Think about your lifestyle
The things I’m good at make me a great fit for a standard 9-5 office job, and I have had several of those before. Having done that, I know that about six months in, the idea of spending one more minute turning an inbox into an outbox will have me strongly considering throwing my laptop out of the nearest window.
My ideal lifestyle is one where I have to solve a lot of creative problems, face new challenges, and get to self-direct in my day-to-day work. After this much time learning how to lead, getting told that I have to make copies by 5PM really rubs me the wrong way.
Thus, in my search for academic jobs, I look for roles that dictate a lot of creativity and freedom. This, for some people, would mean anxiety and disaster. So, before you apply for, and especially before you accept, a new job, think about the kind of life you’d lead in that role. And it’s not about the money: having talked to them, a lot of the richest people in tech, for example, are absolutely miserable. Do something that makes you want to get up in the morning even on the hard days.
What are the costs involved with a job?
Taking a new job often means a move that will take you away from friends and family, in addition to costing you a fair bit of money. Having done construction for two decades, it takes a toll on your body. Every job has its costs that aren’t just monetary, and they need to be considered carefully.
For example, a lot of states have passed, or are passing, laws that dictate what even college educators can and cannot say in the classroom. Such laws, regardless of who passes them, strike me as wrong, and I am simply unwilling to have ideas suppressed before they can see the light of day in good-faith arguments. I’m also really not willing to do roofing anymore since I value my back and knees for hiking. So, the search continues. At the end of the day, the important thing for me is to find work in which I feel free, and as though I contribute to the world in a positive way.
Since we spend so much time working, it’s important to take the time to think of the kind of work that we want to do. I would hate, at the end of a long career, to look back and think that all I worked for was someone else’s profits. To me, at least, balancing financial concerns with a life worth living, and work that makes the world a better place, is an important thing to try to achieve. For now, I think I’ll stay in education, and try to do what I can to help people learn how to think critically, read widely, and participate in communities that make the world a better place one day at a time.