The story below is from the ABC and I’ve made a few comments as well.
From an outsider’s perspective, certain jobs can look appealing but optimism can quickly be replaced by an impending sense of doom.
Dr Lisa Cohen is an associate professor of organisational behaviour at McGill University in Montreal.
She argues that ‘glossy work’ is most common in cultural industries, like film, music and theatre. Glossy jobs often straddle two worlds: external charm and inner dreariness, Dr Cohen says.
Martin Preece has experienced the glossy work problem, too.
Today he’s the director of a company that specialises in construction and property recruitment, but earlier on in his career, he took up a managerial role because he felt he “should be thinking about progression”.
He was also attracted to the credibility and gravitas that can come with a more senior position.
But over time, as he took on new roles in management, they turned out to be more of a burden than he had expected.
Despite earning more money, his management role was stressful, the pressure was intense and he soon discovered the “warts and all truth” to some senior roles.
“But when it came to explaining the rigours of the role and the stresses and strains, I would probably keep that to myself, or speak to my partner.”
Mr Preece re-evaluated what he wanted from his work, and he’s long-since changed roles and started up his own business, which he finds much more enjoyable.
According to Dr Cohen, there’s a deceptively simple word that can lead to glossy work: passion.
“I have to say, I hate that word [‘passion’],” Dr Cohen says. “It’s one of the most dangerous words when it comes to jobs and looking for jobs.”
She argues it conveys a sentiment that can be easily masked as something else, particularly in the realm of start-ups.
“I did about 200 interviews with people in start-ups … and so many of the entrepreneurs said, ‘We want passion, we are looking for passion’,” Dr Cohen says.
“I asked them what that meant, and how they would determine if somebody had passion. They had absolutely no idea … why they wanted it or what they really meant.
“I think what they meant is that they wanted somebody who would work like a dog for them.”
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BIAS IN RECRUITMENT
Some time ago Germany conducted a study where eight major companies adopted ‘anonymous’ hiring practices for 12 months.
Not one piece of personal or identification information was disclosed before the interview stage.
All biographical information was eliminated from the resumes and applications.
They went one step further and removed the applicants’ names.
The researchers found recruiters short-listed more women, older people and people from ethnic backgrounds.
Apart from the social justice benefits, anonymity had a positive effect on boosting the diversity of the workforce.
The economic benefits of diversity lead to a greater range of skills and perspectives and broader economic participation.
Very few recruiters understand the nature of conscious or unconscious bias. I suggest most don’t care.
A situation where candidates are ruled ‘out’ because of their sex, age or ethnicity leaves businesses open to a discrimination complaint.
They’re hard to prove but there have been successful class actions.