Dreadlocks

I want the workplace to be a place which embraces all lifestyles.  I want to work with people who don’t have families.  I want to work with people who don’t watch football every Sunday.  I want to spend my time by the office water cooler next to people who chose not to have kids.  People who don’t play the stock market, or wear suits, or have a retirement plan.  Is that weird?

When it comes to job qualifications, I feel that the line between merit and identity has been blurred.  What this means is that while in theory, people are hired by their ability to accomplish the job well, in practice, people are hired because they fit the mold and personality of what a good worker should be.  As a result certain people with certain personalities are excluded from the workplace even though they can work just as hard and do the job just as well.

We all know that in the past, various parts of our society were excluded from doing certain jobs – with the main example being that women and minorities were excluded from jobs reserved for white males.  While we have progressed and laws have been put into place to curb this blatant prejudice, the inequalities are still there.  While an employer can no longer ask for the sexual orientation and the ethnicity of the prospect, they can still ask questions to identify what they feel is a regular productive member of society – with the image they have in mind for this stereotype being a straight, white, male from a upper-middle class family.  That is not fair and I speak for the disadvantage minorities today in the workforce with this following rant.

I don’t care about who won the Steelers-Colts game last Sunday.  And just because I do not know the score, I still should be given all the chances that Chad does – such as having lunch with my boss, getting invited to happy hours after work.  I don’t find it fair that Brad gets to spend the first hour of the workday discussing with his co-workers the results of the fantasy sports league they are in but I have to document the work I do each hour because when anyone talks to me, it’s about business.

I don’t understand why others look poorly upon my desire to take a day off when I don’t have kids or a wife.  Johnny got to get a whole week off because it was his kid’s first days at school and he had to take his wife to a doctor’s appointment.  Why isn’t my need to volunteer at a local soup kitchen and to take art classes any less of a need for me?  They help in my self-discovery and just because my life goals don’t involve a family doesn’t mean that my life goals need to take a backseat to work.

I may be male, and I may be straight, or maybe I am not, but either way I am  not comfortable objectifying women, even if it is in private.  I do not mind that Tom and Frank do it behind closed doors as long as I don’t have to hear it, but I don’t see why they should get a promotion over me just because they have better “synergy” from thinking the same things about banging women.

Let’s put it this way, if you are a sharp-looking, business suit, gelled-hair white male but the proper “look” for a salesman was to be a dark-skinned female wearing rastafarian colors and having dreadlocks, how would you feel if you never got hired or promoted even though you did your job just as well?

Trinity college by Infomatique

The M.B.A., a degree synonymous with money and respect, has quickly become one of the most sought-after graduate degrees in the world today. Despite the recent economic downturn, interest in business school has not diminished but grown. In fact, Harvard Business School just recently reported a 24% increase in application volume for the 2008-2009 application year.

As someone who recently navigated the ins and outs of the application process, I would like to share my personal experiences and opinions in the hopes that it will benefit others who may consider business school in the future.

The first and most important question anyone considering business school should ask themselves is: Is business school right for me?

There are all sorts of reasons why people choose to apply to business school. Many think it’s a quick and easy route to wealth and power in the corporate world. Some see it as an extension of college in the form of one big party. Some apply for immigration reasons. Then there are others who apply simply because they are bored or uninspired with life, which, in my opinion, is the worst reason to apply.

When I asked myself this question two years ago, I was in a unique place in my life. I had recently changed careers, switching from tech to consulting. Having come from a highly technical background, I knew I had to get a formal business education to succeed in my new industry. On the personal front, I was in a seriously relationship with some who was planning to pursue a career abroad. In order to prepare myself for my own career abroad, I had to expand my personal and professional network and learn to work in an international business environment. Lastly, I was involved in a number of professional and non-profit organizations where I felt I could make a bigger impact with a business degree. Everything considered, going to business school was a decision that made sense for me.

It took me nearly two years of self reflection to figure out where I was in life, what my personal and career goals were, and how a MBA will help me. During the two years of introspection, I learned new things about myself, gained a more realistic perspective on business school, and in the process, developed a new sense of respect and appreciation for the MBA degree.

Going to business school is a time consuming and expensive proposition. For the right reasons, a business education can be the best investment one can ever makes. For the wrong reasons, it is 160-170k flushed down the toilet.

Stay tuned for more in this series!  Subscribe to I Need A Job Now today!

You, speaking confidently but feeling soulless: Well sir, I have a 10 year plan to be worth 7 figures by the age of 35.  I hope to start my own business around that time, and to have MBA.  I also believe in the potential of this company.  You guys went public recently and have shown strong sales number.  I want to ride that tidal wave and show you I can slug a homerun in this industry into the horizon of the future, sir.

You’re this 25-year old kid got a lot of spunk and a resume that would fly off monster.com like pancakes at a Google cafeteria.  You’re a go-getter, I love your attitude, and you know your stuff.  You are goal-oriented and you’re going to be successful one day, and I would want to make you a part of any company I was invested in.  And man, you can stuff three slick sales-talk metaphor sayings into one sentence.  But seriously, though, are you for real?

I think about what these kids are saying all the time.  I am one of these kids, in fact.  But when I’m sitting around a pub in Berkeley, kicking back with my mates and discussing life, I don’t talk about my imaginary 10 year career plan.  I just say that stuff in interviews so I can get the job.  But who really believes that stuff?  When we discuss life, we talk about how we want to travel the world.  Maybe find a good woman or man to be with.  Move to a new city, find something to be passionate about.  Maybe teach in a inner-city school or open up a small environment-friendly cafe-restaurant.

And that’s the problem.  There has always been a gap between life and work and now it is widening.  More and more people say what they need to say to get the job, but in the end they realize that they feel unfulfilled.  They realize that a job is necessary to pay the bills but now people are thinking that there is more to life than surviving.  People want to have a purpose, a reason, a passion, and they want to live life and not just get through it.  As a result, we see more and more of our youngest and brightest moving away from the private sector and joining programs like Teach for America.  And why shouldn’t they?  It’s the soullessness of being a part of the workforce that is driving them away.  That is what needs to be changed, not the good hearts of today’s youths.

The Retirement Hobo