Getting a job based on your passion & interests? What does that mean?

1. 78

   Rafa Baxaposted 6 years ago

   I've heard people say that we should get jobs based on our passion and our interests. But that kind of confuses me. It's not like people are just passionate about one thing, and they can go that way for the perfect career and life.
   
   Right now, I am working as a web developer. In my free time, I make 3D models and, as is obvious, I write articles and stories. If you have read any of my articles, you would know that none of them are related to the job I do. I have written about psychology, social behaviour, a little about weird stuff, and about three articles on android. These three articles are the closest I have come to writing anything related to my job.
   
   I like the job I do. I also like making artsy stuff, and I love writing. So what exactly would you say my passion is? I would be ready to take a job in any of these fields.
   
   The question is - How would you really know what your passion is? And is it really necessary to have a job based on this for a happy life? Is it not okay to just keep your interests aside for your free time, and keep the job you have even if it falls outside your circle of interests?

   replyreport
   1. 61

      Live to Learnposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Getting a job based on your passions and interests doesn't pan out to a happy work environment, or success. I loved what I did previously, but the business went under. I got a job I thought sounded quite interesting.   I enjoy what I do, immensely, but the company I work for is structured like a bureaucracy. I've had to accept that I hate my job. Not because it doesn't align with my interests but because the environment is incredibly negative.
      
      There are many variables that determine happiness and success. Your passions and interests are only one of them and, at times, a minor player in the level of satisfaction you find in your work.

      replyreport
      1. 78

         Rafa Baxaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         I agree with you. Keeping our interests as a hobby and having a job based on what you are comfortable doing seems to be the better way to go maybe. Gives us the freedom to enjoy our hobbies as we want it.
         
         Many times people get a job based on their passion, but a bad workplace experience makes them think it’s a common problem with the jobs in those fields. It could make people despise what they once loved to do.

         replyreport
2. 85

   Marisa Wrightposted 6 years ago

   I've often debated this theory, too. I do know what my passion is - dancing - and I used to fret because I hadn't been able to make it my career.
   
   But do you know, nowadays I believe that was actually a good thing?   What changed my mind was meeting a photographer selling photos at a local market.   He wasn't working as a photographer (he had some kind of office job), but he photographed landscapes and nature in his spare time.   He was SO good, people were saying he should do it full-time, but his response was, "I tried that, this is better."
   
   Apparently his passion was photography, and after getting a small inheritance in his thirties, he decided to give up his day job and start a photography business.    It took him about a year to realise he hated it.  As a hobby, photography had been his escape from the humdrum of daily life, his creative outlet, something he looked forward to.   As a business, he didn't have that freedom:  he had to take photos whether he felt like it or not, and he had to produce photos to his clients' taste not his own.   Photography had become a chore he HAD to do, and that took the joy out of it. So he closed his photography business and went back to photographing what he wanted, when he wanted.
   
   I have a feeling I would've been the same with dancing.   I guess I'm lucky that (like you), I never hated my day job. 
   
   The fact is that if your passion is something creative, it probably will never pay that well.  So having a well-paid day job that doesn't require you to work excessive hours, means you can enjoy your passion in your leisure time without any constraints, while ensuring you have a secure future.

   replyreport
   1. 78

      Rafa Baxaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      That’s a very good point. The point that choosing my hobby as my career would restrict what I can do and could make me despise it, even if it was only a problem with the workplace. That’s what actually stops me whenever I think about changing my career, and go into writing or something related to art. I want to be able to make and write what I like, not what people want me to.

      replyreport
3. 63

   Nouveau Skepticposted 6 years ago

   I have a passion i developed throughout my early career in a social justice area.  The more I worked in this area the more important it became to me.  Getting a job in this area that pays well and where my co-workers and boss are nice had as much to do with luck as planning--but my experience is that having a job that aligns with my interests is a great blessing in my life.  It may not be advice that applies to all people and situations but it does apply to me.

   replyreport
   1. 78

      Rafa Baxaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      It's great that you were able to find a job that aligns with your interests, and has a good work environment. While in this field, have you ever felt like changing jobs and doing something else? Just curious...

      replyreport
   2. 85

      Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      You make a good point.  We've been talking about "doing what you love" and assuming that means a hobby, something you do for fun or personal expression.  However it's also possible to be passionate about an ideal or a cause, and that's the case for you.
      
      In the case of an ideal or a cause, you're likely to be doing pretty much the same thing whether you do it as a volunteer or as a job - and if you do it as a job, you can be more effective because you have an organisation behind you.  So I can see how it would work in that case.

      replyreport
4. 68

   Shernae Greyposted 6 years ago

   Those are excellent questions and very insightful responses. Pondering them brought  me some clarity on my own questions on the subject.
   
   Indeed passion isn’t limited to one thing. However, the common thread with all things that I’m passionate about is the feeling I get from either the process or the result. Therefore I determine what I’m passionate about by what will give me that result.  As an example, I’m passionate about feeling organized, therefore anything that has to do with organizing I can say that I’m passionate about.
   
   Whether it’s necessary to have a job that your passionate about varies greatly from person to person. On one end someone can have other factors about their life that makes it easy to do anything. On the other end someone can live in a hellish existence and there’s that one thing that they find solace in which it would be a good idea to work in that area.
   
   It is very ok to keep your work and interests separate. Variety is the spice of life they say. Again the decision is based on the desires of the individual.

   replyreport