It’s coming to that time where I am starting to look for work in Australia and I seem to be questioning what it is that I want out of a career: to work for a good company, or to have good company at work?
I’m a Creative Designer, I’ve been freelancing for 4 years part time alongside working a full time/part time/temporary or casual jobs. I’ve changed jobs a bit over the last few years and the reason I started freelancing was never because I wanted my own business, but because the wages in the area I live in just aren’t good enough to support a person. So, I used freelance as a way to ‘top up’ my wages. Over time I was able to drop hours and days because I had more and more freelance work coming in….and I have enjoyed working for myself. It’s definitely got its perks – later mornings, working in your PJ’s, getting more done at home. But it also has its down sides and its this that has got me questioning what I want, mainly because more often than not – I find myself working from 8.30am until past midnight. There’s no balance.
I like balance.
I’d happily work freelance full time if I thought I could earn enough to support myself – but its such a big risk when you have bills to pay. Recently I’ve been thinking maybe I will just work for a company full time and scrap the freelance altogether, giving me more of a work life balance – but what if I don’t like the company?
I have worked for companies that are the ‘leading marketing specialists’ in their area, which is the work I love to do, but frankly I’m not sure I liked it. The company had a good ethos, a nice enough team of staff and good perks, but the boss wasn’t a person who I wanted to work for and it wasn’t for me.
Currently I’m working freelance back at the company I left to join the ‘leading marketing specialists’. The company itself isn’t amazing, they haven’t got their shit together as a company, the way of the business changes with the wind and the boss of the company can be great, or a complete dick – depending on how his meetings have gone that day. But I have a manager who is down to earth, I get on great with and he treats me like an equal human being…I enjoy working with him and I enjoy the work more because of it. So it’s made me think…maybe what I want out of my career isn’t what I thought it was.
I always thought I wanted to work for a big company who won awards and were ‘successful’ in the eyes of the world. And I’d still love to, but not as much as I REALLY just want to work for someone who I enjoy the company of.
So my question to you is….what is most important to you? Working for a good company? or working WITH good company? Do you have both?
I know its a bit of an odd post for ‘Emigration’ but does your career and aspirations change when you uproot your entire life abroad? Should it? Does it change anything? I am curious.
