According to Maslow’s famous pyramid, the need for self-realization comes last, after four more important groups of needs - physiological (food, water), safety, belonging to a social group and the needs of respect and recognition.
Why does a person need a career?
Understanding the intricacies of human psychology, a person needs a career for self-affirmation, self-development and simply to stroke his pride. People who have been given power lightly are unlikely to be able to lead their subordinates fairly. Most likely, they will simply take out their anger on them, give them obviously impossible tasks and delight in their superiority. Another type of bosses, who have achieved everything themselves, are most often loyal to their subordinates, but among them there are also those who enjoy the process of leading and giving instructions.
Men build a career to provide for their family and future children, since they are breadwinners and hunters by nature. The other part of the male population sets itself the goal of providing exclusively for themselves and their future. As for women, with the advent of those times when the weaker sex demanded equality with men, rivalry began. Many leadership positions were given to women. Girls from all over the world began to master male professions, take an interest in cars, take reality tests, study programming and delve into those areas of activity that for many years were considered not a woman’s business.
What's behind all this career drive? Psychologists partly explain this phenomenon as an unhealthy desire to lead. It all depends on upbringing, what exactly the parents laid in the child’s consciousness, how he saw his parents, whether he felt the kindness and love of loved ones. Tyrants are leaders who, as a rule, come from dysfunctional families who take revenge on the whole world for their unhappy childhood. Women, for the most part, are driven to the desire to build a dizzying career by the lack of personal life and disappointment in all men on the planet. There is another female reason - a thirst for independence from her own husband. Yes, now it's every man for himself. Concern about their financial situation pushes girls to take desperate steps and shifts the weight from family values to work values. But few people think about the fact that the desire to climb higher and higher on the career ladder most often deprives women of simple family happiness.
Of course, a person needs a career to have confidence in the future, because it is so important to feel the ground under one’s feet. It strengthens and helps to overcome life's difficulties. But is she worth losing loved ones because of her? A husband and wife cannot live under the same roof when their home has turned into a boxing ring. You cannot turn life into a competition for the height of career growth. Just develop yourself, do what you like, and be sure to find time for your family. After all, a young lady’s career is changeable, but a person needs constancy, care and love.
Strange question in the title of the article, isn't it? Well, why? – this is money, prestige and confidence in the future. This answer lies on the surface, but, as it seems to us, it represents only the tip of the iceberg. We offer you an alternative point of view.
Career is money
This is not disputed. The higher the position, the higher the salary, plus various guarantees and benefits such as vacation in the Bahamas twice a year. There is a significant amendment. The most valuable things cannot be bought with money (or money is not needed for this): health, love, communication, the beauty of nature, the opportunity to take care of loved ones, read books, admire works of art. A person who has made a career at the expense of, for example, health or personal happiness - is it worth emulating such a standard?
Career is confidence in the future
Career is status
And status means honors and, of course, power. The ability to manage other people, make decisions according to your taste. There is also another side to this. First, you need to be responsible for decisions. Secondly, while you command your subordinates, someone inevitably commands you. Be it a superior (even above there is a founder), or government authorities or the tax office.
So what is the point of fighting for every step on the career ladder?
It seems to us that the greatest value that a career gives is freedom of choice.
A true professional chooses his own path - his job, his employer, his company, and sometimes even his country.
His wealth of knowledge and experience allows him to quickly adapt to changing conditions and always be in service. A great specialist feels confident, so he makes decisions rationally, and not based on the mood of the project founder or the individual tastes of his wife (this also happens). A true professional is a ship that strives towards the goal with all sails, and not a tennis ball bouncing from one wall to another - depending on the circumstances. If it is worth making a career, then, first of all, for the opportunity to choose a job that brings satisfaction from all points of view. Choose based on internal motives, with minimal dependence on momentary circumstances.
When we apply for a job, we are interviewed, tested in every possible way, and we, as a rule, guess only about the superficial aspects of the interviews. So, what do they ask us during interviews and why?
