Recently I was scrolling through Instagram when I noticed a pic of a cubicle with the phrase “Finally, a real job!” And this got me thinking about what that phrase actually means.
As myself and thousands of my peers enter that phase between graduation and employment, I hear the phrase “real job” get thrown around quite a bit in a lot of different contexts. So I took to social media to figure out what exactly the phrase meant.
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Boy was that a can of worms.
I quickly learned that not everyone has the same idea as to what a “real job” entails. Also, what people have been raised to believe is that a real job changes as it gains more exposure, either through college, work experience or just life in general. Because as we all know, information changes situations.
While some of my Facebook connections argued that a ‘real job’ includes a ‘real paycheck’, others were more inclined to believe that having a ‘real job’ meant that it fit a career path with your goals/passions in mind. Finally, some believed that it just meant simply that your coworkers weren’t college/high school students. All of these answers were fair in my mind, and I get where they’re all coming from.
My dad worked a blue collar, factory job for over 40 years. He always encouraged me to get a ‘real job’ where I wouldn’t be doing hard labor with my hands. To him, it didn’t really matter what I did per-say, just so long as it got me out of the factory floor and behind a desk. To him, that’s what a ‘real job’ meant.
So often we take the definition of a ‘real job’ as something that gets you a desk or your own cubicle. The job, whatever it may be, gets you out from behind the cash register, or the counter at a fast food joint, or the construction site. Real jobs have a stable income, and more often than not: benefits, 401k, insurance, etc. And I am not a fan of this definition.
I’ve admired and studied the entrepreneurial lifestyle for the past year and a half. I’m not talking about the “4 Hour Work Week” and passive income lifestyle. I’m talking about the 'grind your heart out and hustle your face off' way of living; working 80-hour work weeks to not work 40-hour ones. I'm talking about the world of Grant Cardone and Gary Vaynerchuk. As a result, I’ve been pushing against the cubicle lifestyle since I entered senior year of college 13 months ago.
What I’ve learned from all these conversations, these comment threads on Facebook, these Instagram posts is this: A real job is tangible and makes an impact, whether it be behind the counter or behind a desk. As long as whatever you are doing works to satisfy a goal of some kind, whether it be a personal one for financial independence, pursuing a passion, or making an impact in your community.
You’ve got to put your needs first. That’s what a ‘real job’ is all about.
