finished product, service or technique. You enjoy teaching, demonstrating and training others in the use of products, equipment, management techniques etc. You have an aptitude for selling or marketing your own specialty and convincing other people of the merits of your favorite ideas.

Steve Jobs - For you, job satisfaction can be obtained, in part, when your career includes:
Being a pioneer, totally involved at the beginning of a new venture - working on new ideas, initiating new projects, and launching new businesses as well as motivating people to participate with you in all or most of the above. You enjoy working at the "leading edge" of your field. If your company's specialty becomes yesterday's news you will probably be tempted to move "where the action is".

Angelina Jolie - For you, job satisfaction can be obtained, in part, when your career includes:
Concluding one phase of development and moving ahead to the next your sense of the relative importance or various components of a business allows you to grasp the essentials necessary for success. You can separate the "wheat from the chaff" in terms of what should be retained and improved upon, and what should be de-emphasized or eliminated. This might include decisions about what should be developed or discarded from the company's objectives or list of products.

Bill Gate - For you, job satisfaction can be obtained, in part, when your career includes:
Analyzing and evaluating work in progress, with a view to finding faults and making corrections at an early stage. You enjoy searching for imperfections in various aspects of a project (for example, the project idea and goals, the modus operandi of personnel, or the partially completed product or task), and you should be able to suggest adjustments which will affect the final outcome in a positive way.

Oprah Winfrey - For you, job satisfaction can be obtained, in part, when your career includes:
Concluding one phase of development, and moving ahead to the next, your sense of the relative importance of various components of a business allows you to grasp the essentials necessary for success. You can separate the "wheat from the chaff" in terms of what should be retained and improved upon, and what should be de-emphasized or eliminated. This might include decisions about what should be developed or discarded from the company's objectives or list of products.



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