Why do people make careers and do you need career growth? If you answer yes, then think about the answer to the question WHY. If you say that career growth involves a large salary, then you do not need career growth - your motivation is a high salary.
Why might a person quit? This question tests your demotivation. You seem to be responsible “for everyone,” but you speak for yourself. You are talking about what exactly you consider to be the reason that would prompt you to quit.
Why do people with a good level of income strive to earn more? This question tests how to manage you further, what your comfort zone is (it’s good when it’s not just about money).
What is a good leader? If you answer this question with words like: who understands, supports, etc., this indicates your readiness for mistakes and the need for management to forgive them. A good leader is a professional, period!
How do people choose jobs? If you list criteria such as “proximity to place of residence,” “higher salary,” and a number of others, this will indicate that you have a low level of job loyalty. The correct answer would be the following: according to professional interests.
Why do some achieve results and others do not? Or why do some sell a lot, others sell little? If a person answers: lucky or unlucky, had connections or something else, he avoids responsibility. If the explanations are related to the person himself, he knows how to take responsibility. The one who sets goals achieves results!
The manager is on vacation, but everyone is working. Why? If the answer is: there are cameras everywhere, there is always someone to snitch on, fear, etc., then this person is not suitable. If we're talking about responsibility, that's fine.
Have you ever had any failures? Everyone must answer yes. To the question “What were they connected with?” a real answer is needed, and the person must name his real problems, such as haste.
Why do some people like to go on business trips and others not? If the answer starts with the fact that traveling to new places is interesting, it’s good; if it starts with the fact that parting with family, then it’s bad. We follow the sequence of answers.
Pay attention to a number of similar questions, answering which you describe YOUR vision of the situation:
- Why do some people stay late at work and others not?
- Why are people late?
- Why do they conflict?
- Why do they steal?
- Why is a person stressed?
- What do you think will make a person work better?
- What causes conflicts?
For example, when answering the question “What causes conflicts?” you are describing your own conflict zones.
Questions “What do you like about work?”
What do you like about being a salesperson? They determine whether you are focused on the process or the result.
If you like DOING, then this is a process. If you DO, then the person is result-oriented, which is more important. If you get a job as a sales representative, the result is important to you, not the process.
How do you think document management should be done? According to a plan or on your own?
If an employer hires you as a performer, then you need an answer with an existing scheme. If you are an idea generator, then you need creativity, solutions, initiative.
One of the most common questions is: “What will you do…..?” (the situation is described). Here it is tested whether you will think, analyze or act. Again, it all depends on the position. If you are a financier or marketer, analysis is first of all important to you. For other positions, actions are important.
Often there is one “BUT” in this question that tests your independence. If something happens, will you consult with someone, should you do this in principle, and what to do if the person you need is not there...
You make plan X. You go to your boss, he has plan Y. You think that your plan is better. Your actions. The answer to this question tests the relationship between controllability and the ability to make independent decisions.
You are working and accidentally found out that a colleague (not a friend) is doing poor work. Your actions? If you say that it’s none of your business, it means you don’t take the company’s problems seriously.
I would like to draw your attention, dear reader, to one point. How often have I seen that candidates read a lot of smart books, including “How to get a good job?!”, then come for an interview, pass it successfully, start working and... quit... And there is only one reason for this - inconsistency with the position held. Therefore, when choosing a job, evaluate yourself. This will save time for both you and the employer.
My favorite question. It looks so simple at first glance, but in reality there is nothing more complicated than simplicity. And I always ask it second, after asking about the name of the person I’m starting to work with.
In modern society, the idea of a “successful career” is promoted and cultivated. This makes it easier to manage people – pointing them to the most “promising” areas of development and application of forces. And they believe and strive to achieve. But what about your own words? It’s funny, but I’ve very rarely met people who are able to clearly articulate why they need a career. In most cases, this question causes bewilderment, irritation, confusion, sometimes fun, and almost always you can get a number of cliché answers: I want money, a beautiful and well-fed life, fame, I want to manage others, enter the highest circles of society, I don’t want to work as a laborer all my life for pennies and the like. In principle, everything is clear, but, frankly speaking, it is somehow boring, pale, there is not enough energy - that powerful driving force that can snatch a person out of the crowd of his own kind and lift him above them.
