Sunday 21 August 2016

Is working in a company the best thing for an introvert?

I work by myself. Of course I go and see clients and talk with them but I'm basically me. On days when I'm not busy I come to where I am writing this now the Ark Hills Library. There are usually a lot of people here at all hours of the day and night and it is quite a nice atmosphere to write a blog post or do some reading or some other kind of work.

I quite enjoy this kind of lifestyle even though the money can be a little up and down it does however mean that I have time to myself during the day where I can do my own work and do some exercise.

I was thinking the other day about what it would be like to work in a company. I was trying to come up with the pros and cons of having a job in lets say a big company.

First of all lets have a look at the pros:

1. Secure income
2. Benefits
3. Job security
4. Friends from work. (My father referred to it as collegiality one day. I had to go and look it up.)
5. One work place
6. Chance of promotion and higher and higher income

OK, next the cons.

1. You have to go to the same place everyday.
2. You can only take a holiday when it is best for the company, not for you.
3. You can't control your income
4. You could get stuck with an idiot of a boss or not so cooperative colleagues.
5. You are just a pawn in a mammoth organisation.
6. You have very little freedom to explore other opportunities.

The reason I am writing this is I actually thought about getting a job at a company for a few seconds yesterday and then my introverted nature took over and thought, "Shit Blair, you will have to interact with people and see them everyday." I felt scared for a few seconds.

I have been to Shinagawa Station in Tokyo at 9am on a weekday morning and it is just an endless stream of people going to work. It is honestly like an army of ants going to work. Have a look at this photo and you will get some kind of idea what I mean.

I think that the reason I do what I do is that I don't want that collegiality as my father would say, I can enjoy my solitude and work at my own pace. My father is a bit more extroverted than me so he enjoys the parties and the beers after work and the golf rounds on the weekend with his colleagues. I'm not him so that kind of thing is not important to me.

I've seen some pretty miserable faces in Shinagawa Station on weekday mornings and I can imagine that the faces stay miserable until 7pm or 8pm or until the boss says they are going to have a drink.

When you are choosing a job think about whether or not you want to be in a large group. Think about whether you can handle the uncertainty of basically working by yourself where you can enjoy a bit more alone time.

These things are all important but we don't think about it mostly, we just decide to get a job not thinking what is best for our personality.

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