The clock ticks on. The fluorescent light above you blinks on and off. A colleague yawns. Your lower back is starting to hurt from sitting for so long. As you stare at your computer, do you wonder if you’re stuck in the wrong job?
Click start to play today’s Spell It, where you can spot the word “career”.
According to an October 2018 report in the US-based news website Vox, we often look for the wrong things in job searches – what we think will make us happy at work, is often very different from what actually will.
First, it doesn’t all come down to the money. A meta-analysis of 100 studies, published by the University of Notre Dame, UK, found that there’s only a very weak relationship between our salaries and our job satisfaction. Above an income of around $40,000 (Dh146,922) per year, pay had absolutely no effect on daily happiness. Other factors, like health, relationships, and a sense of purpose, were far more significant to one’s overall job satisfaction.
Second, some might think the easier the job, the better. But evidence suggests facing challenges at our jobs gives us a sense of achievement at the end of the day. According to an April 2012 study in the international journal Applied Psychology, we gain an immense amount of satisfaction in our work when the demands our employers place on us match our abilities.
Third, and it may seem contradictory, is the idea that focusing on what interests us is the way to a satisfying job. But multiple psychology studies, such as the November 2020 study by the University of Houston, US, published in the Netherlands-based Journal of Vocational Behaviour, have found that what may interest us as a fresh college graduate may be vastly different from what we find engaging 10 years later. So, placing a great deal of weight on interests, when searching for a job, is no guarantee of finding stimulating, satisfying work.
Fourth, finding engaging work that you can do day in and out, without feeling like a hamster running on a treadmill, is important. According to the Vox report, researchers have found four key factors that allow this to happen: autonomy (we need to feel we are in control of our work and choices), clear tasks (a clearly defined start and end helps us feel like we’re progressing), variety (different tasks keep us motivated), and feedback (high levels of feedback have been found to lead to motivation and contentment).
Fifth, knowing that our work somehow helps others, is crucial for overall happiness. Hundreds of studies, such as a 2005 study published in the US-based journal Review of General Psychology, have found that finding a ‘sense of meaning’ in our work, and understanding how it impacts others, is a reliable way of boosting our own mood and wellbeing.
What expectations did you have from your own work, when you first started? Play today’s Spell It and tell us at games@gulfnews.com.
