Happiness, Perfect Fit and Ideal Jobs

People each have an idea of an ideal job. But landing onto that ideal job is oftentimes not easy. Some could not get “ideal jobs” at all. Many people feel that it is nothing but a conjured up state and that there is really no ideal job.

Is there really such a thing as an ideal job? If so, how do we know it is? Is there a standard definition for it? If there really is no such thing as an ideal employment, how come some people say, “Hey, I found my ideal job!”?

It is difficult to resolve the dilemma of whether there is an ideal job. Debates could swing to the pro or con side depending on how the exercise is handled by the opposing teams. But whatever the result of the debate, there will still be doubts in the minds of the listeners. Others may just shrug it off.

Look at it this way. If you are happy with your work, you can safely say you have your ideal job. But what if drastic changes in management policies happen, resulting to a lot of changes in the work environment like losing some of your fringe benefits or freedom to do this and that? Would you still consider your employment ideal?

The ideal job then could be regarded as a conjured up state. But then again, to consider it a conjured up state is also not entirely true because a conjured up state is something that cannot happen in reality. It stays only in the imagination, something like a dream. Why then did the employee say he had an ideal job before the management policies changed? What made him say that?

Based on the hypothetical example above, we can safely assume that we have a misconception of labelling jobs ideal or not. The same employment which was supposed to be ideal in the first scenario lost its being ideal in the second scenario where work conditions and terms were no longer favourable to the employee. Where then did the “ideal” go after the “job” lost it? Don’t be surprised with the answer. The “ideal” in the “job” is still there – in dormant mode. It is a temporary loss because the employment will again be “ideal” to the employee as soon as the old work environment returns with favourable changes in policies.

In other words, the ideal in the job is not the job itself but everything about it as perceived by the employee. It is the feeling of being happy with the employment and its perfect fit to his attitude and skills. He performs his work with all the necessary and perfect behaviour and builds a solid career on it because he feels good about it. That, in effect, makes it an ideal job.