Ok, the title of this column is a bit standard. I mean, yes, of course most of us would say thank you (to who is irrelavant) for the job that we have now. It's something that's "politically correct" to do simply because you know that the general truth is, it's hard to get a job.But what I experienced last weekend was something of a wake up call. I am grateful for the job that I have now (explaining why is something that I'll write in a different posting), but I too, like most of the people I know, are gratefull in a practical level. Meaning that, perhaps they, and myself included, are simply being thankful because that's the general custom. It all began when I joined the recruitment people in my office and assist them in handling the Job Expo that was held in Balai Kartini by JobsDB. As in many other Job Expo, the venue was swarmed with people looking a better chance in their lives. Some of them, or maybe most of them, are fresh graduates looking for a chance to start living the real life. It's quite easy to segregate between the newbies and the ones with the experiences. Of course, one leads into another, I started to take the privilege in "judging" the people that came to the booth. Then, a man came to the booth. From the look of his face, I would say he is in his 40s perhaps. He asked the standard question of what vacancies are available. I answered the question by simply showing the brochure that we have prepared and asked him to read it by himself. He took a few minutes reading the brochure carefully, then he came to me again and said that he wanted to apply for Operation Officer vacancy. I replied with a standard answer basically saying that this is a position for entry level and we're aiming for fresh graduates than people with experience. He insisted and he said he wanted to give it a try. "There's no harm in trying right?" he said to me. I heard that kind of question more than enough starting from the time we opened the booth, but it's his face that got me stunned. Through his face I could feel that he was desperate and flame of hope flickered at his eyes. He needed a job. He would sacrificed all his experience just to get a new job. Why would he do that? I probably would never know, and I don't want to guess. I was afraid that the story behind his hope and despair is one that I don't want to listen, one that could be powerful enough for me to weep secretly. I took the barcode from his hand and asked my colleague to register his name for Operation Officer vacancy. Then I gave it back to him and smiled. I wish I could do more than just a smile. I wish I could tell him that things will eventually become better, but I couldn't because I knew that was not always the case. This is the real world, not a fairy tale. Here, stories don't always have a happy ending. I just hoped that a smile and a simple registration could make him feel a bit better. At the end of the day, that man might never even got a call from my office, and that's just his faith. During Saturday and Sunday, I encountered even more people like that old man. Later that night I went to see my closest friends. It's something that has become a tradition for years now, and it started to feel like a regular poker night. A friend brought along his friend, a career consultant or something like that. These days, it seems that there's always a spesific branch of consultancy for any of your personal problem, what a business. He told us about your job is not your career and you have to follow your passion in choosing a job. Things that are familiar in my ears. He used all the available jargons in the "career consultancy" dictionary to convince us that finding a job is irrelevant and what's important is to follow your passion then you can find your career.My mind promptly recalled my meeting with that old man. Probably, that old man doesn't even have the understanding of what his passion trully is. And maybe, he was not even looking for passion. To him, work with your passion, is nothing more than a jargon. This friend of my friend suddenly said: "Hell, you have to live on top of your wings. Work in business where your passion would be regarded.". That would be the ideal condition in a "ceteris paribus" condition. Unfortunately, life is not very ideal these days... Some of us are lucky to find a job that suits our passion. Some of us know where our passion lies, but haven't got the chance to grasp it. Some of us have the "financial security" to pursuit our passion regardless the fact that maybe not much of money is earned through that "passion". Some of us, and quite many I'm sure, just don't have the luxury of financial security to pursuit our passion (if there's any) because simply, and practically, passion doesn't always pays the bill. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not playing the sarcastic role here (though the different of being sarcastic and realistic can be as thin as a toilet paper). What I'm simply saying is that, though it's good to hear those motivation on career and stuffs, please also be aware that the world is not idealistic and no matter how good it sounds, at the end of the day, you'll end up with a series of considerations that are sometimes contradictive to your passion and idealism. That's where you have to choose with all the constraints that you have. Another thing is that, when you're climbing up the ladder of career, don't forget to look down (not in a negative sense) sometimes and see how people are striving to climb the same ladder with different weight on their shoulders.I don't really know the story of that old man that I met. Whether the Company will even call him for interview or not is something that is out of my circle of influence. I can only hope, and pray, that he'll find a good job and hopefully, in line with his passion. I'm grateful to God that I've been given a job that, at least until now, suits my passion. I reccomend you who is reading this article now to do the same... Be grateful...
