Work Wise

How many people love their jobs? How many people see the work they do as a career and not just a pay cheque? How many people feel valued by the company/organisation that they work for?

From what I have heard lately... not many.

So many people in their 20's, and even those in their 30's and 40's are feeling jaded and dissatisfied in the work place.

While I can't speak for the baby-boomers or generation x-ers, I can say that us 20-somethings aren't happy. There are a number of reasons for that- the most important being that we want more- more freedom, more flexibility, more benefits, more money and more power. We are ambitious, we are honest and we are driven by ethics and morality (well most of us anyway). We want to feel that what we do makes a difference and we want to feel that we are valued by the people we work with and work for.

We don't want to go to work everyday just to put the bread on the table, we want to work for something, something important, something we believe in. We want to experience passion in the workplace and we won't settle for anything less.

So what can we do?

It is all about finding a good fit ... and the fit has a lot more to do with the employer than the actual job. If you had told me this five years ago I would not have believed it. But do yourself a favour... imagine your dream job... then throw in a group of unfriendly colleagues, an ungrateful boss, no benefits, a tiny salary, few opportunities to show your talent-set... well, then, what do you have left? Still your dream job?

So how do we find this best fit? This wonderful employer and possibly our dream job? Well its a long process, but I might be able to help.

You can start by getting a very clever book. Its called (and you won't believe this) 'Best Employers'. Yes- its true- a group of very intelligent people (called the CRF institute) decided to put together a list of all the best companies to work for in South Africa (why didn't I think of that?)


Want to know which companies offer medical aid, retirement annuities, 6-months paid maternity leave, subsidised meals, on-site gym, preschool, free financial advice, a coffee bar and sessions with a beauty therapist? Want to know more about the company culture and style of some of South Africa's biggest businesses? Or just want to find out about what qualities they look for in future employees?

Then you need to get yourself this book. I did and it now has a permanent spot on my bedside table. If I read an interesting article about a local company or see a job that I am tempted to apply for... I go to my copy of Best Employers and see where they are on the list of Best Employers in South Africa.

You can get your own copy of Best Employers South Africa 2010/11 at Exclusive Books, Wordsworth or Adams and Co.

Or you can get a copy FOR FREE by taking part in a very exciting giveaway!

The lovely and friendly people at the CRF Institute have given me three copies of the Best Employers book to send to three lucky readers.

All you have to do to be entered into the draw is-

1. become a follower of this blog (if you are already a follower you are halfway there already)
2. leave a comment on this post (tell me about your dream job OR what is most important to you in the workplace OR why you love/hate your job)

And for an extra entry in the draw- refer a friend (ask them to use YOUR full name at the end of their comment).

Its that easy! I will do the draw at 12:00 on Sunday, 13 March. So start following, get commenting and the book could be yours!

An Ode to the Mix Tape

Does anyone remember the movie High Fidelity? You know - the movie where John Cusack, a record store owner, lists everything, including his last five breakups. He talks music, relationships, maturity and commitment (with a few pearls of wisdom - and some 'slamming' dance moves from Jack Black).

I haven't seen the movie in a while, but it has left me wondering about a few things... things like- what happened to dating, what happened to romance, and most importantly... what happened to the mixtape?

Things just aren't the same anymore... maybe I am 'old school' (or just plain old) but while globalisation has brought us closer together, modernization and technological advancement has pulled us further apart. People don't really talk anymore, everything is about speed and convenience and no one knows how to express themselves.

We talk at each other instead of to each other, we don't listen, we breakup over sms, we order takeout because we couldn't be bothered to spend an hour in the kitchen cooking something cheaper (and most likely- healthier), we don't feel productive unless we are doing five things at the same time and we can't relax until we are doing nothing.

Which brings me back to the mixtape... creating a mixtape was a process, and the end result was art. Hours were spent choosing songs from records, CDs or in my case waiting for your favourite song to play on the radio (... oh- the shame!). It was about waiting, patience, perfection. No quick solutions, no instant gratification- just hard work- but it was worth it.

Joel Keller, in his 2004 article, "PCs killed the mix-tape star", talks about his experience:

"I miss the way I used to make mixes. I'd sit in front of my tape deck, with a stack of CDs or records on one side of me, and a beverage (adult or otherwise) on the other, and spend a couple of hours or more finding just the right combination of songs to put on the tape. The levels would all match; loud songs got softened and soft songs got a boost. I would attempt to take the mix right to the end of the tape; I'd spend over an hour finding that perfect minute-and-a-half song or snippet that would fit musically with the rest of the mix."

So today's version of the mixtape? An MP3 CD? Seriously? We drag a couple of songs into a burnlist, click a button and voila... a compilation is born? Sounds easy, but its just not the same. Its not a process... its a procedure. Drag. Click. Burn.

And who needs an MP3 CD when you have an iPod... forget 20 favourite songs, try 10,000 songs. 10,000 song you will NEVER listen to. So..? My suggestion? Find the 20 songs you will listen to, follow the rules... and then... then... make a mixtape (ok fine- a mix CD if you will)!

You might also want to read this or this, watch/listen to this and definitely look at this and this.

Getting inside my head

I have spent a lot of time lately thinking about this blog and where I want to go with it. Right now it is a place for me to share some of the beautiful things I see (in life and around the web), but I often feel that sometimes I would like to share more of what is happening inside my head.

I have a lovely friend who is pursuing her dream of writing and she has a wonderful blog where she documents her life experiences, her joys, her struggles and her thoughts. This has been very inspiring for me.

Thank you Klara for being so brave and thank you for inspiring me to try and do the same!

So if you see a few "inside my head" posts in the months to come- just bear with me. I am going to give this "put myself out there" thing a try. I might love it, I might hate. it But at least I will have tried it!

Do you think I should give it a go, or do you think I should stick to lighthearted posts about pretty things? I would love to hear your thoughts.