Before starting, a short disclaimer - some strong language here, beyond what I normally write in my blog posts. However, if it's OK to appear uncensored in a local Malaysian news portal (more than once), then I guess it should OK for general consumption....
It's a typical weekend afternoon in mid October. Nothing to do, actually, little that can be done, other than to stay at home and wait out the RMCO (Recovery Movement Control Order) that is in effect throughout the whole country. As I recalled an article I read recently in a local online news portal, I thought it would be a good idea for a blog post, given my own personal experience.
In the above-mentioned article(which you can read HERE), the author compared job usefulness during today's Covid-19 situation with the concept of "bullshit jobs" coined in a book published by the recently-deceased David Graeber, former professor of anthropology at the London School of Economics. Now, this was someone who seems to have much in common with Scott Adams (author of Dilbert). There is an uncanny amount of truth in their stories - take it from me.
Aptly put, such a job is one where there is little or no perceived value add, and yet seem to exist in an organization. Example of this include being tied up in too many unnecessary meetings, official documentation (the bigger and more formal an organization, the higher the risk of this happening).
Apparently, this is quite a popular topic, as just a month before, K. Kathirgugan shared his thoughts on the subject matter as well. The quote from the book that really connected with me was "Those who work bullshit jobs are often surrounded by honour and prestige; they are respected as professionals, well paid, and treated as high achievers – as the sort of people who can be justly proud of what they do. Yet secretly they are aware that they have achieved nothing; they feel they have done nothing to earn the consumer toys with which they fill their lives; they feel it’s all based on a lie – as, indeed, it is.”
All this is data driven, as a 2015 survey by YouGov found that 37% of British workers think that their job is "not making a meaningful contribution to the world". That's a little over one-third of the workforce, who either are excess baggage supported by the remaining 63% of the organization or who are only perceived at doing meaningless jobs.
The key word here is "perception", which is linked to job satisfaction. As those who are stuck with these jobs or roles as still paid and typically hold high ranking titles (at least from sound), knowing that one makes no difference is enough to put many of us into the mindset of change. I said "us" as I was among one of "lucky" ones myself a couple of years ago.
Now begins my story....
A couple of years ago, I somehow got reassigned to such a job. Naturally, I was not happy. For some time. Anger clouds the mind. Really. I was fortunate enough to have an unofficial advisor / mentor / friend, who was truthfully part of the reason for this mess, but in the end was part of the solution as well (more on this towards the end).
When faced with such bad luck, the first step (hardest and I feel the one that took the most time) is to ACCEPT THE CHANGE. There was no turning back, no options, as this was not even my choice or with my consent. Somehow being part of an organization, the employer does have a final say in assigning jobs to the employees. Being stuck in this situation came with a flood of negative emotions (which would lead to self-destruct / downward spiral / self-fulfilling prophecy of doom, so the quicker one accepts the situation, the quicker one can move on to the next phase.
The next phase here is to ANALYSE THE SITUATION. Being an technical R&D person for 20+ years in the semiconductor industry by profession, by choice and by nature, strategic thinking and data-driven solution are part of our everyday life. Once I toned down my emotions (there was still strong drive within me, but at least now I could think straight, sort of like the Hulk in Avengers:Endgame), I could then piece together the facts:
- Is this new position really that bad?
- Why am I unhappy?
- What do I really want?
- What to do next?
That last bit was the part where I brainstormed a dozen ideas, from the unthinkable to the impossible, and after doing so, allowed me to sort and plan out scenarios that could work out. Of course, these could work, or they could fail. Important is to BELIEVE that if you keep trying, you will eventually succeed. Even if it means trying the same idea more than once, unlike the cartoon where Willie Coyote, who has many, many ideas (sponsored by ACME?) but never could catch the Roadrunner. If I had given up even before trying, the situation could never have gotten better (after all, I'm a strong believer in making my own luck).
One thing to remember, if you are not the most unfortunate person alive, chances are YOU ARE NOT ALONE. In my then-current bullshit job role, I was not the one one, nor was I the first. Scanning the organization and taking a note of who was in this role before and who were my new peers enabled me to delve deeper into how the past colleagues managed to move onwards, and how my new buddies were handling the situation. As it turns out, there were only 4 of us in the local site (few others at various global locations), and we had much in common in terms of our thinking. In our small circle, we exchanged ideas, collaborated on work (though it didn't seeming add value, but doesn't mean it was easy), and supported each other through the hard times. To this day, we remain good friends - this is the only silver lining to the otherwise disaster story.
Last thing to do, was to form a game plan and ACT. Visibly. I felt that people need to see that I existed and to hear my side of the story. Having the will and right mindset to change. I spoke to my unofficial advisor / mentor / friend mentioned earlier, to align that we are on the right frequency, and that my plan was to understand what this job was about, do it reasonably well, while doing all that was possible to transfer to another role in the company. That was a good plan, and it wasn't mine - glad to have had good advice, as otherwise who knows how much worse the situation could have gotten....
In the end, I did the following:
- Figured out the bare minimum expectation to remain employed and do what has to be done (doing extra is meaningless and thus extra resources would be best spent elsewhere).
- Further studies (night classes). Thanks to one of my new peers - better spend the energy to increase my skills and market value. At least for now, staying back late after office hours for the company's sake is a thing of the past.
- Considered what job I would rather be doing instead - otherwise, blindly applying for internal transfers I end up with yet another bullshit job.
- Actively pursue prospective new positions until successful. Good things will not come on their own.
For that last part - I made many attempts - some with no response from the hiring managers, others with informal interviews (but in the jobs went to someone else). Just as I was about to broaden my reach to external companies, a friend alerted me to an opening posted on the company intranet (I had been looking here weekly, not sure how I missed it), which was a 100% match to what I would rather be doing. Just didn't believe that such an opening would suddenly appear. Immediately, I applied and also made a few calls, and asked for details, support and recommendation. In the next few weeks, my application received a response, and following a series of interviews, I finally learned that my application was successful!
Today, in my new job, there is much more work to do, much more pressure from work - but, hey, at least now I have a real job! Some may call me crazy or stupid, but now I have the motivation to work at my very best once again!
I'm grateful that during this time, I made some new best friends, finally started my post-graduate studies. To sum up my short recap, I'm glad I could recognize my unfortunate predicament, set the right mindset and change. Hope there won't be another such disaster in my career, but if by chance it does happen again, at least I know I've made it out once, so I'll definitely make it out again if I have to!
Note: I've used some graphics I found on the internet to help illustrate some of my key points. None of this is for profit. If anyone holds any copyright and would like me to remove, do let me know.
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