musings on work
So… I’ve had my first ‘real’ job for a little over a year now. I never would have pictured myself in a business setting – explaining terms of sale, discussing account terms, working with master data files, researching and reporting sales history, fill rates, etc. But I just LOVE my job. But if you could hear me talk about work sometimes, or if you see how tired I am in the evening, sometimes I wonder why I like it so much.
Why do I? Is it the competition? The joy of doing something well? Is it me striving to be the best? Is it my need for recognition of a job well done? For example, during my mid-year review, I was pleased to see that I was at “Meets Expectations” for all areas of my job. However, I couldn’t see why I wasn’t at “Exceeds Expectations” for anything. I mean, I work my butt off in that job and I do it better, faster, and with more attention to detail than anyone else in my department. How could I not exceed expectations? If I couldn’t, who could?
I’m told by my boss, and a few other people, that I get a lot of compliments from upper management, but all of them fail to make it to me. And it doesn’t help that my boss exaggerates like crazy and doesn’t necessarily tell the absolute truth — she prefers to paint it a pretty color instead. So how do I know where I really stand with her? She prefers me to my co-workers, I know that. She hand selected me to be her backup and I’ve been told by others that I’m being groomed to be her replacement… and I believe that may be true.
Maybe I like my job so much because its challenging – and few things challenge me. Maybe its because I haven’t worked anywhere else and I don’t know how other companies/corporations work, so I don’t know what I’m gaining or missing…