What is needed for this? I’ll give you an example of one of the answers that I once heard to my usual professional question. He was like, “Why do I need a career? Yes, I just can’t live any other way. After all, more than anything in the world, I am disgusted by the idea that I can be the most ordinary person, living a gray and nondescript life among nobodies like myself.” Oh yeah! Perhaps such a person will really tear out the veins and, clinging with his claws to any more or less significant ledge, climb to his saving Olympus. After all, His Majesty Fear is driving him there, constantly breathing down his neck... But let’s not talk about that anymore, it’s enough that this man is, of course, a very successful careerist. And how many truly brilliant careers were built, strange as it may sound, “out of fear” or “thanks to fear.” It’s a pity, but successful advancement up the career ladder is unlikely to give the person I mentioned inner peace, but, as they say, someone who is not bothered by anything is unlikely to have good reasons to move.
The question “Why do you need a career?” can be reformulated by asking it as follows: “What do you want to get in the end?” After all, building a career is a process. And “What should be the result?”
Perhaps I will never get tired of saying that the answer to this question should be obtained at the very beginning of the path, somewhere at the base, so that after years and steps passed with such difficulty, one does not have to return to the beginning in search of something not found in time answer. And look for yourself with him.
P.S: By the way, to clarify, I note that there is no correct answer to this question. There is only one who is honest towards himself.
“It’s worth climbing to the top if only to look at the people from above,” Frank Moore Colby
Shuvalova Maria
Project Manager JOHNNY JOKER
Project address:
A career is a lifelong endeavor. Like any long journey, it begins with a small idea, timid steps characterized by uncertainty and inferiority.
But as you move forward to the top, these steps gradually turn into a confident lion's gait.
Why do people strive to make a career?
If a person is satisfied with the scenario of living on a salary that is unlikely to be enough to buy a decent car and, especially, housing, then he need not ask this question.
But if you want to achieve significant heights in life, realize your potential and reveal your talents, you should think about this.
The answer to such a question can be presented in any form, but the essence is the same: one makes a career in order to turn from a hired worker, whose work is valued at mere pennies, into the master of one’s destiny, ensuring one’s wealth and independence.
Career and education are interconnected concepts. True, in our time, the role of education does not play such a significant role as in the old days. But this does not mean at all that its importance can be underestimated.
A student’s career begins in the final years of a higher educational institution, when he has a sufficient level of knowledge and a clearly defined life goal.
In order to get on the path of constant growth and progress, both financially and socially, as early as possible, career development should begin in the last year or two of education.
Professional career development is possible both in business and in the hired labor sector. You can start as an ordinary sales consultant who barely has any sales skills, but as you gain experience, within 10 years you can become the director of a trading company.
This is an example of career growth. Also, to achieve truly great heights in life, you can try your hand at business. It is not as simple (not easy, but simple) as in the hired labor sector, and there is more risk here, but success will not be long in coming if you manage to devote yourself completely to your business.
Important Career Principles
It doesn’t matter what sector we are talking about - wage labor or business - the main idea is unchanged: you must constantly strive for more! Movement is life, and if there is a chance to realize your individual potential (and everyone has such a chance), you should never miss it. Below are some important principles that you should be familiar with:
- Education and career are inseparable. Despite the fact that many people nowadays relegate the need for education to the background, professional knowledge is needed to achieve great heights;
- The education and social career of young people should be similar in one thing - the presence of genuine interest in their work. So that work does not turn into hard labor and hatred for it does not grow day by day, it is important to choose a personal hobby or simply something that you like as your profession.
Every person has a good opportunity in life to take the path of progress and realize their potential. But many, unfortunately, miss it for various reasons. You need to constantly improve, develop, try something new - and your life will be fulfilling, and your bank account will be bigger.