Ang Kape Ni LaTtEX

Jeff Atwood, a distinguished software developer, writes about the early days of his career without a direction, finding the career that he loves, and having fun while doing his job. :

Like my Dad, I spent many years after college flitting from job to job. I had nothing to complain about. I was making a great living. I was never on the market for particularly long before some new opportunity would come up. I enjoyed my work. But I wasn’t choosing a career path. I was letting happenstance determine what I was, and what I was becoming. [Coding Horror]

I found it amusing because I can relate to it. For the most part of my career (although I did stick to software development) I was also flitting like a feather, and I have been with five different companies in as many years. I was even struck more when Jeff stated his frustrations with his work environment, a frustration I shared back when I was working in Philippine National Bank:

The work was interesting, but it was abundantly clear that software was not the lifeblood of this organization. Outsourcing was in the air. Although my coworkers were competent, nobody was quite as obsessed with the software as I was. My passion for software, and everything around it, was clearly not shared. [Coding Horror]

While I was at PNB, I could count on my fingers how many of my colleagues see software development as a craft and skill that has to be improved upon and learned, while the rest merely see it as a means to an end; just another profession that comes with a check to pay the bills. I hope I am wrong about them though.

Jeff Atwood’s post is devoid of techie jargon his blog is often about so please do take time to read it; I’m sure you’ll find it quite insightful, even if you’re non-techie.

I only left PNB a little over two years ago, and a month before I left I wrote a piece wherein I accused people who were taking up nursing to fly abroad, or taking employment as call-center agents as people who see themselves as having no choice, and taking up jobs that they do not really love or care about just to be able to make ends meet:

This reasoning of a lot of people on why they give up their dreams and likes for jobs not to their liking is something to the tune of “beggars cannot be choosers.” Sure, because of the hardships of life in this country we can’t really choose what career path to take.

But come to think of it, we lost our choice simply because we see ourself as beggars. And we push the choice of “doing what we love most” away because we fear that we would die of hunger if we do not.

However, in the end, it’s all a matter of choice. Push that choice away and you end up with the misery of not really loving what you do. Without love for what you do, you would not excel. Without excellence you would not attain fulfillment. Without fulfillment, you’ll die without really feeling you did anything else but merely survive. [Ang Kape Ni LaTtEX]

In the two years since I wrote that piece a lot of things have changed. For the record, my sentiment with regards to call center agents and nurses have softened somewhat. I now believe that it is perfectly understandable that people take up these jobs if only to better provide for themselves. However, I still believe that they won’t find fulfillment until they finally shift to a job that they do love, or if they use their hard-earned money to set up a company or a business that they are passionate about.

I have a friend who is taking up nursing right now, if only to be able to raise her daughter to a better future (she’s a single mom). But this woman loves to write, and I am sure that if she does get to the US, she would look for opportunities to be a writer there. She’ll need the nursing job to pay for her bills, sure, but that won’t stop her from doing the thing she’s passionate about.

In those two years, I can also say that my passion for what I’ve been doing has paid off. At the end of that piece, I wrote this, and it made me smile:

If all goes well, in time, I can tell myself that I did not merely survive but found fulfillment, despite the ramblings of those who see themselves as “unfortunate.” [Ang Kape Ni LaTtEX]

Today I am earning around four times what I was earning when I was working at PNB. My wife and I have also been able to set up a travel agency business, allowing us to earn (my wife, in particular) revenues that would have been unimaginable back when I was in PNB and she was in her 8 to 5 job. At least in my case, I could attest that there is truth in believing that following your passion will lead to fulfillment, both in terms of doing what you want to do, and in financial terms.

It is perfectly fine to accept a call center job or to take up nursing and go abroad if only to make ends meet. But find out what you love to do, and never lose sight of your passions in life. Use the call center or nursing job as a means to save money until you are able to jump to a career path that you really want to take, or to set up a business built on products you love and rely on. It will not only make you immensely happier, it has the potential to make you much much wealthier than you can imagine.