You are going for an interview and they ask you why do you want this job? What will your answer be… I am sure we all will have our own answers…. And based on our situation our real answer can be different… I say real answer because not everyone will give the real answer.. they will give the answer that they feel would help them land on the job.. unless they don’t care about the job.. they will also give the real answer if they think that cooking up an answer is dishonest..

Forget that question for a moment…. Even if we talk about Weaknesses and Strength… How many of us know exactly what our weakness is and how many of us in that will be willing to share that with our new employer.. There are even people who struggle to find a weakness… I mean that is ok.. some people really think they don’t have one… or may be…. they don’t think they have a weakness that is going to be relevant for the employer.. Why does the employer want to know of a weakness that will not impact their work there… Right…?

Now coming back to why do people want a job… Growth is one obvious reason… say you are on a job and you want to get a new one…. But if you do not have a job and you need one to take care of your bills… what will the answer be then..? the honest answer is I need to pay bills… But how many employers will like such an answer… that answer does not make the employer feel important… or they think that the person who answers does not find more value in the employer… the answer is not sexy enough…

Every company likes to hear that the candidate is looking for a job but is there because of growth and opportunities… They accept that answer even while thinking that it might not be true… any other answer seems impolite.. may be… or viewed as a lack of commitment…

But aren’t you most committed based on the fact that it pays your bills… that is if paying bills is a factor…. Is there any better reason to work when that is what you need… I am not saying growth or opportunity are not good or that people are not looking for it.. And both those translate into money or things money can buy….

If you look at the Tech sector there is this whole idea of working on the cutting edge.. that means no one wants to work on the legacy.. right…? I was thinking about this question and seeing if there are alternative answers to this question…

Here is one I felt.. My current job does not give me a great future…. there is probably going to be a lay off sometime soon and the company is not doing that well and I am looking out…

Another interesting thing people say is that they are in between jobs… but the truth will be ‘I am out of job..’ but just saying ‘I am out of job’ makes it feel negative than saying ‘I am between jobs…’ May be because saying I am between jobs also shows a confidence that you will get into one soon…

But then the question that comes is if job and bills are your only incentive… why will then you stick to this job…. May be you are joining for desperation and how can the employer take desperation as a long term commitment…

But if the employer can fire you… you can also leave them… people remain in a job either because they like it or because they don’t have many other options or they just are too lazy to look around…. I have been in all these stages personally in my career…. Employees fire someone for non performance or politics or just that they cannot afford.. And yes as part of a layoff…

So where is the commitment…? So why do you need a job…? Think about it… I think my reasons are always a mix of all these… And I think it is for all of us… There would be a primary reason, secondary and Tertiary reason and so on… And this primary reason can be different at different times… I have also been in all these positions…

Is a job beyond a job…. Next few days let us talk about jobs… May be things like commitment to job.. colleagues… expectations and so on… even thoughts on how back to commuting will make us feel…. Stay Tuned

Categories: Enjoying Life and Work, Work & Career

Tags: Career, job, need job, Work