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Sui Generis is good at dealing with people

I took a few of those job-matching surveys in high school that were supposed to reveal my ideal career (they always made some impractical suggestion like "artist," or "writer"). One question I always had trouble with was, "would you rather work with people or computers?" It's a very important question. You can tell because of its binary nature. The problem was that I had no distinct preference for one over the other; I like working with both. In fact, I think that in my current job it is more rewarding to work with people, and more enjoyable to work alone on my computer.

When I do data entry type stuff or routine jobs, I can plug in my headphones and rock out, and that's awesome. Plus, if I'm writing correspondence or designing spreadsheets or powerpoint presentations, I want to do it myself. But it's also good to have friendly and competent coworkers nearby. I like having backup. And when we get together on a group project and accomplish something huge, I feel really satisfied.

I started college with a Computer Science major but switched after a semester because I was worried that working on the computer would be all I ever did. I wanted a real human connection too. I need a good balance between the two polar ends. I'm still trying to find it.

Categories: work

2 comments:

Nathan said...

I do the software engineering thing and definitely prefer working on projects where there is more collaboration with coworkers than just going it alone (such as my current job, unfortunately). I guess I'm not much of a "self-starter"...

drvono said...

I feel you. I'm a PC Analyst now and I get to do both. This morning is dark, rainy, and quiet, for example, and the lights on the floor are still off. I've got my headphones on and I'm getting lost in the new Sigur Ros album and posting on your blog.

In one part of the job, I get to exercise my technical and analytical skills, trying to figure out what's wrong with computers essentially. At other times, I get to work with people and then the great satisfaction when both come together - I fix the issue and make somebody happy. That is the best part of my job.