Happiness, perfect fit and ideal jobs

Each person has an idea of ​​an ideal job. But landing that dream job is often not easy. Some couldn’t get “dream jobs” at all. Many people feel that it is just an evoked state and that there really is no such thing as an ideal job.

Is there really 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 the ideal job, how come some people say, “Hey, I found my ideal job!”?

It is difficult to solve the dilemma of whether there is an ideal job. Debates could swing for or against depending on how the opposing teams handle the exercise. But whatever the outcome of the debate, there will still be doubts in the minds of listeners. Others may just shrug.

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

The dream job could then be considered as an evoked state. But then again, calling it an evoked state is also not entirely true because an evoked state is something that can’t happen in reality. It remains only in the imagination, something like a dream. So why did the employee say he had a dream job before management policies changed? What made you say that?

Based on the hypothetical example above, we can safely assume that we have a misconception about labeling jobs ideal or not. The same job that was supposed to be ideal in the first scenario lost its ideal being in the second scenario where the conditions and terms of work were no longer favorable for the employee. So where did the “ideal” go after the “job” lost it? Don’t be surprised by the answer. The “ideal” in “work” is still there, in latent mode. It is a temporary loss because the job will return to being “ideal” for the employee as soon as the old work environment returns with favorable policy changes.

In other words, the ideal at work is not the job itself, but everything related to it as perceived by the employee. It is the feeling of being happy with the job and its perfect fit for your attitude and skills. You do his job with all the necessary and perfect demeanor and build a solid career in him because you feel good about it. That, in effect, makes it an ideal job.