Blog #19: Is It Truly the Case We Get What We Deserve?
[from the #MyCareerSuicide Series Part 3]
· Are you down in the dumps about your career and struggle to understand why you are in this situation? Do you, on some occasions, wonder if this circumstance was meant to be?
You can rest assured my friends. In this blog post, we are going to shed
some light on this situation and maybe provide some enlightenment as to why you may feel disappointed with the state of your career and if this circumstance was your destiny.
Welcome back to part 3 in the #MyCareerSuicide series! My name is Ray Rogers, and I am the Senior Content Writer at The R-N-R Hour. So far in this series, I shared my story with you all about the beginning of my career and the mistake that put me on the path of a #MyCareerSuicide. For the curious individuals, a #MyCareerSuicide is when an individual (professional), through a mistake or a series of mistakes, hinder the trajectory of their career. Hopefully, we should all be on the same page. If you remember from the last blog post #18, I said, “...there is still more to my story. My inability to control myself emotionally created a much deeper hole that I could not pull myself out.” Therefore, today’s blog post will pick up where we last left and illustrate why I was on the path of a #MyCareerSuicide in the first place. Now, let us continue the story and do not worry I will address today’s title afterwards.
After the completion of this postbaccalaureate research position (a 2 year contract), I was unemployed for a while and pretty upset about my unfortunate mistake and the overall outcome. I remained sulking over that experience for months. Realizing that I was focusing on my mistake for too long, I decided to get back on my feet and try again at my career. So, I started applying to similar laboratory research positions and my results were shocking. I received an overwhelming amount of same day rejections, phone interviews which resulted in rejections, and zero face to face interviews. For the life of me, I could not obtain a position at a reputable company with my education and work experience. I unfortunately kept telling myself that maybe I was not worthy and I sadly endured extreme emotional lows. In all honestly, allowing myself to go that emotionally low dug a deeper hole for me in how I felt about myself.
It was about 3 months in my search for employment when I made the decision to look at jobs outside of my desired career just so I could pay my bills and stay off the street. This decision was far worse than my mistake earlier in my career because I basically gave up on trying to pursue my dream to become a research scientist and settled for “safe” jobs. I can sadly say that the result of my decision was me spending the next 9 years in jobs that I was painfully over-qualified for. The worst part in my decision was I knew I was settling for this, and this resulted in me exhibiting negative behavior at work. Specifically, this 9-year period involved me coming to each job with a terrible attitude and a gloomy mood. I specifically would show intense anger on my face all while avoiding my co-workers so I did not have to speak with them. On some occasions, I would purposefully not perform to the best of my ability and try to do the least amount of work. There were even times I would come to work with teary eyes but that is a story for a later time.
Fast forwarding to early this year 2021, I eventually had enough, and I decided to figure out why I was in this predicament. I was working at company ABC (I am concealing their identity), and of course I was not happy with the workplace environment. I can look back and laugh but for the last 9 years I was unhappy with all of my jobs but back to the story. Looking for a better option I started searching for a company that could get me out of my career rut. I decided to try again and apply for laboratory positions in a Biotechnology operations. To my surprise, I was offered a phone interview at company XYZ and that quickly became an in-person interview. They made me wait for 2 months for the 3rd interview due to organizational turnover but, nevertheless they offered the position to me.
You are probably saying to yourself. Great job Ray! You are back in the game and can finally continue your ascension in your career. Ladies and gentlemen let us stay on track to learn the lesson behind my story. With that being said, we will briefly address today’s title: Is It Truly the Case We get What We Deserve? When I say this statement, I am trying to make the point that our outcomes in life are the result of our actions and mindset. Now, I need you all to ask yourself this question. Why was I not able to obtain another job in my desired career as a research scientist for 9 years? You could easily say, well, Ray is not qualified for that career and I would respond that you are probably right. One could also say, Ray, you said in a previous blog post, you have difficulty in controlling your emotions. That has to be answer. I am sorry to burst your bubble everyone but we have to go a little deeper to understand the lesson behind story. To get straight to the point to save you all some time and suspense, I will give you all a hint.
By not controlling my emotions in Blog #18 it revealed a much bigger issue of mine. It showed a weakness in my character that if we are to be honest could be a real reason as to why I was experiencing this negative circumstance. In addition, it could also explain my inability to move forward in my life and why I spent nearly a decade trying to look for a job within my desired career. My weakness in character was a lack of communication skill (i.e., actions) and easily falling apart when faced with strife and defeat (i.e., mindset). Because of my actions and mindset, I did not have the mental stability to obtain another position as a research scientist at an excellent company. Therefore, due to my actions and mindset, it is true I got what I deserve. You can basically say that my character flaws (actions and mindset) were not only holding me back but the reason my career was doomed in the first place. There is the answer my friends! My weakness in character was the reason why I was on the path of a #MyCareerSuicide in the first place.
CONCLUSION
Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this blog post! I am extremely happy to share the complete story about a turbulent decade in my life and how I came to understand why it happened. #MyCareerSuicide was a rough experience for me, but in the process I learned a lot about myself and have been able to grow for the better. Therefore, my goal with Blog posts 18 and 19 is that you all be able to use my experience as a reminder to immediately address issues and misunderstandings early in your career. In the next blog post, we are going to take a different in this series so stay tuned for Part 4 in the #MyCareerSuicide series.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email us at thernrhour@gmail.com for clarifications. Finally, I look forward to seeing you all on August 31st, 2021, for Blog 20: Where Do You Fit in the Machine?