Here's an area where I need some feedback. I was solicited by a headhunter for an IT job locally. The thing is, it's a pawn shop. Worse thing is, it's a purveyor of usurious payday loans. Most people think us atheists are hedonistic, amoral bloodsuckers. But that, of course, is not true with me (as most readers know from personal experience.) Sure I like to drink scotch and smoke cigars but so do a lot of so called religious folk. As we've seen from the news over the last twenty years or so (and from personal experience), there's a lot of hypocrisy in those that would urge you to live as Jesus suggested. But that's a tangent....
So tell me, dear reader, do I have any business working in the pawn and usury trade? My initial thinking is no, but I might be persuaded by a good argument. Thoughts?
While I need answers on the above, let's ask a deeper question. Do you believe in the product that your employers produce, or do you just do it for the money? I had a tough time at RadioShack because I thought it was a tired concept with a (literally) dying market, even though I was quite happy working IT projects that had little direct relevance to the end-product. To what degree does support of your product matter to you? If I can make a good living making IED's or nucular weapons or toxic foreign policy memos, does it matter? Is our conscience today as connected as it should be or are we just looking to make a buck? I'd love to hear from someone who has turned down a lucrative offer on moral/philosophical grounds.
If you got a 100% raise, would you work for McDonald's? Halliburton? Moveon.org? (pick your demon.)
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4 comments:
I was offered an "internship" (only called that because technically I'm still in school, despite my 10 years of IT experience) with the missiles division of Lockheed Martin, and turned it down because I didn't want to be in that industry.
I have a different perspective on "Fort Worth-based Payday Loan Company", though, and in fact I have applied for several positions there. I have a hard time buying the "predatory" argument against that industry, and while I've fortunately never been in a position to need to use their services, I also don't see a moral problem with them.
I say if you feel like you'll be challenged and find the work interesting, go for it!
The last time I worked somehwere that allowed me to believe in the product was when I was a school teacher. Unfortuantely, money ran thin and between that "calling" and the two additional part-time jobs I held to make a decent living, my patience also ran thin.
Hence my career as a PM in corporate America. I'm still guiding, planning, mitigating, enriching, coaching, leading, evaluating, etc. Now it's just with larger sized beings who tend to have a smaller capacity to get crap done.
I know - I didn't answer your question. I guess my answer would be; "Good luck finding something that you can truly put your heart into while still making a living." When you find it let me know and I'll foward my resume.
One should do what one enjoys, then it becomes less of a job and more of an ongoing reflection of your persona.
Ronni you don't believe in your current product? I can say this because I toiled in the toilet of RadioShack for so long.
Jim...easy for you to say, you have ten careers.
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