Winning - Jack Welch [93]
Joel could not love his work more.
“Sometimes I ask myself, ‘What am I doing here? I could be eating a very nice, civilized lunch in a corporate dining room right now, and instead I’m in a high-crime school trying to get staff to work together to enforce our discipline code,’” Joel once told me. “But I grew up in public housing in Queens, and I’m a product of inner city New York public schools. I owe a lot to the principals and teachers who invested their lives in the system and changed my life and the vision of my opportunities. I’m lucky enough to be in a position to give something back. I don’t want to sound pompous, but this work feels more important than anything I’ve ever done.”
On a much smaller scale, I know what he means about a job feeling meaningful. My work always felt really significant, even when (in retrospect) it was hardly that. I’ll never forget when I was a teaching assistant at the University of Illinois and I was asked to present my PhD thesis on dropwise condensation to an international conference on heat transfer that was being held in Boulder, Colorado. You would have thought I was in the running for the Nobel Prize. I was a nervous wreck before my lecture and practiced for weeks. When the big day arrived, I spoke—and received the polite applause I deserved. That didn’t stop me from rushing to the phone to call my mother in a state of complete exhilaration.
To tell you the truth, I still remember the excitement of that day!
Luckily, finding a job that touches your core is not hard. Such jobs are everywhere—every piece of work has the potential, since it only has to feel important to you. Shortly after I retired from GE, we were in Montreal, eating dinner at a small French restaurant, where we fell into conversation with a fellow tourist. Within a few minutes, we learned that this fellow was “the first mercury-free dentist in Quechee, Vermont.” You could feel the pride bursting out of his chest. I didn’t want to suddenly start a second career as a dentist, but his enthusiasm sure was infectious.
As I said before, every job has its ups and downs. But if a job doesn’t excite you on some level—just because of the stuff of it—don’t settle. And don’t worry either about knowing when you find a job with meaning.
You’ll feel it.
THOSE SPECIAL CASES
The job fit signals can be applied across pretty much all job situations, but a couple of special cases call for more specific discussion.
The first is finding your first real job. For a few lucky people, this process is relatively straightforward. They’ve got great grades from a quality school and some impressive work experience along the way. These new graduates, out of college or recent MBAs, usually have plenty of options, and I hope the signals in this chapter will be helpful in choosing wisely.*
Many people, however, do not get their pick of first job assignments. Their school record is only OK, their job experience not particularly special. That puts them in a position where they have to sell themselves to an audience that ranges from skeptical to downright negative.
If you’re in that category, my strong advice is just be real and come clean.
There is nothing less appealing than an applicant with a so-so record overselling himself with a lot of bravado or overeagerness. It’s just so phony, and experienced managers can smell the fakery a mile away.
The best thing you can do is tell your true story. “OK, I know my grades aren’t that great,” you might say. “I spent a lot of time playing intramural sports and, to be honest, a lot of time with my friends. I definitely could have studied more, but I had other priorities, which probably weren’t the best