The life of a young professional: working hard and dreaming of reaching that goal. It's a struggle; it's a fight. Can I just say that I find corporate America to be incredibly frustrating? I mean, America in general can be frustrating at times; so, I guess that isn't really overreaching. I wish I had the funds to own a company, or start a company. Maybe I just need to have the guts to do it. Yeah, maybe I need to stop complaining or wishing and start doing. I could also not be thinking plausibly. I think, though, I have a better design to have a better business (theoretically).
Let me lay this thought out for you. First, per usual, allow me to qualify. I encourage you, before you start judging me, to hear me out. This desire to change the landscape may sound like a "Millennial" mindset. You may be thinking, "Here's a kid who wants the world given to him without having to work hard for it. It's a shame that he has the audacity to believe he's qualified or even entitled to gains that others earned though years of hard work." See, that's thinking with a narrow mind and generalizing. I get that eventually those who have the skill, pay their dues, and work hard get to where they want to go, but it doesn't always work like that and it shouldn't always have to work like that. Why can't those with the work ethic and skill advance? (<--tooting my own horn, eh?)
My frustration stems from being a young professional who is stuck in my current situation because of lack of experience (in years). I have plenty of quality experience, but since I'm a fresh college grad, my quantitative experience just doesn't stack up. I can't get certain positions because I don't have four years doing such and such task. I may be able to do such and such task as well as someone with the four years experience, but that doesn't matter.
To give you an example, I applied for a job that I felt pretty confident I could get. Heck, I knew the team I'd be working with and I had direct experience working within the confines of the job's description. I had subbed for the position and filled it seamlessly. Sounds like things would go in my favor, right? Wrong. I never even got passed HR as they filtered me out because my resume didn't reflect the four years experience minimally required for the position. It didn't matter that people in the department knew I could do the job because my years of experience dictated otherwise. I digress...
I wonder what would happen if we let skills weigh more than experience. I understand the value of experience, but just because someone has years on you doesn't necessarily mean they can do a better job. I will note: I get there could be some frustration here coming from someone who has experience because I know with poor economic times came cuts of many experienced folks. I'm just wondering, why wouldn't a company want the BEST people to do the BEST work? For real, some people have better skill sets than others. Some people are kept on for loyalty or the years they put in. I'm not suggesting that someone should get fired so I can get a better position and take his or her place; I'm merely wondering why someone of my age who shows the aptitude for more can't move up without gaining a few years under my belt.
Why can't we give people the opportunity to do jobs and see if they succeed? A resume can be so misleading and such a joke. You can't necessarily know what a person can or cannot do based off of a resume. Why can't we put people in positions that will allow not only them to reach their potential but the company to reach the potential? Like, I keep envisioning a place where you have some sort of aptitude test (maybe not that because I've always sucked at standardized testing) or some sort of situational test. Based on how people perform, you position them accordingly. If they exceedingly kick butt at the position, and you can tell it's not a fluke, why not increase the role? If it doesn't work, move them back. People may dislike this thought process because it could be limiting for some. Just off the top of my head, I could see people being upset because under this school of thought you could have a ton of experience, but if you aren't necessarily superiorly skilled you'd be stuck in a position and thus stuck in a pay scale, which could make things difficult. My thought, though, would be the more successful a company is, the more money you'd have to increase wages.
This is the problem and this is why I'd need to run this ideal business. Money. Theoretically, it could work because I'm not someone who is money driven. I mean, yes, I want money and desire the ability to live comfortably. But I've never considered myself someone who would have (for instance) millions of dollars and do everything in my power to squeeze out millions more. I just want to live without worry, not luxuriously. Thus, I'd have no problem paying for production. Each person is, or at least should be, valuable in a companies success or failure. If people are positioned to do what's best for the company, to maximize profit, they should get rewarded accordingly. If this was properly done, being stuck in a certain spot theoretically shouldn't be a problem.
Blah.
I'm still not sure where my road will take me, and I understand my dream isn't a reality. I'm still going to work hard and keep on trucking until my opportunity comes. I'm just saying it'd be nice if when people recognize you for doing good work (legitimately not just a hey keep it up buddy) it meant something more than simply wait until you hit the quantitative level and your time will come. Keep on dreaming. Keep on working.
The life...
