How Relationships with Money Effect your Job Search
Jobs. They can often be the barrier between getting the money we want to do the things we want to do. Yet, often, I find my friends that are most concerned with money and how much a job pays or how quickly they can get paid often struggle with finding or happily keeping a career path. Why? Probably because our relationship with money can become an obsession that pulls away from our principles and values. Examining how whether we deal with money in positive or negative ways could have a huge impact on our sense of well being. Here are some harmful relationships with money.
Undervaluing
Undervaluing is the tendency to set your worth at a lower level than it is. This ripples through your job search in many negative ways. One it begins with a search for positions that could underutilize your talents. You could have volunteered at several summer camps helping to care and manage other campers, while designing programs, but only look for fast food jobs because you have no “paid” work experiences. Undervaluing disregards all aspects of your beings that could be useful in a situation. One way to help overcome this is by taking personality test and learning more about your self. What do you do well? What are your weaknesses? Every part of ourselves can be a useful contribution to our lives. The importance is being able to convey this in the language of employers. Personality tests are a way to help you find the right words.
LTR (Long Term Relationship)
Building a long term relationship with money could be a slow and steady path to hurting your personal value. Believe me, money is a powerful tool that humanity has devised, but that is just it, it’s a tool. It’s no greater than a hammer or a fork, and when money steps into a role where it plays an important relationship in your life it could distract you from your true purpose. Money could easily take you out on dates, make you appear more beautiful, more successful, more adventurous, or whatever your heart thinks invests in to fill the gap that could be filled with self-love for free. In the end, missing your purpose in life with mean that you may choose the career that pays big, but compromises what you would truly be happy doing.
More money, more misery?
Hoarding money could also have negative affects on your career and, ultimately, life path. One person to think of is Mr. Scrooge, from, a Christmas Carol. His need to keep all his wealth to himself, and obsessively watch every singly cent grow, kept him disconnected from people who could have become close friends and family. In this modern age, you're
as good as your network, and that means cultivating relationships beyond a transactional level. This kind of obsession comes from a fear of being at a money deficit. It is one I have struggled with myself. One thing I have slowly come to realize is a human can survive for a while without money, but they will survive much longer with the care and comfort of other humans that love them.
Your salary is an important factor to consider when job hunting, but it is not the only factor. If money begins to take center place or no place at all then your relationship with it may be at an imbalance. Take sometime to consider how you feel about money. Set some goals you feel good about and work out what you think the negative aspects are. If you need help talking through it, you can always connect with one of our LA mentors.
