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Most jobs suck.

There is no way to beat around the bush, and I won't fluff it up for you. If you expect that everybody working for Google, Meta, and Netflix is wildly fulfilled:

You might be in for a rude awakening.

I know at some point in my career I felt that way. I saw pictures of Google's adult-playground HQ and thought those people must be so happy to be there.

I didn't understand the bigger picture.

Most people are working on monotonous and unfulfilling things.

Data importers...

Yet another data service...

Internal data management tools...

There are happier people building products with 3 homies while eating ramen and splitting rent in a 2 bedroom apartment.

So what do people actually want?

It's fulfillment.

Fulfillment is a confusing word.

I've thought a lot about what it means, especially in terms of a career.

Here is what I've boiled it down to:

Fulfillment = Creation

Think about an Amazon package. What does it mean to "fulfill an order"

- You order the package

- Amazon gets it in a box

- They deliver the package to you

It's a simple journey that can be broken down into three stages:

1. Initiation

2. Execution

3. Outcome

So why are so many people unfulfilled at work? Aren't they creating things all day?

Well... Sort of. There is another missing part of this fulfillment process that is important.

Context

People are interested in self-fulfillment. The feeling that they themselves intrinsically matter. Every day they wake up they want to have something important to do. Something that makes a difference.

To achieve true fulfillment in your work you need to intrinsically care about all three steps of the process.

1. Initiation <-- The Idea

2. Execution <-- The craft

3. Outcome <-- The impact

In most scenarios, software developers only care about the craft of the project they are working on.

Nobody cares about the idea or the impact of software that imports nursing home data into your internal database. Yawn.

But they do care about the craft.

Short term: This works great

Long-term: It can eat you alive

So back to the original idea

What does it mean to be fulfilled in your career?

Find work where you genuinely care about all three.

And be honest with yourself.

Do you actually care about the idea?

Do you actually care about the craft?

Do you actually care about the impact?

I have a lot of different experiences, and here is the truth:

Achieving this at 100,000+ people companies is extremely rare.

The people working on those projects protect their position with their life.

So your options are:

• Find one of those rare opportunities
• Jump on to a crew early in their journey
• Start something of your own

That's how I've come to see things.

And I hope that helps you too.

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Small disclaimer:

If you need a job short term to stack cash or pay off debt after college. I recommend you suck it up. Get that debt out of the way. Get some runway under your belt, and play it a little bit smart.

If you are blessed enough to have 1 or 2 living, breathing, and financially stable parents who care about you, do not take it for granted. You have the opportunity of a lifetime to take a risk.

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As always: Shoot me any questions, comments, or bad jokes at swdlodonnell@gmail.com

I appreciate all of you for reading. It means a lot to me.

Until next time. 👋